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Whitney Cup
The delicacy of the Palm Beach circuit is, of course, the Triple Crown, which underwent a couple of changes this year: the U.S.P.A. (United States Polo Association) Piaget Gold Cup replaced the Hall of Fame Cup, and the C.V. Whitney Cup, which had always been the second of the three tournaments, was put first. Therefore, it was the tournament in memory of Cornelius Vanderbilt Sonny Whitney, patron during the thirties and three times champion of the National Open, that opened the series of up to 26 goals. Surprisingly, the competition drew one team less (12) than the Ylvisaker trophy did, although the amount of Argentines playing remained the same: 23. And there were many changes in the teams: Crab Orchard held on to Cambiaso and Magrini; Las Monjitas, current title holder of the US Open, with Eduardo (Jr.) and Ignacio Novillo Astrada and Guillermo Caset (Jr.); Catamount, with no Argentine players; Orchard Hill, had Lucas Criado and White Birch, a tough team, had Aguerre and Lucas Monteverde (Jr.). In contrast to the rest of the tournaments of the circuit, this one followed the direct elimination format. That is to say: each team that lost was eliminated. And it was precisely with that format that the surprise occurred, or rather, what so many rivals since 2006 had tried to achieve–alternately–20 times running with no success: to beat Cambiaso and Magrini. Skeeterville, with Marcos Di Paola, supported by Julio Arellano’s 9 goals, achieved what all other teams wanted to do which was to beat Crab Orchard as they did by 13-12, opening the field of the championship by eliminating the Bogey Man from the scene. The green team was above almost all the time on the score board; it recovered from the only time it was at a disadvantage (11-12) close to the end, and defined the match with a 5-yard-touch of the ball by Arellano, who snatched the ball close to his adversaries’ goal posts and amidst a handful of players. “To win against Cambiaso is a privilege. It feels great”, said patron Skeeter Johnston. “It’s an honour and a privilege to have beaten him (Cambiaso), but if we don’t win the tournament, nobody will remember that”, warned Arellano. Mistake: here we are mentioning that victory. Bad luck for Cambiaso and Magrini: the only time they lost, they were out of the tournament; no unbeaten record or four consecutive titles could change that. And bad luck also for patron George Rawlings, who hired the invincible couple and was beaten in the first match. At least he had the consolation of winning the Iglehart subsidiary trophy (before it used to be the main cup of the 22 goal tournament), by 10-8 against Pony Express, whom they also beat in the Joe Barry final, although with another team. The foursome that made the most of the open field was Catamount, winner of the last cup, but in 2006. Lead by American Adam Snow and his ascending countryman Nicolás Roldán, it only just beat White Birch by 14-13 with a goal made by Nico from 40 yards away, 36 seconds to the end. Their opponent got off with the ball in the last throw-in and Monteverde managed to shoot at the goal, but his shot went wide only one second before the end. With no Argentines among the winners, at least there was criollo blood on the winning team, because Roldán, who was distinguished as the M.V.P. is the son of Raúl, an Argentine who has settled in the United States. He has already won the Open in his country (1998); he has played in Coronel Suárez and in the Argentina Polo Tour. Will he one day make the leap towards the gaucho Triple Crown? He’s well on his way to doing so.
CATAMOUNT WHITE BIRCH TOTAL: 26 TOTAL: 26Progression: Catamount, 3-2, 5-4, 7-8, 11-10, 13-12 and 14-13.
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