Veuve Cliquot Gold Cup Final Cowdray Park Polo Club 2007
By Joanne Hearn
Photos by Nigel Kaye
The final of the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup for the British Open Polo Championship at Cowdray Park Polo Club in West Sussex was totally under threat of not taking place due to the serious adverse weather conditions Britain has been experiencing as literally not more than fifty miles away villages and towns are flooded due to all the rain that has fallen in the last couple of days. The groundsmen of Cowdray Park had to do a huge mop up due to the deluge of rain that fell in West Sussex last Friday.
Although not quite the record of 1990 when 22 teams vied for this coveted trophy, 20 teams entered this year for this prestigious tournament.
Sunday, 22nd July – what a stroke of luck – no rain and brilliant sunshine for the final – which looked set to be a dramatic encounter. Lechuza Caracas were looking to challenge Queen’s Cup winners Loro Piana, who were the definite favourites for the trophy following their victory against Jamie Packer’s Ellerston team.
The Loro Piana team returns to the Gold Cup for the second time, having now played high goal tournaments in the UK for four consecutive years. The line up for Loro Piana in blue/white cashmere shirts is 1. David Sterling (7), 2. Alfio Marchini (2), 3. Juan Martin Nero (9) and Bk. Martin Espain (5).
Lechuza Caracas team playing in white, back for its third season in England consisted of 1. Victor Vargas (1), 2. Pite Merlos (9), 3. Sebastian Merlos (9) and joined this year at back by Henry Fisher (3) – a young Cowdray Park polo player.
With a one goal start – Loro Piana went straight into the lead 2-0 as Juan Martin Nero scored the first goal of the match but by the end of the first chukka Lechuza Caracas lead by 4-2. Great play on both sides in the second chukka brought the score to 5-3 to Lechuza Caracas.
The third and fourth chukkas were full of high drama and injuries although, thankfully, not serious. Play was also interrupted by a “streaker” much to the amusement of the crowd.
The match was not as everyone thought, one sided. At the start of the sixth chukka the score was 9-9 and all to play for. Local player David Fisher tried to get a winning goal to the delight of the crowd but unfortunately the ball went wide. By the end of the match Lechuza Caracas beat the favourites Loro Piana 11-10.
The presentation of the Gold Cup was made to Lechuza Caracas by Miss Eliza Pearson, the eldest daughter of Lord and Lady Cowdray. The ‘Best Playing Pony’ was Memo ridden by Sebastian Merlos and the ‘Most Valued Player’ was Sebastian Merlos.
