Fourteen Teams, Led by Defending Champion Las Monjitas, White Birch and Crab Orchard, Enter the Stanford U.S. Open at International Polo Club
WELLINGTON, FL (March 26, 2007) – Defending champion Las Monjitas, perennial powerhouse White Birch, with more high-goal titles than any other team in the U.S., and Crab Orchard, led by superstar Adolfo Cambiaso, highlight the 14 teams that have entered the Stanford U.S. Open Championships, the most prestigious tournament of the season at International Polo Club Palm Beach. That’s the second most entries in the 103-year history of the tourney.
No team has repeated as U.S. Open champion since Outback Steakhouse won three in a row in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Ironically, Cambiaso was a member of all three of those teams, winning the MVP award all three tournaments. Since then, Coca-Cola, C Spear, Isla Carroll, White Birch and Las Monjitas have raised the trophy over their heads.
Camilo Bautista’s Las Monjitas returns with 9-goaler Eduardo Novillo Astrada as its centerpiece, along with brother Ignacio “Nacho” Novillo Astrada, in his first year as a 9-goaler. They are joined by 8-goaler Sapo Caset.
Peter Brant’s White Birch, the most dominant team over the last 25 years in the U.S., has won the U.S. Open only once, in 2005, among its 32 titles in tournaments of 26 goals or higher. With 10-goaler Mariano Aguerre and 9-goaler Lucas Monteverde, White Birch should have plenty of firepower.
Cambiaso and 9-goaler Matias Magrini dominated the 22-goal season and they have continued their amazing success with George Rawlings’ Crab Orchard at the 26-goal level. Seven-goaler David Stirling Jr. of Uruguay rounds out the foursome.
They are coming off winning the USPA Piaget Gold Cup and are the favorites to win the Stanford U.S. Open. Cambiaso and Magrini have gone 17-1 at International Polo Club in 2007, a fact not lost on players who attended the club’s press conference to promote the Stanford U.S. Open on Monday.
“Crab Orchard seems like the team to beat,” said White Birch’s Aguerre. “But right now, I’m focusing on our first game. To win the U.S. Open, you need luck, teamwork and your best horses to stay healthy. I’d prefer to be the favorite but I like our chances.”
“You have the best players in the world competing,” said 9-time U.S. Open champion Carlos Gracida, who is playing for Bob Daniels’ Pony Express with Bautista Heguy and Pancho Bensadon. “Cambiaso’s team is the favorite because he is the best, he has the best players, horses and organization. We have the talent, we’ll see if we have the horses and organization. It is so competitive so it is very difficult to win every game. Never count any of the teams out.”
Nine-goaler Mike Azzaro is playing on Elizabeth Iorio’s Laurence-Wallace/Paladin Rally, one of two teams with a woman patron. Gillian Johnston’s Bendabout is the other.
“It comes down to horses,” said Azzaro. “There are some awesome teams with depth of horses. We got off to a little bit of a slow start but we believe we have as good a chance as anyone. None of the teams don’t belong in the tournament.”
Teams were split into four divisions, two of three teams and two of four teams. The top two teams from the three-team divisions advance to the quarterfinals along with the winners of the four-team division. The final two teams will come from teams in the four-team divisions.
One of the more interesting teams is Jedi, which is playing only the last two events to keep their string of horses as fresh as possible. Torsten Koch, at 23, is the youngest patron in the event. He has 9-goalers Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero as the nucleus with young gun Magoo Laprida providing additional offense. Jedi won the 26-goal C.V. Whitney in 2006 so it is very capable of going far in the Stanford U.S. Open.
There is an amazing array of talent participating in the event. Twenty-nine of the 42 non-sponsors are rated 8 goals or higher with six 10-goalers, 15 9-goalers and eight 8-goalers. The 10-goalers are Mariano Aguerre (White Birch), Miguel Novillo Astrada (Bendabout), Adolfo Cambiaso (Crab Orchard), Agustin Merlos (Laurence-Wallace), Sebastian Merlos (Lechuza Caracas) and Facundo Pieres (Black Watch).
No team features more than one 10-goaler, although five squads have one 9-goaler and a 10-goaler. Only two teams – Skeeterville and Millarville – do not have a player rated higher than eight goals.
The Stanford U.S. Open presented by Bombardier is the culmination of the ultra-competitive winter polo season and covers the first four Sundays in April. The final, on Sunday, April 22 at 3 p.m. on Stanford Field at International Polo Club, expects to draw more than 7,000 spectators.
“Since Bombardier became one of the first partners of International Polo Club, we have enjoyed watching the growth of the club and the Stanford U.S. Open every year,” said Matt Brandon, Regional Marketing Director for Bombardier Business Aircraft. “We are proud to be a presenting sponsor of this prestigious event again in 2007.”
The quarterfinals are scheduled for Sunday, April 15 with the semifinals set for Wednesday, April 18.
Historically, the U.S. Open has always been the grand prize of polo in North America. It is one of only three tournaments played at the 26-goal level, the highest-rated tournament in the United States. The others are the C.V. Whitney Cup and USPA Piaget Gold Cup, both also played at International Polo Club, the first time all three 26-goal tournaments have been played at one club.
The first U.S. Open title game was played in 1904 at Van Cortland Park in New York City where the Wanderers defeated the Freebooters 4 ½-3, the lowest scoring final in the history of the tournament.
Major sponsors at International Polo Club Palm Beach for the 2007 season include Stanford Private Wealth Management, Piaget, Bombardier Aerospace, Bessemer Trust, Westwind Realty, LLC, Panera Bread, Cartier, CityPlace, Florida Coast Equipment, The Mall at Wellington Green, Omar Trevino Bloodstock, Inc., Palm Beach Daily News, Palm Beach Illustrated, Palm Beach Post, Ritz Carlton Palm Beach, Roederer Estates, The Wellington Institute, Van Cleef & Arpels, Yamana Gold Inc. and Jim Corbin Illustrated Properties.
The polo matches at International Polo Club are open to the public. General admission for the Sunday games at International Polo Club Palm Beach is $15 for adults and reserved lawn seats are $40 per person. Children under 3 enter for free. Tickets may be purchased at the gate on the day of the game or in advance at the stadium box office.
International Polo Club Palm Beach is located at 3667 120th Avenue South, between Pierson Road and Lake Worth Road in Wellington. For information, directions or ticket purchases, please call the club at (561) 204-5687 or visit the website at www.internationalpoloclub.com.
2007 Stanford U.S. Open rosters:
Bendabout (26) – Gillian Johnston (2), Alejandro Novillo Astrada (7), Miguel Novillo Astrada (10), Ignacio Toccalino (7)
Black Watch (25) – Neil Hirsch (0), Facundo Pieres (10), Gonzalito Pieres (9), Nacho Figueras (6)
Catamount (26) – Scott Devon (3), Adam Snow (9), Nicolas Roldan (8), Martin Zegers (6)
Crab Orchard (26) – George Rawlings (0), Matias Magrini (9), Adolfo Cambiaso (10), David Stirling Jr. (7)
Jedi (26) – Torsten Koch (1), Pablo MacDonough (9), Juan Martin Nero (9), Magoo Laprida (7)
Las Monjitas (26) – Camilo Bautista (0), Sapo Caset (8), Eduardo Novillo Astrada (9), Ignacio Novillo Astrada (9)
Laurence-Wallace/ Paladin Rally (26) – Elizabeth Iorio (0), Agustin Merlos (10), Mike Azzaro (9), Luis Escobar (7)
Lechuza Caracas (26) – Victor Vargas (1), Sebastian Merlos (10), Pite Merlos (9), Jeff Blake (6)
Millarville (26) – Fred Mannix Jr. (7), Sugar Erskine (7), Silvestre Donovan (7), Daniel Roenisch (5)
Orchard Hill (25) – Steve Van Andel (0), Hector Galindo (8), Lucas Criado (9), Jeff Hall (8)
Pony Express (26) – Bob Daniels (0), Pancho Bensadon (8), Carlos Gracida (9), Bautista Heguy (9)
San Saba (25) – Tommy Lee Jones (0), Toto Collardin (7), Javier Novillo Astrada (9), Paco de Narvaez (9)
Skeeterville (26) – Skeeter Johnston (2), Julio Arellano (8), Owen Rinehart (8), Marcos di Paola (8)
White Birch – Peter Brant (4), Lucas Monteverde (9), Mariano Aguerre (10), Ulysses Escapite (3)