British Day & The Drake Challenge Cup @ Oak Brook Polo Club

Oak Brook Polo Club wins The Drake Challenge Cup in a nine chukker round robin tournament on
British Day to end their season.

 This last Sunday, a big crowd came out for British Day and the Drake Challenge Cup, which capped off another successful Oak Brook Polo season. British Day was the theme to acknowledge the British bringing the oldest team sport on Earth to the western hemisphere. The afternoon kicked in with all the pomp and circumstance of Bentley’s, Aston Martin’s and a fine pony parade with lots of red, white and blue throughout the Oak Brook Polo grounds. Commentator, Rob Wilkinson kept the crowd engaged for the round-robin match of 9 chukkers. On the Oak Brook Polo team, Tony Sekera played at 1, Jason Wates at 2, Horacio Onetto at 3, and Captain Jim Drury played at 4. For Hinsdale Magazine, at 1 was Samantha Falbe, 2 was Bob Soos, 3 was Matias Obregon, and Clifton Yandell played at 4. The Hotels of Oak Brook team was made up of Philp Kampshoff at 1, Bob McMurtry at 2, John Greene at 3, and Chris Vangel at the 4 back position.
For the first 3 chukkers, Oak Brook Polo Club came out strong with Horacio Onetto, and Jason Wates working the middle and feeding the ball well up to goal scorer Tony Sekera. Jim Drury came out with a few well-timed neck shots across field, but not without a good few bumps from opposing Samantha Falbe playing for Hinsdale Magazine. Matias Obregon worked hard all game feeding the ball up to his goal scorers Bob Soos, and Falbe again. Clifton Yandell played good defense with a solid back shot.

For the second match of 3 chukkers, it was Hinsdale Magazine versus Hotels of Oak Brook. This was a closer game, and was tied up quite a few times. Chris Vangel played a lot of defense off his own back line, with some help from his pivot player Philip Kampshoff who more than a few times came roaring up the middle of field to score for his team. Bob McMurtry and John Greene seemed to alternate well playing the forward positions. Bob Soos for Hinsdale Magazine came out with some good horses for this set of chukkers, and positioned himself well for passes from big hitter Matias Obregon. Hinsdale Magazine put on a good fight for this match up and won 4-3.

For the final match of 3 chukkers, Oak Brook Polo Club came back onto the field against Hotels of Oak Brook. Hotels of Oak Brook started off with a 1-goal lead on handicap, but that didn’t stop Horacio Onetto matching that up within the first few minutes. Jim Drury made a nice break away play from the halfway mark, and took it all the way to goal. Chris Vangel and Philip Kampshoff again, very well mounted, worked hard, back and forth feeding the ball to goal scorers Bob McMurtry and John Greene for Hotels of Oak Brook. Tony Sekera did well, too, taking advantage of any loose ball that came his way. In the end, Oak Brook Polo Club edged ahead to win 4-3.

To summarize this round robin style match today: Oak Brook Polo Club won outright taking home the Drake Challenge Cup, first introduced in 1964; Hinsdale Magazine got 2nd place, and Hotels of Oak Brook took 3rd. MVP was awarded to Chris Vangel, and the Best Played Pony award went to a mare called “Leah” owned and trained by Chris Vangel too.