A Jornayvaz day as Valiente I captures the 2012 RoyalSalute C. V. Whitney Cup
By Alex Webbe
As serendipitous as it might be, the arrival of BobJornayvaz and his Valiente I team and his son’s Valiente II team in the finalsof the season’s first 26-goal tournament of the and the first leg of American polo’sTriple Crown at the International Polo Club in Wellington was anything but apleasant happenchance. The elderJornayvaz along with Polito Pieres, Miguel Novillo Astrada and Nacho NovilloAstrada rebounded from a two goal deficit to score a 10-8 win over son Robert’sValiente II side of Alejo Taranco, Pelon Stirling and Adolfo Cambiaso.
With less than a minute gone in the first chukker,Stirling scored for Valiente II for a 1-0 lead, but an ensuing penalty stoppedany momentum they might have been building. A collision between Stirling and Miguel Astrada resulted in an injuredAstrada dismounting and lying on the ground until attended by anambulance. Once he was remounted andplay began, he converted the penalty shot that was awarded to them to tie it upat 1-1. A second penalty conversion fromMiguel Astrada ended the chukker with Valiente I holding a narrow 2-1 lead.
Goals from Stirling and Adolfo Cambiaso opened the secondperiod and had Valiente II on top, 3-2, before Valiente I stormed back. Goals from Miguel Astrada and his brothernacho Astrada ended the chukker with Valiente I back on top with a 4-3advantage.
Uruguayan 6-goaler Alejo Taranco tied it up on a penalty goalin the opening minute of the third, with Cambiaso scoring his second goal ofthe game just a minute later to give Valiente II a one goal, 5-4 edge. The teams battled back and forth, gallopingup and down the field until a Valiente II foul put Miguel Astrada at thepenalty line once again where he scored to lock it up at 5-5 at the end of thefirst half of play.
A renewed Valiente II team took the field in the secondhalf with Cambiaso taking the opening throw-in and racing 150 yards down the fieldfor the go-ahead goal, 6-5. Tarancoscored the second unanswered goal of the fourth chukker and Valiente extendedits lead to two goals, 7-5.
Stirling stretched the Valiente II lead to three goals,8-5, with the opening goal of the fifth period, but Valiente I responded inforce. A penalty conversion from NachoAstrada was complimented by a pair of goals from Miguel Astrada (one on apenalty shot and one from the field), and the chukker ended in an 8-8 deadlock.
Both teams continued to battle for control of the ball inthe final chukker with shots at goal going wide and defensive saves being madeunder extreme pressure. Nacho Astradascored the go-ahead goal for Valiente I followed by a 40-yard penaltyconversion from Miguel Astrada for the 10-8 final score.
Valiente I’s Miguel Astrada led the field in scoring withsix goals (four on penalties). NachoAstrada added three goals (one by penalty) to the win and Polito Pieres scoredonce penalty goal.
Cambiaso and Stirling scored three goals apiece for ValienteII (one penalty goal by Cambiaso). Tarancowas credited with two goals (one by penalty).
Pieres was recognized for a number of great defensiveplays as well as his aggressiveness by being named MVP. Cambiaso’s Mila received Best Playing Pony honors.
VALIENTEI/TONKAWA 13, CIRCA 11
In the day’s noon undercard, Valiente I/Tonkawa scored a13-11 win over Circa in the finals of the 20-goal Iglehart Cup.
Valiente I/Tonkawa burst out of the chutes in the opening chukker putting up four goals before Circa could respond. Two penalty goals from Santiago Toccalino were followed by a goal from the field from Santiago Bottaro and a goal from Jeff Hall. Hilario Ulloa converted a penaltyshot to get Circa on the scoreboard, but Bottaro closed out the scoring with his second goal of the period and a 5-1 lead.
Goals from Guille Aguero and Hall had Valiente I/Tonkawa ahead, 6-2 in the second before Ulloa scored for Circa. A penalty goal from Toccalino was followed bya beautifully placed backhand shot through the goal posts from Circa teamcaptain Chris Del Gatto. The periodended with Valiente I/Tonkawa holding a 7-4 advantage over a struggling buttalented Circa foursome.
Martin Pepa gave Circa a shot of adrenalin in the thirdchukker with a pair of goals from the field to open play to cut the lead to asingle goal, 7-6. Toccalino converted apenalty shot for a goal to end the chukker with Valiente I/Tonkawa riding offof the field on top of an 8-6 score.
Jeff Hildebrand tapped the ball through the goal postsfor a 9-6 lead in the second half, but Circa’s Ulloa kept the game close with agoal from the field. At the end of four chukkers of play, Valiente I/Tonkawa held a two goal advantage, 9-7.
Toccalino scored to open the fifth chukker, 10-7, but Ulloa responded with a penalty conversion for a goal, 10-8. Pepa added a goal from the field, 10-9. Toccalino’s sixth goal of the contest gave ValienteI/Tonkawa an 11-9 edge. A chukker closingscore from Pepa made it a one goal game, 11-10.
There was no let up from Valiente I/Tonkawa in the finalchukker of the game. Toccalino scoredthe first goal from the field followed by a score from teammate Bottaro. With time running out, Valiente I/Tonkawa held a healthy 13-10, three goal lead. Circa continued to press the attack, resulting in a final goal from Pepa in the 13-11 Valiente I/Tonkawa victory.
Toccalino set the pace for the Valiente I/Tonkawa team with seven goals. Bottaro scored three times. Hall added two goals and Hildebrand added a goal in the win.
Pepa led the Circa attack with five goals. Ulloa scored four times and Del Gatto andAguero added single goals in the loss.
Santiago Bottaro was named MVP with Hilario Ulloa’s Bonita receiving Best Playing Ponyhonors.
LA ENSENADA 6, KIG 5
In a Sunday morning contest that was delayed by rain, LaEnsenada rode off with a 6-5 win and the 2012 IPO Cup at the International Polo Club.
With damp grounds, both teams took the field and set offat a tenuous pace with La Ensenada received one goal by handicap from the 20-goalKIG lineup with Carlitos Gracida scoring the only goal from the field in theopening chukker (on a penalty shot) to put La Ensenada ahead, 1-0.
Tommy Biddle got KIG back in it in the second with a pairof goals (one from the field and one by penalty), tying it up at 2-2. Carlos Gracida put La Ensenada back on top,3-2, with the closing goal of the period.
Both defenses stiffened in the third with La Ensenada teamcaptain Ernesto Gutierrez scoring the only goal of the chukker. At the end of the first half, La Ensenadaheld a 4-2 halftime advantage over a talented Circa team that couldn’t find theopposing goal posts.
Defenses continued to rule in the fourth, but this timeit was La Ensenada that was held scoreless. A penalty goal from Biddle cut the lead to a single goal, 4-3.
Biddle tied it up at 4-4 in the fifth, but Matias Magriniscored on a penalty shot as La Ensenada continued to lead, 5-4.
Sugar Erskine’s first goal of the day deadlocked it at5-5 in the final chukker of play, but Magrini finally put it away with a goalfrom the field in a hard-fought 6-5 victory.
Biddle led all scoring with four goals (three on penaltyshots). Erskine added a goal in a losingeffort.
Magrini led the scoring for La Ensenada with twogoals. Gutierrez, Carlitos Gracida andCarlos Gracida scored single goals in the win.