By Wiley Uretz
Photos by David Lominska
Every Friday at Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club is exciting however I must say that this was one of the most exciting Fridays I have ever seen. The day started out with Mansour taking on Grants Farm and even though this was only a consolation game you would not been able to tell that from how they played. The game went all the way down to the wire and Mansour’s Miguel Astrada scored a goal in the final seconds to win the game 10 to 9. As soon as that game finished everyone scurried over to the grandstands to watch the Finals of the Beluga Robert Skene Trophy.
Audi
This game was a family affair, it pitted husband against wife with Marc Ganzi’s Audi versus Melissa Ganzi’s Piaget. In the first chukker Piaget and Audi traded goal for goal leaving Piaget ahead by one 3 to 2 thanks to their goal on handicap. The second and third chukkers were more of the same, each team answering the other, however during this heave ho battle Audi was able to make up a little ground ending the half tied up at 6. In the fourth chukker Audi finally gained some traction and started to pull away thanks to two unanswered goals by Polito Pieres and Sugar Erskine. But Piaget determined to not go down without a fight, and matched Audi 2 for 2 in the 5th chukker keeping the Piaget deficit at 2 goals and making a comeback possible. Then in the 6th chukker Piaget made their move, scoring the first two goals to tie up the game and put a lot of pressure on Audi. However Audi not flustered by the pressure, and responded with 2 goals of their own to end the game Audi 12 Piaget 10. The MVP was Audi’s Lucas Lalor and Melissa Ganzi 2nd chukker horse Carmel was awarded.
BPP "Carmel"
As if all that was not enough we had a special treat for all of our spectators with an exhibition match between the Beluga sponsored Moscow Polo Team (Alexis Radzianko, Anastasia Radzianko, Lucas Lalor, and Mischa Radzianko) against our very own SB Polo club members (Matt Walker, Henry Walker, Glencito Holden, and Wes Ru/ Ken Berry). The four chukker match was close and hard fought, but in the end the home team claimed victory 5-4.
MVP Lucas Lalor