The Polo Report by Steve Crowder – Mini Mike was blowing into the finals in the 16-Goal Continental Cup in Aiken, SC and his Pop Big Mike was sending Round Pond to the finish line first in the Breeders Cup. He might start liking Kentucky or at least Louisville as he won the Kentucky Derby the first Saturday in May and returned to KY on the first Saturday in Nov. to do it again. It was also Mike who said “the cast might come off Barbaro next week.” That is great news to hear as he has been a battler since suffering a almost life-ending injury back in late May. So that’s great news.
It was a great day for Thoroughbred Horses as they were really showcased by ESPN in a very good way. I recently wrote a story about how horses make us, not we make horses. It is true! How big a horse can make a man or woman in this world of racing as well. On the polo scene horses as usual are playing a big part in the polo capital of Argentina. I was talking to a man in AR the other day and he said it was the change in horses bringing down some teams while others were improving. It seems he may be right as Ellerstina brought 8 horses in last year from Australia from Packers ranch there. They must have been good because no one was touching them last year until the finals. Ellerstina sent those horses to England last summer and they seem to be missing them now. Its a tough call where to keep your best horses if you are playing professionally all over the globe like many are. You cannot have the best everywhere as they need time off and patrons demand the best as they are paying for it. So often the best horses are not in the Argentine Open unless you can afford to keep them there. The way the man in AR told me he sees one of the Heguy’s teams being the strongest as they were not playing so much away from the country this year. They saved some of their best horses and are very well mounted. So we will see if that is true because no matter how good the others are there is always a best. You can’t have 6 or 8 the same even with the Embryo technology. It was to be decided today and tomorrow as the weather broke and the semis are on, so you will know soon.
In Aiken its the finals of the Continental Cup with Dahlwood and they take on Henley House. I have not heard about Houston, but I did hear it was really wet in Florida, but not in California. Polo is a week away from starting here in CA except they maybe playing the Deer Creek Open about now. So see you soon.