The Cowdray Gold Cup for The British Open

Andrey Borodin’s Park Place burst into action from the very first seconds of The Gold Cup played on the iconic Cowdray Lawns in front of massive crowds. They held the upper hand throughout the Final against the power of Dubai; to finally clinch victory 12-9 in their first ever Gold Cup win, but the three goal margin of the final result, does not reflect the drama of the final minutes of the match. Tense does not describe it!

“The three goal margin of the final result does not reflect the drama of the final minutes of the match”

Cowdray had done a great job – the place was packed, the trade village and bars were doing a roaring trade with live music and everybody enjoying the sunshine (but not too hot, despite the heatwave) and horse welfare concerns addressed with covered marquees, misters and fans; it was a stupendous display of all things good in polo. The match itself was fast but fair, with clean play and great umpiring resulting in open, flowing action. A thumbs up all round from us!

On paper, Park Place were the underdogs, despite having world number one, Facundo Pieres heading up the impressive line-up. Pieres already had five Gold Cup wins to his name (for La Bamba de Areco in 2009, Zacara in 2013 and King Power Foxes in 2015, King Power in 2016 and 2017) and it goes without saying he was keen to rack up a sixth. So, it was somewhat surprisingly Park Place had endured a rocky road to the Final – in fact they were defeated by Dubai in the qualifiers 17-14 and suffered defeat at the hands of Talandracas (later beating them in the Semi Finals).

First Ever Gold Cup Winfor Park Place

An impressive performance all round

Whilst Park Place have never before won The Gold Cup, Dubai are certainly no strangers to victory in this tournament, having won the tournament five times previously, most recently with the then 16-year-old Camilo ‘Jeta’ Castagnola claiming victory for them in extra-time in 2019.

Whether under-dogs or tipped to win, both of these teams are powerhouses of the UK polo circuit bristling with the best that money can buy: be that players, ponies, tactical advice or backroom support. Both had something to prove and in the packed grandstands, expectation was high for a standout contest. We were not to be disappointed. play with Castagnola and Matt Perry scoring to bring the end of the fifth chukka too close to call at 10-8 still in favour of Park Place. As the sixth and final chukka whistle sounded, spectators were expecting a slam dunk as Castagnola teed up a 40 yard penalty – which incredibly he missed. What? It was a pivotal moment. But Park Place’s relief was short lived as 35-year-old, threetime Argentine Open winner Pieres missed a goal, but Castagnola did not, slotting one home to bring it so close at 10-9 with just minutes to go. The young Castagnola gained possession, running to goal nearly the whole length of the field, effortlessly striking the ball boldly towards goal. Everybody assumed that would be the goal to draw the match and an extra-time battle would ensue. It was a dead cert surely? But even this young phenomenon has nerves it seems, as incredibly Castagnola missed. Dubai were still fighting but Park Place further added insult to injury by scoring another two in quick succession with the final score of 12-9 in Park Place’s favour, so clinching their first ever Gold Cup win.

Screams of pure joy could be heard from the Park Place team tent as a crowd surrounded the presentation area. With both the teams at the podium, The Hon Emily Pearson, daughter of Lord Cowdray, presented the glittering Gold Cup trophy to Park Place team captain, Facundo Pieres and patron, Andrey Borodin.

“Both of these teams are powerhouses of the UK polo circuit bristling with the best that money can buy”

The match started with Dubai having a goal advantage on the scoreboard due to handicap difference (the clue is in the name as British Open means any total handicap can be entered) but Park Place made short work of this with Fran Elizade and Facundo Pieres finding the posts in the opening couple of minutes. If Dubai thought they had to watch just these older, more experienced players, Louis Hine put paid to this, coolly scoring a goal with time to spare to bring the first chukka score 4-1 to Park Place’s advantage. Hine won the tournament with Thai last year and seemed at ease in this year’s Final, showcasing great horsemanship and intuitive, flowing polo. Two wins of The Gold Cup at still only 16-years-old? One to watch for sure, he’s certainly dangerous, but in a good way!

But back to the match – Park Place definitely looked in control, their play carefully avoiding Castagnola, but the question was how long could they keep it up? It turned out not for long as Dubai fought back with the second chukka evenstevens at four apiece. Frenetic activity in the third saw it still tight with Park Place just one goal up 7-6 going into half-time, but still looking in control. No doubt Lolo Castagnola (former 10 goaler and father of Jeta) had something to say at half-time. As commentator Karl Ude-Martinez succinctly put it, “Lolo is the General in the players’ tent and these boys out here are his foot soldiers”. But whatever he said to his troops it did not have the desired effect as Park Place outmanoeuvred Dubai, notching up three more goals after the interval resulting in a 10-6 lead for Park Place at the end of the fourth chukka.

Then something shifted and Dubai started to claw their way back towards the podium, in fast, open, end-to-end thrilling

Photography by ©www.imagesofpolo.com The Park Place team & supporters overcome with jubilation

ReportsThe Cowdray Gold Cup for The British Open Polo Championship Reports “Screams of pure joy could be heard from the Park

Place team tent”

The Cowdray Gold Cup for The British Open Polo Championship Final Teams

All in all it was a stupendous performance from Elizade (who won the tournament in 2012 with Cortium) who was incredibly mounted and really on form for Park Place. He was worthy of securing the MVP and BPP awards for a scorching six chukkas. 10 goaler Pieres was indefatigable

Park Place

Josh Hyde

(23)

(1) Louis Hine (4) Francisco Elizalde (8) Facundo Pieres (10)

Dubai (22)

Camilo Castagnola (9) Rashid Albwardy (1) Matt Perry (5) Jeronimo del Carril (7)

Chukka scores: 4-1, 4-4, 7-6, 10-6, 10-8, 12-9 to Park Place

21 JUNE 17 JULY FINAL

“What a day! What a match! What a great day for young players”

at back, both shutting the door in defence and opening it wide open too in attack and richly deserving his sixth Gold Cup win. Josh Hyde – son of arena 10 goal player Chris – was strong and dependable, subbing for Park Place patron Andrey Borodin and stayed out of trouble, adding value when needed and getting a couple of unlucky close shots to goal; whist young Louis Hine was more than impressive. As a team they played fluidly, cohesively and coolly. Truly a master class in skilled, whistle-free polo and a joy to behold.

Dubai were nearly good enough. But not, as they say, quite good enough when the chips were down. Despite Castagnola scoring five goals, it was not his usual scorched earth performance as he was effectively shut down (often by steely marking from Hine) and overall clever Park Place tactics and cool heads from the boys in blue won the day. No doubt Dubai will be back next year looking for that elusive sixth Gold Cup victory. What a day! What a match! What a great day for young players. All in all? Great stuff.

John Kent & Karl Ude-Martinez

56

goals

Tournament Top Scorer: Jeta Castagnola with 56 goals

14

Number of teams entered into tournament

MVP

Francisco Elizalde

Third Man:

Tim Bown Where: Cowdray Park Polo Club, Midhurst

Julian Appleby & Peter Wright

BPP BPP

Fina Sandy (Sportivo x Fina Sedna), bred by Neuss, owned by Park Place, and played by Facundo Pieres Open Calloway, (Grappa Casino x Open Tarántula), bred by Ellerstina, owned by Bardon and played by Jeta Castagnola

Van Nikita, played and owned by Francisco Elizalde

BPP

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Memorial (Best Playing Patron Pony): Open Sting, played by Rashid Albwardy

BPP