Along the Sideboards
By Alex Webbe
January 19, 2009
The Joe Barry Memorial Cup ended with Kelly Beal’s BTA team handing Tommy Lee Jones and his San Saba teammates a 13-10 beating. San Saba’s 8-goaler Sapo Caset showed great mallet control as he maneuvered the ball through the BTA players, but only scored one of his game-high eight goals from the field. BTA’s 7-goaler Hector Galindo was named game MVP. Caset’s mare Bruja was named Best Playing Pony.
Kelly Beal proved to be the most valuable patron, scoring two goals and making a number of disciplined moves and shots throughout the match. San Saba’s Carlucho Arellano continued to show great promise.
Julio Arellano scored four of his eight goals in the first chukker for EFG Bank, but it was Mt. Brilliant’s Santiago Chavanne’s six goals in the second half that won the day. Chavanne scored ten goals in the course of the game for the 13-12 win in the finals of the Bobby Barry Memorial Cup, the subsidiary of the 20-goal Joe Barry Cup. Chavanne was named MVP while Julio Arellano’s Sweet and Low was named Best Playing Pony.
And if anyone’s paying any attention to Westchester Cup “alternate” British team member Julian Daniels, they might re-evaluate his alternate status. Well-mounted and deadly accurate with a stick, Daniels demonstrated disciplined teamwork and proved the perfect support for the talented Chavanne. Between Sugar Erskine’s performance last week and that of Daniels today, it might do to reconsider the British lineup for the February 21st international match.
Jedi isn’t participating in any high goal competition at the International Polo Club but Mr. Koch has retained the services of Sebastian and Agustin Merlos as well as Alex Agote for the winter. Rumors abound that Jedi will be returning to high goal competition in 2010 with two teams.
The 2009 Ylvisaker Cup gets underway on Thursday, January 22 with a 20-goal game between Lucchese and Isla Carroll. The second match of the day between Patagones and Audi will be Gonzalito Pieres’ first match in the US since winning the Argentine Open Championship. Audi’s Gonzalito Pieres isn’t the only new talent being drawn to the Ylvisaker Cup. Victor Vargas will field a 20-goal Lechuza Caracas team that will feature seven-goalers Guille Aguero and Nicolas Espain. Fresh horses, new players and two more tournaments (the Philip Iglehart Cup will follow Ylvisaker Cup play) before the 26-goal action gets started promise to provide the winter season with plenty of excitement.
February in Florida will do more than feature the Ylvisaker Cup. The Polo Players Support Group is planning on staging the 40-goal Challenge on Saturday, February 14 at the International Polo Club in Wellington. Just a week later IPC will be the site of America’s first Westchester Cup competition since 1939 as England and the United States will face-off in a one-match continuation of the world’s oldest international polo competition. For complete information on the Westchester Cup please go to westchestercup.org.
The winter season is still young but injuries have already visited some of the teams in competition. BTA’s Hector Galindo was hit in the mouth by a mallet in a Joe Barry Memorial game that forced him to retire from the field. He received a number of stitches in his lip, and had surgery to reposition four of his teeth. He was back on the field three days later. Mt. Brilliant’s Gaston Lisioli suffered a broken collarbone in a fall last week and Patagones patron Gonzalo Avendano suffered an injury to his left ankle that forced him to leave their last match. He will be back on the field on Thursday.