Facundo Pieres talks King Power Foxes, ponies & hats
By Victoria Elsbury-Legg
On the eve of what many in the polo world consider to be the most significant tournament in the English Polo Calendar – the Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup (the British Open Polo Championships) I was privileged to be given not only exclusive Press access to the last team practise before King Power Foxes face UAE on Lawns Two at Cowdray Park Polo Club, but also caught up with Facundo Pieres in the King Power stables at Billingbear (apologies for interrupting your mate) to discover how he was feeling on the day before the Final. As Facundo explained ‘I’ve been thinking about tomorrow’s game, watching videos of matches to get me into the mood of the game. It’s a good feeling to be playing in the finals – like most players this is what I like to do most – play in the final of a tournament. We haven’t confirmed any tactics for playing against UAE tomorrow – they are playing really well, especially with Jose Ramon Araya.’
Obviously ponies have been a hugely significant part of King Power Foxes’ success this season, so if he was to choose a ‘Best Playing Pony’ which would it be? Quick to point out that he doesn’t have one particular favourite pony, he explained, ‘Gonzalito has a couple of really good ponies which he will play again tomorrow. I have four ponies that for me are really good: ‘Galaxie’s Galore’ – a South African bay mare which King Power bought from Buster Mackenzie this year, the other three we bred at Ellerston: ‘Open Galactica’- a 11 year old bay mare, ‘Sharapova’ – a 9 year old bay mare and ‘Cube’, my 10 year old chestnut mare who won ‘Best Playing Pony’ at this year’s Cartier Queen’s Cup.’
Now as he prepares for the Gold Cup Final tomorrow, looking back, what has been the highlight of the 2015 English high goal season so far for him? ‘For me, winning the Queen’s Cup was amazing. It is a big advantage to win the first tournament when you are playing two tournaments like the Queen’s Cup and Gold Cup, and great to be in the final of the second one too.’
One question that many have wondered about during the season has been the noticeable difference to the colour of his hat, so what was behind the new look? Despite some of the ‘pitch-side myths’ that have speculated about the colour, it seemed that Facundo just wanted a change, ‘I was tired of the black one and wanted something no one else was wearing. We had to change our shirt colour last season when Ellerstina Piaget played La Dolfina in the Final of the Argentine Open (due to a colour clash), we had a choice of colours, and someone told my father that purple was a lucky colour so we chose that one. I’ve always liked that colour purple and wanted something new for my hat too.’
So after the final bell rings tomorrow and the English high goal season draws to a close what will he be doing next? With a wry smile he simple says ‘Holidays.’ Which for Facundo Pieres means a much deserved few weeks break in Europe, followed by playing a tournament in St Tropez in August. After which he will head home to Argentina for some down time before the Argentine season begins once again.
All the action from the Final of the 2015 Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup can be seen live at 3pm on Sunday 19th July on www.hurlinghampolo.com