Queen Elizabeth with the winning Zacara team at The Guards Polo Club (Photo by Pablo Ramirez)
Zacara (Facundo Pieres, Lyndon Lea, Gonzalo Deltour and Matt Perry) made it two in a row as they overpowered Talandracas (Polito Pieres, Santiago Stirling, Juan Martin Nero and Edouard Carigmac) Sunday afternoon 10-7 to win the 2014 Cartier Queens Cup at the Guards Polo Club.
Facundo Pieres wasted little time in announcing his presence, scoring the opening goal of the match in first chukker play. Cousin Polito Pieres responded for Talandracas with consecutive goals to close out the chukker with a 2-1 advantage.
Facundo took control of the game in the second. Two goals from the field from the talented 10-goaler went unanswered as Zacara rode out to a 3-2 lead.
Talandracas tried to get back into the game in the third, but Zacara wasn’t having any of it. Facundo Pieres scored two more goals while Talandracas couldn’t shake the Zacara defenders and fell behind by four goals, 6-2, at the end of the first half.
Facundo Pieres scored again in the fourth, 7-2, before Talandracas finally got on track. Two Talandracas scores cut the Zacara lead to a manageable three goals, 7-4, at the end of the chukker.
Two more Zacara goals in the fifth, the first on a spectacular nearside backhander by Facundo Pieres, had Talandracas trailing by five goals, 9-4. Polito Pieres scored on a beautifully-executed cut shot to end the period with Zacara comfortably in the lead, 9-5.
Consecutive penalty conversions from Polito Pieres set the stage for a Talandracas rally as they cut the Zacara lead to just two goals, but time was a factor. Facundo Pieres scored the final goal of the game for the 10-7 victory, returning Zacara to the Cartier Queens Cup winners circle for the second consecutive year.
To no one’s surprise, Facundo Pieres was named MVP while his horse, Open Galactica, was honored as Best Playing Pony, the award being presented by Carlos Gracida, Jr.
El Remanso 12, Lucchese 11
Earlier in the day El Remanso (Hugo Lewis, Charlie Hanbury, Pelon Stirling and Guillermo Terrera) downed Lucchese (John Muse, Lucas James, Nico Pieres and Luke Tomlinson) 12-11 to win the Cartier Trophy in the consolation round of play.