C.V. Whitney Cup

The foursome of Grant Ganzi, 2, Nic Roldan, 8, Nico Pieres, 8, and Alejandro Novillo Astrada, 8, will play Colorado (Bob Jornayvaz, 2, Santi Torres, 6, Cristian Laprida, 8, Diego Cavanagh, 9) Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

Nic Roldan. Photo by Chiarofoto

The four-team tournament opens Wednesday at 3 p.m. with defending champion Valiente (Rob Jornayvaz, 1, Tommy Beresford, 4, Facundo Pieres, 10, Adolfo Cambiaso, 10) playing The Daily Racing Form (Jared Zenni, 5, Agustin Obregon, 5, Hilario Ulloa, 10, Mariano Obregon, 6).

The subsidiary and final are Sunday at noon and 3 p.m. respectively.

Ganzi, Pieres and Novillo Astrada are coming off the George Haas Cup subsidiary tournament. Ganzi, his father Marc, Roldan and Pieres won the final on Sunday with a 14-9 win over Travieso at IPC. Novillo Astrada played in the 12-9 semifinal win over Coca-Cola at Everglades Polo Club.

“It was a good win for the horses since we were getting ready for Thursday,” Ganzi said. “It was good to get all three guys involved in some capacity in the semifinals and finals. We’re going to have a practice Wednesday and try to get everything going on Thursday.”

Grant Ganzi. Photo by Chiarofoto

At 19, Ganzi is the youngest player in the field. It will be his first full 26-goal tournament. Last year he played two chukkers in the U.S. Open and two years ago he played for his mother Melissa in the U.S. Open against his father.

“I am really excited and pumped, I’ve never played the C.V. Whitney,” Ganzi said. “We’re going to give it everything we’ve got.

“I’ve never played a full 26-goal game. I played two chukkers in the USPA Gold Cup in the semifinal and that was frightening but good. I was 16-years-old and played against Sebastian Merlos.”

Pieres said Sunday’s win helped with the team’s confidence going into the C.V. Whitney Cup.

Alejandro Novillo Astrada. Photo by Ramon Casares

“This is a new team,” Pieres said. “It’s going to be fun. This is the first time playing the high goal with a real team. Hopefully, we win the game and see how we do.”

Added Roldan, “We are excited about the 26-goal starting. The horses feel good and ready. I love the team. We’re ready to go. This is the first time for Grant with his first team.

“For us, in terms of confidence the George Haas Cup win was amazing,” Roldan said. “It’s good to go into a new tournament with a couple of wins under your belt. We’re focused and ready to go.”

The C.V. Whitney Cup is the first of the Triple Crown 26-goal tournaments, the highest-rated polo tournaments played in North America. It is a single-elimination format. Other 26-goal tournaments are the March 8-25 USPA Gold Cup and April 4-22 U.S. Open.

The winner of the 2017 C.V. Whitney Cup was Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Matias Torres Zavaleta, Diego Cavanagh, Adolfo Cambiaso). Valiente defeated Orchard Hill, 14-11, in the final. Zavaleta was Most Valuable Player and Valiente’s horse Sugar played by Cambiaso was Best Playing Pony. Orchard Hill had won in 2015 defeating Alegria, 16-13, the tournament’s highest-scoring final ever, and 2016, defeating Audi, 11-9.

The C.V. Whitney Cup, originally known as the U.S. Handicap, was created in 1979 and first played at the Retama Polo Center in San Antonio, Texas where it was the handicap counterpart to the U.S. Open Championship. It was moved to IPC in 2003 and has been held every year.

In 1988 and 1989 the Fort Lauderdale team of Jack Oxley, Joey Casey, Ernesto Trotz and Bart Evans won the title. Other notable past winners were Valiente (2012, 2014, 2017), Lechuza Caracas (1999, 2002, 2011), and White Birch (1995, 1996, 2000, 2001 and 2005).

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, the son of 10-goal Hall of Famer Payne Whitney, was an American businessman, film producer, writer, government official and owner of a leading stable of thoroughbred horses. He followed in his father’s footsteps as an avid polo player and won the U.S. Open three times.

USPA Polo Network will livestream the entire C.V. Whitney Cup with content provided by ChukkerTV.