Finally, here it was, the second weekend of games for the 117th edition of the Argentine Open, the wait may have been unbearable but for the unbelievable amount of high goal polo action in this part of the world.  That said, I believe my anticipation for the best polo in the world was only heightened by the quality of action seen throughout the week…and I do not speak of my own stick and ball sessions and polo practices but of the 20 goal VII Julio Novillo Astrada Cup final and one of the opening games of Alejandro Diaz (Piki) Alberdi’s 16 goal tournament.  I followed this action quite closely as good friend Polito Pieres was involved, winning both the final at the beautiful La Aguada ranch with the Los Cocos team, and his opening match at Alberdi’s ranch playing for Las Monjitas.  Heck there is so much polo happening here I have not yet even made it to the 30 goal Camara de Diputados Cup which has been thus far dominated by the La Quinta Beaufort team, headlined by the English brothers Luke and Mark Tomlinson.

The forecast throughout the week had been for rain on Saturday, would the two scheduled games have to be delayed?  I’m guessing somebody in this mostly Catholic country was saying their prayers because despite the forecast, the overcast skies and slightly cool conditions, rain was not to interfere with this day.

The first game on the schedule was once again the 30 goal qualifying team of Sao Jose, this time up against the 33 goal Pilara team which had played so well in the first weekend of action, dominating the 35 goal Chapa Uno squad, 19-9.  As my brother and I settled into our seats (we had generously been gifted centre field seats for the weekend) we realized what a treat this was, we were surrounded by the players and coaches for the teams not playing on this day.  The stands seemed to fill much quicker than usual for the early games, we soon found out why, despite the coolness in the air these two teams came out hot, there was no warming into this game. The action was moving well from the first throw-in, Pilara was the aggressor at first, keeping the action in Sao Jose’s end and eventually reaping the rewards with a couple of penalty 3’s by Augustin Merlos.  Sao Jose strengthened their resolve and struck back, first Nico Pieres with an impressive neck shot to goal and then it was Polito’s turn, taking it from deep in the defensive zone with a neck shot and screaming up the boards to tie the game at 2.  The 2nd chukka began with more of the same from the cousins, Nico with dazzling stick work and a pass to Polito who pounded it and then pulled it off the post for the goal…even the players in the stands roared their approval at this display.  Sao Jose were looking confident and playing aggressive but this wasn’t something Pilara and the experienced Merlos brothers hadn’t seen before and they simply applied more pressure of their own.  The match was becoming a battle of attrition, both squads applying pressure on offense and defense, no quarter given, back and forth they went, pounding back shots to turn defense to offense, crushing ride offs to steal the ball and opportunistic jumping of lines to draw fouls.  Brilliant play, both teams, each operating as one.  The second chukka came to a close with Sao Jose owning a narrow lead, 5-4, the crowd was buzzing, all but drowning out the vendors in the stands trying to sell their wares.  In this way the game continued, perhaps the best example of the intensity was displayed by Nico, with the game tied at 7 and the seconds ticking down to halftime Pilara broke free, a sure goal, or was it?  Here came Nico, out of nowhere, on a grey horse with impossible speed, making an incredible hook to save the goal to be…the crowd roared…then gasped…Nico had crashed into the backstop at the end of the field, the grey ran free, Nico was down!  Silence descended upon the stadium.  Nico’s mother rushed past on her way down the stairs to go to her son, Facundo took a more direct approach, leapt the fence and sprinted across the field to his brother, all eyes were on Nico, both teams surrounded him, the ambulance arrived, in the stands we watched, wondered, waited.  Eventually the teams rode off and the ambulance headed to the Sao Jose tent, all eyes still watched, would Nico return?  Both teams rode onto the field after the half, all but one…and then…Nico…relief washed over the crowd and then came the applause.  The 5th chukka began, something was different, perhaps Nico was not quite as aggressive as he was earlier in the game but that wasn’t it, it seemed to be the horses.  Augustin Merlos was dazzling on a gorgeous chestnut mare, Sao Jose faltered, it seemed they didn’t have the horsepower for that chukka, again Augustin was making plays on his mare, Pilara was pulling away, the chukka ended 11-8 for Pilara.  Sao Jose had to mount a comeback, they started pushing but all for naught, this Pilara team is so strong, each player fills their role to perfection.  In the 7th Nico had his mojo back, aggressive again, Sao Jose was not going to quit, they keep coming, the teams traded penalty 3’s and goals from the field but Pilara is so focused, both on offense and defense, they had taken Sao Jose’s earlier aggression and confidence from them with consistent, solid and spectacular play.  Pilara won the match 18-12, the only real difference seemed to be the horses in the 5th chukka, Sao Jose couldn’t come back from that deficit.  Next weekend will be the semifinals for this Pilara team, keep an eye on them, they may surprise.

Now to field one, but not directly, there was time to wander through the crowds and browse the shops…ok…not so much browse as get an espresso from the Nespresso girl in the La Martina shop, it could only help my note taking right?  The espresso downed and the steep stairs of the stadium climbed and we were ready for 35 goal Chapa Uno to take on the 39 goal defending champs, La Dolfina.  As play began it seemed something was different, Chapa Uno seemed to have adjusted their lineup, was that Bautista at the number 4?  It seemed he would be the man to try and mark Adolfo Cambiaso, not a simple task.  It was Bautista whom opened the scoring for this match with a converted penalty but it was Adolfo answering back from the field in his usual style.  The pace of this game did not start fast, it looked like both teams were trying to play a control game, or perhaps it was La Dolfina setting the pace.  I could hear La Dolfina communicating from the 17th row, the entire team seemed to be playing in the style of Adolfo, as a team they cycled, controlling the man on them and the ball, leaving it behind for their teammates, in this manner they worked the ball down the field.  I took a look at the big screen across the stadium, the one that lists the horses that are currently on the field (see photo below, the blue screen) and see that Cambiaso was on a horse named Lufthanza, aptly named I think as I saw him flying down the field passing first one, then another Chapa Uno player on his way to goal.  These moments of speed were few and far between to start the match as La Dolfina continued to control the pace, Lolo Castagnola seemed well suited to this style as he was taking out player after player with his bruising ride offs.  At one point of the 3rd chukka it seemed one could throw a facecloth over both teams at once, the play was so condensed that is seemed to be moving nowhere fast but it was working for La Dolfina as they came out of the chukka with a 7-4 lead.  The horsepower wasn’t really standing out in this match so far, although, all were displaying incredible handle as both teams picked away at each other, did La Dolfina have Chapa Uno playing their game?  Almost a chess match out there, both teams working the line of the ball, fouls being called, the game was remaining close, Chapa Uno was showing that they could in fact play this game as well.  The game slowly started to shift in the 6th, Chapa Uno seemed to be turning the tide, speed was coming back into the game, the pace was picking up when suddenly it exploded with Hilario Ulloa on his fantastic mare Extranjera blistering along the boards leaving all behind and heading straight to goal, the young 9 goaler would not miss to tie the match at 10.  Incredible, who would have thought that this Chapa Uno squad that had such trouble last weekend could challenge the defending champs like this!  The crowd was on the edge of their seats, was there an upset in the making?  The 7th chukka, a well hit ball hits Bautista Heguy square in the back, bounced off his horse’s rump, hit the ground dead and Bautista picked it up on the nearside, whistle, foul called.  The crowd obviously disagreed with the umpire’s call as the entire stadium erupted with a chorus of piercing whistles, it made the hair stand on end.  It seemed the underdogs now had the support of the people.  Back and forth this game went, strong play from both sides, as the bell and umpire’s whistle signal the end of the 7th, Bautista and his Chapa Uno squad are but inches from crossing the goal mouth with the ball!  Chukkas ends 14-12.  The 8th begins with Chapa Uno getting that goal from the throw-in in the goal mouth and this game was on!  Now, this must be an absolutely terrifying sight for an opponent, Adolfo Cambiaso on Cuatetera, the best playing pony of last years Open and one of the great horses that Adolfo has cloned, and there he went on her, straight to goal…the ball was going, going….backed out of there!!! No goal! The match was at a frantic pace, both teams leaving it all on the field, Ulloa to goal…a clean miss…the crowd groans in unison…Cambiaso the other way, now on Buenaventura, another supreme equine athlete…draws the foul and converts.  Lucas Montaverde pots one from the field in the final seconds and the match was over, 16-13 for La Dolfina.  Wow.  What a great game to watch, but, it begs the question…Did Chapa Uno play that much better than last weekend? Or was La Dolfina still not firing on all cylinders?  Next Saturday, La Dolfina vs Pilara cannot come soon enough!

Sunday, an absolutely gorgeous day, not a cloud in the sky.  Just into the seats with but minutes to spare for the 2 o’clock game, not due to the activities of the night before this time, but those of the morning, fresh from practice at Paul Pieres’ polo field.  Somewhat weary but most certainly content, I settled in for what promised to be a most interesting match…34 goal Alegria vs 37 goal La Aguada.  This match began as all of Alegria’s seem to, fast action from the outset.  Perhaps it is Fred Mannix that sets this pace as he was on fire to begin the game, he was everywhere.  Blazing around the field both picking up balls on his own and receiving passes from his teammates, an aggressive number 1.  Despite the fast paced action Alegria was unable to finish, actually they had trouble even penetrating deep into La Aguada’s defensive zone for some time.  The Novillo Astrada brothers are so smooth and solid and they were the team to strike first.  Alegria’s pressure was relentless and finally they drew a foul for their first tally of the day but it seemed for every move they made, La Aguada had an answer, the two teams seemed to stand toe to toe exchanging blows.  This was a match that certainly did not want for horsepower, both teams were scorching the earth, at one point in the 3rd chukka Mariano Aguerre jumped a beautiful back shot pass from Francisco Bensadon and left everyone on the field behind him as he ran to goal, cries of “Buena yegua!” could be heard all throughout the stands.  As the match continued Alegria seemed to better channel their aggression and started to work more efficiently  as a team, the pressure on La Aguada mounted as they appeared to be barely holding Alegria off.  The 3rd chukka ended with a 7-5 lead for Alegria and the crowd seemed almost stunned into silence for a moment, then the murmuring began…what was happening here?  The 4th began where the 3rd left off, a furious pace, horse’s hooves barely touching the ground as they flew from end to end, big bumps, bigger shots.  Francisco de Narvaez ended the chukka leaving Alegria’s defensive end on a rocket aimed directly at La Aguada’s goal, at the last second his aim seemed off, it was, but that wasn’t to prevent him from his goal, a neck shot at a blistering pace from an impossible angle glanced off the near goal post and somehow found it’s way across the goal line for the 8-7 lead going into halftime.  This match was something else, the horsepower and skill displayed was riveting, both squads working so well.  I wondered to myself, could Alegria’s horses hold up to the reknown string of La Aguada for the entire match?  Could Alegria maintain this level of play?  As the second half of play unfolded the answers seemed to be yes to the first and no to the second.  As far as I could tell the only difference in the match seemed to be a 2 or 3 minute stretch at the end of the 5th chukka where Alegria seemed to lose focus as a team, just the slightest bit but enough for a La Aguada squad of brothers who seem to almost be reading each others minds.  It is a thing to behold, this teamwork of the Novillo Astrada brothers, for every ball they hit there seems to be another of them almost waiting for the pass before it is struck, it is beautiful to see.  The 4 goal lead that La Aguada took out of the 5th chukka held for them as they were able to close out the match, winning by a 3 goal margin, 15-12.  As the teams shook hands and rode off the field the crowd enthusiastically applauded both squads, expressing their thanks for the brilliant display of polo.

The final match of the weekend…40 goal Ellerstina vs the patched together Chapa II squad which now totalled a mere 29 goals.  Ignacio and Eduardo Heguy, having boiled over in frustration during last weekend’s match, were suspended due to having received two yellow cards each and were being replaced by Joaquin Pittaluga (7 goals) and Ignatius du Plessis (6 goals) for this match.  The match began without much flow as Ellerstina came out  seemingly complacent, the Chapa II team, although not having been together long came out working quite well to begin the match.  Despite this, Ellerstina scored first and never relinquished the lead.  For three chukkas the play limped along with occasional spurts of speed and solid play as both teams tried to warm into it and find their way, the 3rd chukka ended with Ellerstina leading by only one goal, 5-4.  The 4th chukka saw Ellerstina begin to wake up and the game subsequently began to open up, much to the chagrin of Chapa II.  The 4th ended 8-4 for Ellerstina and they never looked back.  Facundo Pieres began putting on an absolute hitting display, it was like a major league baseball homerun derby, he was absolutely crushing polo balls from everywhere on the field, I have never seen the like.  Dropping goals from 60-80 yards beyond the end line and 20-30 yards from the boards, a jaw slackening display, people were looking at each other in the stadium in disbelief.  Really there is not much to speak of from this game, it was complete destruction from the 4th chukka on out, the crowd began filing out in waves during breaks in play beginning in the 7th chukka.  The match ended at 19-9 for Ellerstina and the score was not indicative of the destruction, I suppose not much else is to be expected when a 29 goal team matches up against a perfect 40 goals, the skill of the players, the horses…sheer dominance.

Semifinal action begins next weekend with La Dolfina vs Pilara and Ellerstina vs La Aguada, should be an incredible couple days of polo, check back in here to hear all about it.

Chau for now!

Dylan Foster