A rough week for the
Pieres family
By Alex Webbe
We’re only one round into Argentina’s Hurlingham Open and we
already have altered lineups. An
appendectomy sidelined Alegria 8-goaler Polito Pieres, throwing a wrench into
an impressive Alegria lineup that wound up losing their opening Hurlingham Open
match to La Aguada, 20-15. Polito’s
replacement, 7-goaler Diego Cavanagh, performed admirably, scoring a team high
six goals in the loss.
Just a day later it was Polito’s cousin, Ellerstina 9-goaler
Nico Pieres who was forced to leave the game in the sixth chukker following a
partial muscle tear to a riding muscle. 8-goaler
Paco de Narvaez was brought in to replace Nico for the balance of the 17-12 Ellerstina
win, but it must raise some concerns on the Ellerstina sidelines.
For all intents and purposes, the season appears to be over
for Polito Pieres while Nico Pieres Tweeted that it wasn’t a big tear and he
hoped to be back as soon as possible, putting in doubt his return to the
Ellerstina lineup for the balance of the Hurlingham Open.
The two top teams in Argentina remain Ellerstina and La
Dolfina, but an altered Ellerstina lineup might open the doors for other
competitors. Granted, Ellerstina beat Magual
(Alejandro Muzzio, Ignacio Toccalino, Marcos Di Paola and Jaime Huidobro) on
Tuesday afternoon by five goals (17-12), they trailed in the third, fourth and
fifth chukkers, hardly the expectations of a 39-goal powerhouse.
Fred Mannix’s Alegria foursome showed promise on paper, but
with a new team and a last minute addition to the roster there will be a number
of questions regardless of his impressive debut.
Horses are the game, and whether de Narvaez or Cavanagh have
the stables to sustain drives through the final two opens of the season is a
matter of concern. Certainly it would be
thought that the Ellerstina organization would be able to supplement de
Narvaez, but are there enough horses in the Alegria network to keep Cavanagh
competitive through the next two months?