The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
Today seemed like a day to dine out. It was humid, about 90 %, which is 60 over normal and 85 F. The Club made a very good decision this morning to switch the 11 am game to 4 pm after the featured game at 2 because of moisture on the fields. The sun came out and it made the fields perform very well. For some reason, the first game was not good polo on any field. The Wildcats have some speed balls and took on Farmers and Merchant. It looked like one wanted a burrito and the other was after Steak and Eggs. One did get the burrito and it was overcooked as F&M was up by 3 after 1, 5 after 2, a tie in the 3rd, still up by 5, and after 1/2 time it was by 7 at start of 5th. WC won the 5th to close to 6 and and won the last to lose by 4. This was a perfect game to see how important this word is …TEAM. A simple way to explain polo is … Man, Ball and Pass. The word “pass” means hit it to your teammate or at least try. This never happened for 6 chukkers. I know I should not write these things, but it is the way I see it. You have a high-goal player, who has won more PCO’s than anyone, with two very good young guns and a tougher than Watts Patron. This loss is impossible. F&M played a simple team game and gave them the burrito.
Game 2 was much better and a lot faster. Lucchese and Klentner Ranch hooked up. The weather was very warm and humid for 3 chukkars. It was the CA boys doing a great job as they went on a 2 and 0 run after 1. They did the same in the 2nd to 4 and 2, lost one in the 3rd and finished first 1/2 up 4 to 3. Lucchese tied them in the 4th after 30 seconds and went ahead with a minute + left in the 4th and never trailed again. They finished 7 to 8 in the 5th and won by 2.
Jeff Hall was for sure the big gun and had his troops moving well. Nacho Badiola continues to impress me as a real deal with speed, talent and he is well mounted. I hear with a lot of Joe Casey horses. Tete Grahn, who I do not know, is a player every minute of the game and really works. Jesse Bray continues to stand out with Klentner ranch as well as Krueger. I think as time goes on the big boys will see how big it is to use these sticks. They are there and they are part of the team … just do IT.
Across the Pond it was the Foxes, a double Pieres brothers duo, stopping UEB, a 4 pro team in the finals of the British Gold Cup. Facundo Pieres often thought of as the #1 in polo, which I disagree so far as I still think Adolfo Cambiaso is on top, but when he plays with Gonzalo I maybe wrong . They are amazing and they had a lot of help from two, 1-goal players and it was an awesome game. They won over Pablo McDonald and Lucas Monteverde in a nail biter until midway through the 6th. A missed goal turned into a opposite goal by one of the 1 goal players, who I think was a mid-game sub. He was awesome. We will know his name soon.
We have an unusual situation in Santa Barbara for the 8-goal. We can make it happen. It is very reasonable for anyone for 2 weeks of very good 8-goal. Practice on thursday and play Fri Sat. Perfect for the break in San Diego or Northern CA players. Give us a call and you will be playing at SBPC Thursday afternoon. We want YOU!!
see ya