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hurlinghampolo.com
DAVID LOMINSKA/POLOGRAPHICS
2 6 - G O A L C V W H I T N E Y C U P A N D B U T L E R C U P , F L O R I D A , F E B R U A R Y - M A R C H 2 0 1 8
A C T I O N
2 6 - G O A L F L O R I D A C U P S
The deadly combination of Facundo Pieres and Adolfo Cambiaso
proved successful in Florida, writes PoloChannel’s Darlene Ricker
The first two 26-goal tournaments of the
2018 high-goal season at International
Polo Club Palm Beach put Valiente’s
‘Cambieres’ experiment – the 20-goal combo
of Adolfo Cambiaso and Facundo Pieres –
to a successful test. Valiente took both titles
over Colorado: the CV Whitney Cup (9–4)
and the Butler Handicap (11–8).
The finalists in both tournaments were
Jornayvaz teams. In the Butler, Bob Jornayvaz
played for Valiente, and his son Robert for
Colorado.The two swapped jerseys for the
CV Whitney, with Bob switching onto the team
Robert created last summer for the inaugural
20-goal Colorado Open in Denver (which also
ended with a Valiente victory over Colorado).
The 2018 season marked Colorado’s first
foray into 26-goal play.
Both tournaments were single-
elimination among four teams, with the
opening games the virtual semi-finals. In
the Butler semis, Valiente defeated Grand
Champions Polo Club 9–6, and Colorado took
Daily Racing Form/DRF Bets 14–11. In the
CV Whitney semis it was Valiente over Daily
Racing Form (13–10) and Colorado over
Grand Champions (14–13). Valiente only had
time for two team practices before their first
game in the CV Whitney. On 23 February,
long-standing arch-rivals Cambiaso and
Pieres rode onto the Valiente practice field for
the first time ever as teammates in the United
States (they represented Argentina together
twice in the Nations Cup). Five days later, the
pair made their debut in the 26-goal season.
Meanwhile, Pieres was still playing for
Pilot, a new team in the 20-goal series. He
dashed back and forth between teams and
tournaments from start to finish of the CV
