July 13th, 2015
Aspen Valley Polo Team, buoyed by team chemistry and lightning-quick horses, won the Aspen Valley Cup on Sunday in front of a good crowd and worldwide ChukkerTV audience.
The home team of father and son Marc and Grant Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida and Juancito Bollini, who have been playing together for years, relied on its team chemistry to capture its first tournament of the summer polo season.
Aspen Valley Polo Club defeated La Karina, 5-4, in its opening round robin game and Sopris Mountain Ranch, 7-3, in its final game to finish with 12 cumulative goals. In the other game, La Karina and Sopris Mountain Ranch tied, 2-2.
La Karina (Melissa Ganzi, Brian Boyd, Mariano Gracida, Juan Bollini) was runner-up with six goals and Sopris Mountain Ranch (Lucas Lalor, Santos Bollini, Anthony Devrient, Riley Ganzi) finished with five goals in the spirited one-day featured tournament.
Regalito, a 15-year-old grey gelding ridden by Riley Ganzi and owned by Halo Polo, was named Best Playing Pony.
It was a great day for the Ganzi family on the polo field.
Marc Ganzi scored a game-high six goals, including two 80-yarders in the seventh chukker, and Grant Ganzi added five goals, including a 100-yarder in the seventh for Aspen Valley Polo Team; Riley Ganzi led Sopris Mountain Ranch with four goals including back-to-back goals in the sixth chukker; and Melissa Ganzi scored two goals for La Karina to share high scoring honors with Mariano Gracida, who also scored two for La Karina.
The Aspen Valley Cup was the third of nine summer tournaments at Aspen Valley Polo Club. Melody Polo Team won the first two tournaments, the Independence Cup and ChukkerTV Challenge.
Six tournaments held last year return along with three new events for the 2015 season. The Aspen Valley Cup, July 21-26 Basalt Handicap and July 28-Aug 2 Emma Challenge have been added to this year’s schedule.
The full schedule is the July 14-19, Craig Sakin Memorial; July 21-26, Basalt Handicap; July 28-Aug. 2 Emma Challenge; Aug. 5-9, Louis Vuitton Cup; Aug. 14-16 Mount Sopris Cup; and Aug. 12-23 Rocky Mountain Cup.
Several of Grand Champions patrons and players including American 8-goaler Nic Roldan are expected to play at Aspen Valley Polo Club during the summer.
Chukker TV, the leaders in polo broadcasting, will live stream various tournaments including the prestigious Louis Vuitton Cup and Rocky Mountain Cup, which attracted huge crowds last season.
In addition, Chukker TV’s Summer Tour, a 13,000-mile cross country trip featuring several U.S. Polo Association tournaments at various U.S. clubs including Oak Brook, Saratoga Polo Club and Aspen Valley Polo Club will also be webcast.
ChukkerTV, an independent media company, was the first to introduce state-of-the-art live streaming technology in January, 2014 at Grand Champions Polo Club, where it was well r
eceived for its cutting-edge technology and ability to promote the sport to a larger audience and continues to build and improve its technology.