Talandracas turn rain soaked final into a triumph
Facundo Sola, the 19-year-old player who has been the talk of the Talandracas team, scored the “golden goal†in extra time to give his team victory in the 2011 Harcourt Developments Queen’s Cup Final. His patron, Edouard Carmignac, who has twice won the subsidiary trophy – in 2006 and 2007 – received the silver cup from HRH Prince Harry. This popular VIP was accompanied into the presentation arena by Melissa Stisted and Thandi Wooldridge as this day was held in memory of their husbands, the Guards Polo Club’s esteemed Chief Executive Charlie Stisted and one of its much respected polo patrons Ian Wooldridge, who were killed in a helicopter crash last October.
However, what will stand out for the sell out crowd at Guards Polo Club was that this high-goal final went to seven chukkas despite the torrential rain, which marred much of the day. In fact, all four games, which were played at Guards on this day – the final and sub final of The Queen’s Cup plus two Al Habtoor Royal Windsor games – all went into extra time.
Jerome Wirth’s Enigma had the upper hand in the early stages of the final and were 5-1 up at the end of the second chukka. Then it was the turn of Talandracas to dominate, thanks to some great goals from Milo Fernandez-Araujo and Lucas Monteverde, to close the gap. Although Enigma failed to score in the third, they still had a 5-2 lead going into half-time. However failure to find the flags again in the fourth allowed Talandracas to get back in the game and level the score at 5-5. Enigma then found their form and the lead once more, thanks to goals from Juan Martin Nero, Matias MacDonough and Juan Jauretche.
The crowd could not believe that they were witness to such a great game in such appalling conditions and nobody dared to leave their seats in case they missed something. Incredibly, Enigma again failed to score in the sixth, leaving Araujo to find the flags twice and level the score, thus ensuring an extra, seventh chukka. This was Sola’s opportunity to score, giving Talandracas their first Queen’s Cup win. His team-mate, Araujo, was named DeWitt Most Valuable Player and stepped up to receive a watch from the company’s founder, Jerome De Witt.
DeWitt, the official timekeepers of The Queen’s Cup, also sponsored the Best Playing Pony prize, which was received by Enigma’s Juan Martin Nero for his seven-year-old Argentine bay mare Chica. Nero played this pony in the second and sixth chukka. Nero also received another best playing pony award – the Retrained Racehorse Award – for Autour De Monde, a seven-year-old chestnut mare that he owns jointly with team-mate Matias MacDonough.
Sixteen teams entered the Harcourt Developments Queen’s Cup in 2011 – two more teams than last year. In fact, the subsidiary final was a good example of the high standard of play which has characterised this year’s competition. La Bamba De Areco and Les Lions faced each other on finals’ morning in the rain. Due to the conditions, and the fact that this was a subsidiary, no-one would have been surprised if the players had not been the most passionate of players. However, this match went to seven chukkas and the “golden goal†was scored in the last 30secs of extra time. Passion and determination have been the hallmarks of this year’s tournament and every game has been superb.
Talandracas: Facunda Sola (6); Lucas Monteverde (8); Milo Fernandez-Araujo (8); Edouard Carmignac (0). Enigma: Jerome Wirth (1); Juan Jauretche (3); Juan Martin Nero (10); Matias MacDonough (8).
La Bamba De Areco: Jean-Francois Decaux (0); Gonzalito Pieres (10); Facundo Pieres (10); Matt Perry (2). Les Lions: Chris Mackenzie (4); Agustin Merlos (9); Sebastian Merlos (9); Joachim Gottschalk (0).