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News in brief w C arlton House – Four teams took part in Carlton House’s charity polo day at the end of April. The visiting Longdole team, consisting of Tom Dare, Dan Banks and Tom Beim, won the higher division final, with Beim picking up the Polo Times best playing pony award, below. They beat the Norfolk polo team. In the lower division, Renewable Tech – Alice Servaes, Harriet Servaes/Paul Green and Isaac Duffy – beat Woodhouse Farm by an impressive 10 goals. In total, more than £3,000 was raised for the Air Ambulance and St Elizabeth Hospice.
w U SA – This year’s Polo on the Prairie event, held at Lazy 3 Ranch, raised $338,880 for The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre – this is the most the event has ever raised since it first began in 1987. In total, the annual event has raised more than $4.3million. w C irencester Park – The winner of the Cirencester 0-40, played at the beginning of May, was decided on points rather than a final after week-long rain disrupted the schedule. In the end, each of the seven teams played two games, with Switch 2 Renewable – Tim Dobson, Jamie Dundas, Henry Brett and Bobby Melville – finishing with the most points and collecting the trophy.
Australia – The Jeep Kurri Burri Cup
Winten win the Kurri Burri Cup KURRI BURRI POLO CLUB hosted one of their most popular polo tournaments on Mother’s Day, Sunday 13 May – the Jeep Kurri Burri Cup, co-sponsored by JaegerLeCoultre. Watched by more than 2,000 spectators, Winten defeated Marshall in the eight-goal final, 6-5. There were also two other sections, 4-goal and 0-goal. Fittingly, both eight-goal finalists teams featured a father/son combination, cheered on by their respective mothers and grandmothers. Four-goal Winten captain Adam Tolhurst, who played alongside his father Mark, combined well with Hamish McGregor in the first half. The pair controlled the play in the middle of the field, passing shots up to patron David Rothwell in attack. Despite a goal from Marshall’s six-goaler Sam Hopkinson, Winten held a comfortable 4-1 lead by the end of the second chukka. The tables turned in the third and fourth chukka’s, with John Marshall making some strong defensive plays, backhanding the ball up to his son, David, and Hopkinson, who were able to run the ball to goal and cut the lead. However, just before the end of the fourth chukka, Mark Tolhurst was able to capitalise on a mistake by Marshall and regain a twogoal lead for his side. Marshall did manage to score a couple more goals, but Winten had the edge and retained the lead until the final bell. Winten’s David Rothwell collected the winning cup, while Sam Hopkinson’s mare Maggie was named as the best playing pony. In the subsidiary final, Cox and King defeated Town & Country, 12-5. The 4-goal final was won by Coco Republic who defeated Centuria and Muddy Flats beat Sportscraft in the 0-goal final.
Argentina – La Aguada Open
Winten patron David Rothwell collected the Jeep Kurri Burri Cup from popular commentator Ebe Sievwright
France – Coupe PGH
Bensadon is back ARGENTINE PANCHO BENSADON returns to the Apremont grounds in France this season, having won every French tournament he played in last season. Since his appearance in the 2011 Argentine Open, his handicap has been moved up to nine goals and he was the highest-handicapped player in the Coupe PGH – the first medium-goal tournament of Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly’s summer season. Seven teams entered the 10-12 goal tournament, which concluded after Polo Times went to press. This year, Bensadon lined-up for Andre Fabre’s In the Wings, alongside Ramiro Zavaleta and Thomas Callascibetta. The medium-goal Coupe Laversine Challenge followed on from the Coupe PGH, with the highlight of the season – The French Open – taking place later this year, from 1-16 September.
La Aguada triumph at home
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Polo Times, June 2012
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Agosto, 11-9, in a fast and open final. Alejandro Novillo Astrada was named most valuable player and his brother Javier’s pony, Posta Santita, won the best playing pony award. De Narvaez won the fair play prize. In the subsidiary final, held earlier in the day in Open Door, La Aguada El Dok beat Las Monjitas, 11-9.
Photograph by R&B Presse
THE HOME TEAM, La Aguada, won the La Aguada Open at the end of April. Held at the Novillo Astrada’s club, the 30-goal tournament featured four teams this year. La Aguada – featuring Martin de Narvaez (6), Javier Novillo Astrada (9), Santiago Toccalino (7) and Alejandro Novillo Astrada (8) – defeated Sol de
Pancho Bensadon, wearing white, in action last month
www.polotimes.co.uk
18/5/12 16:35:55