Four Quarters Black powered themselves into the record books with an impressive win in the Out-Sourcing Inc. Royal Windsor Cup Final. This victory – Romilla Arber’s team beat Nicky Sen’s Amanara 9-4 – makes the Arber family’s Four Quarters operation a five-times winner of this cup. Only one other squad has ever achieved this accolade – the Jersey Lilies who were dominant in the 1960s and ‘70s – and no team has bettered it in the Cup’s 69-year history.
So it was Romilla who received the Royal Windsor Cup – played for at Guards Polo Club since 1955 – from HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh. HRH was accompanied to the presentation arena by Charlie Bruin, Director of Out-Sourcing UK and David Matsumoto, representative of and partner to Out-Sourcing Inc, title sponsors of the Royal Windsor Cup for the past seven years.
Romilla’s team-mate, Gonzalo Ferrari, who had delivered a stand-out game for Four Quarters Black, received the Out-Sourcing Inc. Most Valuable Player prize. He also headed home with the Best Playing Pony prize for J5arg Capa. This nine-year-old bay mare was one of eight horses owned by La Dolfina that Ferrari had played during this final.
Four Quarters Black dominated this match and were leading 5-2 at the half-time break. Plenty of strong play from Benjamin Urquiza and Ferrari kept Romilla’s team ahead, while the youngest member of the squad, Tomas Ballesteros did a great job of keeping Amanara’s Hazel Jackson off the ball.
Amanara, playing in their first UK polo season, had impressed in an unbeaten run to this final. However they couldn’t translate plenty of fast play into goals when it mattered. The father and son duo of Santiago and Lorenzo Chavanne covered the Queen’s Ground at pace, but uncharacteristically sent several shots wide.
So when Romilla started the fourth with a goal and Urquiza concluded this same chukka with a 40-yard penalty, Four Quarters Black had done enough to secure their place in the record books. They had an impressive, 8-2 lead going into the fifth and final chukka. Ferrari added another to Four Quarters’ tally in this chukka, while Lorenzo Chavanne put two away for Amanara. However it was not enough to dent Four Quarters Black’s celebrations.
The sub final for the Mountbatten Cup was an equally fast-paced game. Andrew Dechet’s Ainsley Saddlery won this trophy, beating Sunjay Kapur’s Aureus Polo 11-7.5. Aureus had a half goal on handicap as Ainsley Saddlery’s Estanislao Darritchon’s handicap had risen to two goals in the previous week’s mid-season handicap changes. In addition to winning the Mountbatten Cup, Dechet was named the Out-Sourcing Inc. Most Valuable Player. He received this prize from Masashi Umehara, Executive Officer of Out-Sourcing Inc.
The day also featured a breathtaking display by Karl Ude Martinez’s Knights of Middle England and concluded with the traditional carriage driving display from the British Driving Society.
Four Quarters Black: Romilla Arber (0); Tomas Ballesteros (2); Gonzalo Ferrari (7); Benjamin Urquiza (6). Amanara: Nicky Sen (0); Hazel Jackson (2); Lorenzo Chavanne (6); Santiago Chavanne (7).
Ainsley Saddlery: Andrew Dechet (1); Estanislao Darritchon (2); Manuel Plaza (6); Guillermo Terrera (7). Aureus Polo: Sunjay Kapur (0); Manu Garcia Grossi (5); Mark Tomlinson (6); Nicolas Roberts(4).
Photo credit – Art of Polo