Month: July 2014

Group A/B

It was a very different Black Bears who rode out onto the pitch at the start of their final league game in the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup to the one who had been at Guards a few weeks earlier.  This time they had their minds set on joining Dubai and going through to the quarters with four straight wins.  They might have had an injured Facundo Sola having to mentally do battle for his team from the side lines, but his substitute Juan Gris Zavaleta added his own style of strength to the team.  As John Paul Clarkin said, ‘The change in Black Bears from the Queen’s Cup to the Gold Cup is that there is an increased hunger to win and having Paco back in the saddle has helped with team moral’.

Against El Rosario, with three losses to their name, initially it might have seemed to have been two rather mismatched teams, but as was illustrated earlier in the week, anything can happen in High Goal.  If Black Bears were anticipating an easy ride they clearly weren’t going to find that against Penafiel, Ulloa, Elizalde and Archibald. 

From the moment that a stick connected with the ball both teams seemed on a mission to be the first to score, which Clarkin did with great style almost from the half way line, followed by O’Dwyer as the chukka ended, putting Black Bears in the lead 2-0 going into the second.  A missed penalty from El Rosario and Clarkin mounted on the magnificent Magpie, stealing the ball at every opportunity put an incredible third goal through, then, in spite of great defence from the team in white they couldn’t stop O’Dwyer’s 4^th.  There would have been even more on the board for the Bears at the end of the second, but a technical caused by Zavaleta meant his goal was disallowed, for El Rosario it was patron power from Penafiel right at the end that resulted in a 1 going up.  

Speed, accuracy and end to end play seemed to be the order of the day in the second half, as Penafiel once again scored for his team.  It remains to wonder what was said in the El Rosario tent at half time as another impressive Elizalde goal increased their score and Ulloa equalised at 5 all, then Elizalde did it again and put El Rosario into the lead for the first time in the game and they headed 6-5 up into the fifth.   This, despite John Paul Clarkin bringing the might of his 6 year old chestnut homebred, New Zealand gelding, Maserati into the game and adding some extra horsepower.

In a very exciting penultimate chukka O’Dwyer put the scores equal, but not for long as El Rosario were keeping the pressure on and Elizalde went all the way with a seventh goal, this one from the field.  Not to be beaten, Zavaleta once again brought the game to an equal score at 7 all.

It was quite ironic that Guy Schwarzenbach chose in the final chukka to improve still further his great play in the game and ride Fortuna, his 8 year old bay English thoroughbred mare from Pepe Riglos, (who post match he told me was his best pony of the day) because fortune did indeed eventually go Black Bears way.  For Clarkin, ‘the best moment of the game was taking the 30 in the start of the last to go one up, it hit the post and dribbled in.’ The black shirted team quickly went from 8-7 up to 9-7, but their white shirted opposition was not prepared to let them keep their lead and after several goals Elizalde equalised in the closing moment of the game, once again there was a level score, this time 9 all, next to the Jaeger-LeCoultre clock.   Clarkin clearly didn’t want to go into a seventh, putting a final goal through in the last few seconds and a 10 opposite El Rosario’s 9 on the board.  In the words of Guy Schwarzenbach ‘the best part of the match was walking off having won four out of four.’

3pm King Power v HB Polo, Lawns 1

Group C

Day 13^th of play in the 2014 Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup was always going to be unlucky for one of the fourteen teams in the tournament, but it came as rather a surprise to everyone that it ended up being Zacara.  A grey day (and for a team who is usually only associated with this colour when Facundo is astride the mighty Moscu) it provided to be for the men with the ‘Z’ on their shirts.  As, beneath a cloudy sky that threatened rain they had their first defeat in two years, despite Facundo Pieres using all his power to try to regain the early control taken by Adolfo Cambiaso.

Even from the start a tension could be felt in the air as supporters lined their cars in opposing Calvary lines on their chosen side of the ground, and a grey called Sheltie ridden by Pieres in the first stood out amongst the chestnuts and bays (including Cambiaso on Gatar) on the pitch. Two field goals and a converted penalty by Cambiaso and at the end of chukka one it was Zacara 0 – 3 Dubai written across the scoreboard.

A permanent lead was the idea it seemed Dubai had in mind for the duration of the game and it looked like Zacara could really feel the pressure as they ended the second 2-6 down.   In uncharacteristic Pieres style he put a penalty wide at the opening of the third, but maybe Del Tour’s grey ‘Happy Trap’ provided a little luck for the team in black, as a Cambiaso field goal was subsequently disallowed.  It was a delighted Ali Patterson (the only Scottish representative in the High Goal) who post match explained to me ‘that it’s good to have a win against a team who hasn’t lost in two seasons and to become the top seed.   The first couple of chukkas were the best for Dubai then they had to find momentum going into the last two.’

Entering the fourth 2-8 up the team in green and white showed no sign of weakening the pressure, although Zacara did convert a 40 yard penalty in the opening seconds, which turned the figure on their side of the board into a 3.  Play continued gladiator style with Pieres and Cambiaso charging the length of the pitch and Del Tour not giving Cavanagh an inch of ground, as they all brandished their sticks like regimental swords and Zacara began to regain their form finishing the fourth with 5 goals scored.

An easy goal tapped across the line by Cambiaso in the fifth and it meant Zacara had a lot of work to do to make up the 10 goals Dubai had to their 5.  As the final chukka dawned, so too did the realisation for Zacara that they need to put at least 6 goals through the posts to beat a score that was now 7 -12.  With Cambiaso mounted on one of his best ponies Miami (a chestnut mare from a La Dolfina embryo which was bred in America) and Ali Paterson on an aptly named Opportunidad, it was Del Tour who brought the grey Samurai to the pitch to help him do battle against a seemingly unstoppable Cavanagh. 

In the end the grey skies overhead did indeed prove to colour the whole of the day for Zacara who walked off their pitch in front of an astonished crowd 8-14 down to Dubai.

With both Zacara and Dubai already through to the Quarters prior to this match, it now just remains to be seen whether the two 10 goalers from each team will next meet in opposition in the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup Final on Sunday 21^st July at Cowdray, or united on the same side flying the flag for their Country six days later on the Queen’s Ground at Smith’s Lawn for the Audi International.

Matches being played on Tuesday 8^th July 2014

12.30pm Black Bears v El Rosario, Lawns 2

Group C

It was a fired up Halcyon Gallery who rode onto Lawns 1 at Cowdray, Mark Tomlinson on Milly and James Beim on Joey, alongside James Harper and George Hanbury who, after their last loss to Zacara, were eager for a second win so they were at least guaranteed a place in the penalty shootout.  For team EFG Bank Aravali, with one win and two losses to their name, a successful game was essential to keep them in the 2014 Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup.  

As chukka one drew to a close, two converted penalties and a field goal by Beim had put Halcyon Gallery 3-1 in the lead to EFG Bank Aravali.  With Harper riding Dante (the first of three ponies he would play which had been lent to him by Ellerston) the team backed by the sponsorship of a Mayfair art gallery continued to maintain their lead, this despite Beim on a bucking Chandler causing him to miss the goal from a penalty.  So, Halcyon Gallery, following a goal from Tomlinson were the only team to add to their now 5-1 score in the second.

Field goals were all the rage at the start of chukka 3, with one from Hanbury and another from Muzzio, combined with several penalties, and as spectators took to the pitch to tread in, there was a 7 and 2 on the Jaeger-LeCoultre scoreboard.

The English Pro team continued to dominate on the field, although post match, Celine Charloux, the only female on Lawns 1, and who had never played high goal prior to substituting in this tournament for a still injured Karan Thapar (who himself from the side lines acknowledged ‘the opposition was strong and it was a really tough game’) was quick to point out, that ‘George Hanbury (who she was marking) was an incredible player and a real gentleman on the pitch.’ 

Chukka 6 began 9-4 to Halcyon Gallery and it was looking increasingly likely that Alicia Castro, Ambassador of Argentina would be presenting The Argentine Ambassador’s Cup to the only all England team in the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup.  Saving some of their best horses to last was a risk for Muzzio (now on Olivia) and Huidobro on Mozzarella, who in spite of providing the speed and power to help EFG Bank Aravali achieve another two more goals, still left them runners up 10 – 6 to Halcyon Gallery.

So it was to be a victory for the English players on the Cowdray ground, but an Argentine one for the ponies, with George Hanbury’s Bocha, from Nachi Heguy, being awarded Best Playing Pony.

Match on Monday 7^th July 2014

2.30pm, Zacara v Dubai, to be played at Zacara