Former 10-goaler Piki Alberdi earns MVP honors by leading Dutta Corp. over Postage Stamp Farm in the Santa Rita Abierto at the Grand Champions Polo Club Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Alex Pacheco)
Dutta Corp. (Timmy Dutta, Carlitos Gracida, Piki Alberdi and Mariano Gracida) broke open a tight game against Postage Stamp Farm (Annabelle Gundlach, Tommy Collingwood, Brandon Phillips and Jeff Blake) with three unanswered forth chukker goals that carried them to a 10-6 win Saturday afternoon in the Santa Rita Abierto at the Grand Champions Polo Club.
Dutta Corp. received one goal by handicap from the 16-goal Postage Stamp Farm team as they battled through a scoreless opening chukker. Dutta Corp left the field after the opening seven minutes with the 1-0 lead.
Second period play saw brothers Carlitos Gracida and Mariano Gracida each score a penalty goal while holding Postage Stamp Farm to a single goal from Brandon Phillips. Dutta Corp. continued to dominate, extending their lead to two goals, 3-1.
Tommy Collingwood scored a goal from the field in the third period and Phillips converted a 30-ayrd penalty shot. The Postage Stamp Farm defense held Dutta Corp. scoreless and tied the game at 3-3 to end the first half.
Mariano Gracida opened the second half with a goal from the field for Dutta Corp. to give them the 4-3 lead. Former 10-goaler Piki Alberdi scored consecutive goals from the field to increase the led to three goals. The Dutta Corp. defense kept Postage Stamp Farm off the scoreboard and left the field on the winning end of a 6-3 score.
Jeff Blake scored his first goal of the day from the field in fifth chukker play, 6-4. Carlitos Gracida responded by converting a 40-yard penalty shot to end the scoring in the period with Dutta Corp. in the lead, 7-4.
Alberdi scored the first goal of the sixth chukker from the field followed by a pair of penalty goals from teammate Carlitos Gracida to make it 10-4. Collingwood scored on a 30-yard penalty shot and Blake added his second goal of the day, but it was Dutta Corp with the convincing 10-7 victory.
Carlitos Gracida led all scoring on the field with four goals. Alberdi was credited with three goals and Mariano Gracida scored twice for the win. Blake, Collingwood and Phillips each scored twice for Postage Stamp Farm in the loss.
Alberdi was named MVP for his efforts on the day while Collingwood’s 10-year-old Chestnut mare, Image, took home Best Playing Pony honors.
Santa Rita Abierto play is scheduled to continue on Tuesday with a noon game that will feature Travieso (Teo Calle, Tony Calle, Felipe Viana and Alfredo Capella) and Dutta Corp. followed by a 4pm contest between High Ground/GSA (Joe Meyer, Henry Porter, Facha Valent and Matias Magrini) and Casablanca (Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini, Malcolm Borwick and Steward Armstrong).
The Grand Champions Polo Club is located at 13444 Southfields Road, on the corner of South Shore Boulevard and Lake Worth Road, Wellington, 33414. The matches are free of charge and the public is invited to attend. The Grand Champions Polo Hotline is 561-373-0073.