The Rubirosa Cup
Although this past weekend at Santa Barbara was not a final weekend like we have gotten used to over the past two weeks it still featured two very exciting and fast games. In the 1pm game we had a battle of the unbeatens with (1-0) Cotterel taking on (1-0) Lucchese. In the first chukker Cotterel jumped out to an early 2-1 lead but at the end of the chukker Lucchese was able to even the score thanks to a goal from Andres Weisz. The momentum from the Weisz goal carried over for the next 2 chukkers with Lucchese taking a 7 to 4 lead to half. Cotterel though was not going to go down, easy scoring two unanswered goals in the fourth chukker to cut the Lucchese lead to 1. This tug trend continued in the fifth and sixth chukker with Luchesse pulling hard in the fifth and going up by 3 goals and then Cotterel answering in the last to fall just short by a score of 12-11.
In the 3pm game we had Film Finance take on Mansour in what was named the Rubirosa Cup in honor of the late Porfirio Rubirosa of the Dominican Republic. Even though this was not a real 12 goal final since it was during the USPA Intra-Circuit Cup, you would not have been able to tell from the crowd or the pace of the game. Film Finance who lost their first game on Friday came out on their good horses to try and get an early lead which they accomplished by a score of 3-2. In the next two chukkers both teams battled back and forth to try and capture the lead however either were able to with the score at the end of the 3rd being 5-5. After half time Mansour came out with a whole new energy and jumped out to a quick 3 goal lead. Film Finance kept battling all the way into the last chukker but with the help of a last chukker goal from Ben Soleimani Mansour was able to fend them off and take the victory by a score of 13-11.
Mansour was awarded the Rubirosa Cup which was created by the Dominican Republic Board of Tourism as a perpetual trophy that will be played for again next year in the Dominican Republic by a team from Santa Barbara and a team from the Dominican. The Board of Tourism also sponsored a Dominican style party that was held during the game. All and all it was a day of great weather great polo and great fun so if you missed it make sure you make it out next week and see why SBPRC is called “Polo in Paradise”.