Zacara beat El Remanso in a thrilling contest to win Cartier Queen’s Cup
Most Valuable Player Facundo Pieres adds this prestigious trophy to his collection at last
Lyndon Lea’s Zacara team produced a great game of polo on The Queen’s Ground at Guards Polo Club to win their first Cartier Queen’s Cup trophy. They defeated the Hanburys’ El Remanso 15-9. Zacara had impressed throughout the league stages of the competition and did not disappoint today. Ten-goaler Facundo Pieres was the undisputed star of the final and was rewarded with the Most Valuable Player prize. He seemed more delighted though to receive the Best Playing Pony Award from HM The Queen for his horse Galatica whom he had played in two chukkas this afternoon.
However the final score did not do justice to El Remanso who played hard throughout the six chukkas. They were leading 2-1 after the first chukka and kept Zacara to 3-3 at the end of the second. The damage was done in the third, when Pieres and Rodrigo Andrade scored five goals between them to only two in reply from El Remanso. However, when they failed to score in the fourth it became clear that this was going to be Zacara’s day. David Stirling and Guillermo Terrera never gave up the fight though – at one point Terrera produced a fabulous shot to goal, picking up the ball in mid air and driving it down the field to goal. Such play was much appreciated by the several thousand people who were watching this match.
This Cartier Queen’s Cup final was not the only game of the day. In the morning, Talandracas defeated Les Lions in a close game in extra time to win the Cartier Trophy – the subsidiary final. With the scores at 10-all at the end of the sixth chukka, it was a chance for extra time and a golden goal scenario. This was secured by the only 10-goaler on the field, Juan Martin Nero, to give Talandracas victory and the opportunity for patron Edouard Carmignac to receive the Cartier Trophy from HM The Queen later in the afternoon.
The Cartier Queen’s Cup is of the most prestigious events of the British sporting calendar and those watching the game were as impressive as the players on the field. HM The Queen was accompanied by Arnaud M Bamberger, Executive Chairman Cartier Ltd, Laurent Feniou Managing Director Cartier Ltd and Jock Green-Armytage, Chairman of Guards Polo Club, in the Royal Box overlooking the wonderful green lawns of Guards Polo Club. In addition Cartier invited guests from the worlds of stage, screen, sport, society, and literature into the Cartier enclosure, welcoming them to the elegant reception, serving Cartier champagne and a lunch created by Mosimann’s. These guests included HRH Princess Beatrice, Charlotte Casiraghi, Sharon Stone, Thandie Newton, Clare Balding, Ed Westwick, Oona Chaplin, Celine Buckens, Claire Foy, Marina Poplavskaya, Jack Fox, Fernando Montano, John Hannah, Zoey Deutch, Colin Salmon, Katherine Jenkins, Adam Bidwell, Suzannah Lipscomb, Ben Fogle, Tom Hollander, Stephanie Powers, Jilly Cooper, Duffy and Will Carling.
‘The King of Jewellers’, Cartier, has a long-standing tradition of supporting polo, the true ‘Sport of Kings’ the world over. Cartier UK enjoyed 27 wonderful years of sponsoring polo through the Cartier International Day but last year saw the move to the prestigious high-goal Queen’s Cup tournament. Cartier is honoured to support this event for the second year. The tournament itself began on Wednesday 22nd May, commencing three weeks of electrifying high-goal polo. This world-leading tournament concluded today with this historic final played in the presence of HM The Queen. With 16 teams entering this most prestigious of tournaments, including seven of the greatest exponents of the sport in the world- those illustrious 10-goal players – all expectations were exceeded.