A-F Pony Farm Defeats San Saba in the USPA U.S. Open Women’s Polo Championship® Finals

Eight of the world’s best female players battled for the only national level title in U.S. women’s polo
Houston Polo Club 

Content credits: Rebecca Bollenbach, Alex Webbe
Photography credits: Kaylee Scherbinski, Rebecca Bollenbach

The November 11^th finals of the U.S. Open Women’s Polo Championship® showcased some of the best women’s polo in the world, as San Saba faced off with A-F Pony Farm for the title. In an all-out battle for the nation’s only National Level USPA title in women’s polo, A-F Pony Farms (Karen Reese, Dayelle Fargey, Tiffany Busch and Lia Salvo) scored an exciting 6-5 overtime win over San Saba (Dawn Jones, Caroline Anier, Clarissa Echezaretta and Lesley Ann Masterton Fong-Yee).

“It’s just so amazing,” said MVP Tiffany Busch of A-F Pony Farm, following the win.  “I can’t believe it,” she added.

With an altered lineup that had Lia Salvo replacing the injured Abbey Riggs in the finals, the A-F Pony Farm foursome took the field against San Saba’s international powerhouse of French 2-goal Caroline Anier, Jamaican 2-goal Lesley Ann Masterton Fong-Yee, 1-goal captain in Dawn Jones and veteran Clarissa Echezaretta.

The original team for A-F Pony Farm included California’s Abbey Riggs, Aiken horse trainer and pro Karen Reese, an up-and-coming 1.5-goal Tiffany Busch and former 2-goaler Dayelle Fargey from Canada.

San Saba’s path to Sunday’s finals came at the expense of ERG (Crystal Cassidy, Cecelia Cochran, Ina Lalor and Mumy Bellande) in a 7-4 win followed by an exciting win over the defending champions Goose Creek (Maureen Brennan, Carin Middleton, Kristy Outhier and Sunny Hale).  A-F Pony Farm’s route to the finals included a first round bye, followed by a second round loss to Goose Creek. However, a key 8-7 win over a powerful BTA team (K.C. and Chrys Beal, Sheila Lequerica and Lia Salvo) in semifinal action allowed A-F to sneak into the finals.  In the 4^th chukker of the semifinals, Abbey Riggs incurred a knee injury and was forced to sit out of the last game.  Argentine 2-goaler Lia Salvo filled in for her and the rest is history.

San Saba and A-F Pony Farm battled back and forth throughout the 1:00 p.m. ET Sunday finals, with the two teams leaving the field after the first two chukkers of play ended in a 3-3 tie.

“It was very even,” noted Tiffany Busch. “It was constantly back and forth. They were up by a goal, we were up by a goal, then we were tied, it was brutal–a very physical match,” she added.

San Saba took a 5-4 lead into the final 30 seconds of regulation play when Lia Salvo broke through to score the tying goal and force overtime. The two teams returned to the field for the overtime period and played just over two minutes when Tiffany Busch drove a well-executed neck-shot through the goal posts for the win.

Immediately following the 6-goal finals, Reese and Busch got right back out on the field with Lockton sponsors Courtney Price and Rebecca Bollenbach in the finals of the 2-goal USPA US Women’s Handicap. Lockton faced off against 6-goal winning teammate Fargey, with the Lyos MD sponsor Beverly Greenwood and Team USPA members Tiamo Hudspeth and Stephanie Massey. Lyos MD defeated Lockton 7-3 in another physical 4 chukker match that entertained the Houston Polo Club Sunday crowd, which was in full force with over 1,000 guests. Lyos and Lockton made the USPA US Women’s Handicap finals with the only two undefeated records during the week’s elimination play, knocking out six other strong teams in the 2-goal division, also headed up by big-stick pros, including Caroline Anier, Kristy Outhier and K.C. Beal.

“After all of the practices and games this week in both divisions, both horses and players are physically and mentally exhausted, not to mention pretty bruised up, but the win makes it worth it all,” said Reese, after eight back-to-back chukkers in the finals.

With the girls shipping horses back home, Tiffany Busch will be heading back to Florida where she will have a brief rest before preparing to join Melissa Ganzi and Sunny Hale to play with a US team against a 7-goal English women’s lineup on Sunday, November 25th at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington. Reese heads back to Aiken for winter polo and Fargey and Riggs will be going to California and Argentina to continue their winter seasons. The US Open pros from all of the teams are likely candidates to show up in Wellington’s WCT Finals in April, which merges high goal season with top-shelf women’s polo.

The USPA U.S. Open Women’s Polo Championship® also marked a historic starting point of Sunny Hale’s American Polo Horse Association’s (APHA) efforts to formally recognize the use of American Quarter Horses in polo through an awards program. George Georgiades, President of the Houston Polo Club, helped to present the Special Recognition awards to Hickorys Dollanna, a registered American Quarter Horse played by Goose Creek’s Carin Middleton in the US Open Women’s and owned by Colleen Marks.

For the Sunday fans, Lucchese Boot Co., the Western boot maker, shipped in hundreds of boots for a special trunk show held during the finals. Lucchese joined Range Rover, St. Regis Hotels, Hendrick’s Gin and several other corporate sponsors in supporting the week-long event.

In addition to lots of action on the polo field, all 67 participants in the tournament enjoyed Texas hospitality, including two cocktail parties, an asado, gift bags, team jackets and prizes for each team, in every division. For all of the teams not resting up for Sunday’s finals, a late night of celebration was in store at the Consolation Finals Western party, complete with dummy steer roping and a mechanical bull.

“This week was a great mix of competitive polo and camaraderie,” said Melanja Jones, manager at Santa Barbara Polo Club, who traveled in to play in the 2-goal division. “The Houston Polo Club really goes all out for this week. I’m heading back to Santa Barbara with a lot of enthusiasm to keep growing women’s polo on the west coast.”

The event’s host club, the Houston Polo Club (HPC), was founded in 1928 and has become one of the largest USPA clubs in the nation. The club hosts 0 through 14-goal polo tournaments during the fall and spring seasons. HPC is also a recognized USPA Regional Polo Center (RPC) and provides a full-service polo school, junior polo events and year-round boarding and riding lessons. The USPA established the RPC program as a network of the most prominent polo centers around the country that train polo players, umpires, managers and others. They also support other clubs nearby and provide resources in an effort to enhance USPA membership.

 

FULL RESULTS – USPA U.S. Open Women’s Polo Championship® Division (6 Goal)

1^st:  A-F Pony Farm

2^nd: San Saba

3^rd: BTA

4^th: ERG

5^th: Goose Creek**

** Based on forfeit of consolation match due to scheduling. Game record of 2-1 prior to Consolations.

 

TEAM LIST – USPA U.S. Open Women’s Polo Championship® Division (6 Goal)

 

GOOSE CREEK
Sunny Hale	3
Carin Middleton	0.5
Maureen Brennan	0.5
Kristy Outhier	2
Goal Rating	6.0
BTA
Chrys Beal	0
K.C. Beal	1.5
Sheila Lequirica	1
Lia Salvo	2
Goal Rating	4.5
ERG
Crystal Cassidy	0
Ina Lalor	2
Cecelia Cochran	1
Mumy Bellanda	2
Goal Rating	5.0
SAN SABA
Caroline Anier	2
Dawn Jones	1
Clarissa Echazaretta	1
Lesley Masterton Fong-Yee	2
Goal Rating	6
A-F PONY FARM
Karen Reese	1.5
Tiffany Busch	1.5
Abby Riggs	1.5
Dayelle Fargey	1.0
Goal Rating	5.5

 

For more information about the upcoming USPA U.S. Open Women’s Polo Championship or about the Houston Polo Club, visit www.thehoustonpoloclub.com or contact the following:

 

Polo Lessons and Learning Opportunities:

Fill out the online form at http://www.playpoloinhouston.com/ and a Houston Polo Club representative will contact you with more details.

Tickets and Sponsorship Opportunities:

Allee Messina – Houston Polo Club Director of Business Development

allee@thehoustonpoloclub.com

Tournament Information and Team Entries:

Pam Mudra – Houston Polo Club Executive Director

polomanager@thehoustonpoloclub.com