Vic Graber Memorial
Mr. Cecils won the Vic Graber Memorial 12 goal last Sunday at SBPRC in fine style.
The team has almost the same lineup as the Antelope team that won the Pope Challenge, however patron Jonathan Burrows replaced Geoff Palmer. The lineup change made no difference in the fine teamwork displayed by Santi Trotz and Julio and Marianito Gracida, as they easily incorporated Burrows into the team strategy and continued to outrun and outscore the other 12 goal teams.
The final of the Vic Graber featured Mr. Cecil’s against Piocho. Piocho was lead by none other the Julio’s dad, polo icon Memo Gracida. Mr Cecil’s started the game out with a bang, as they quickly ran up a 6-0 lead. Mr. Cecil’s captain Santi Trotz looked like he had a plan in the first chukker to come out running on the best horses and it worked, leaving Piocho flat footed. Memo finally got Piocho on the board in the 2nd chukker and closed the gap to 6-3 by converting two penally shots in the 3rd. But Julio Gracida set the tone for the second half by quickly scoring for Mr. Cecils and harassing his father relentlessly on defense. Matias Torres Zavaleta got rolling for Piocho in the second half, scoring four goals in the latter part of the game, but every time Piocho put one through the goal posts Mr. Cecil’s answered right back, maintaining their three goal lead. Final score was Mr. Cecil’s 12-9 over Piocho.
BPP was Africa, ridden by Matias Torres Zavaleta and owned by Tom Barrack, MVP was Santiago Trotz.
Earlier in the day in the consolation game, Long Beach defeated La Karina/ Mansour 8-7.
The Teams:
Mr. Cecils (12): Marianito Gracida (2), Julio Gracida (4), Santiago Trotz (5), Jonathan Burrows (1)
La Karina/ Mansour (10): Ben Soleimani (A), Brian Boyd (1), Santiago Wulff (5), Santiago von Wernich (4)
Long Beach (9): Henry Walker (2), Danny Walker (3) Matt Walker (3), Bowen Farrell (1)
Piocho (12): Tom Barrack (1), Matias Zavaleta (4), Memo Gracida (7), Glencito Holden (A)