John Walsh’s See-saw polo team defeated team Clementine led by Italian Salvatore Ferragamo to win the inaugural Windsor Charity Polo Cup in the tournament held on Windsor’s historic polo fields in Windsor, Florida on Saturday, February 18th.
Walsh and teammates Lucas Monteverde, Tommy Biddle and Nick Manifold outscored Ferragamo, Julian Daniels and the legendary duo of Memo Gracida and Mike Azzaro 12 to 11 on a beautiful afternoon in Windsor in a match that benefited the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Humane Society of Vero Beach & Indian River and Saint Edward’s School.
Clementine took an early lead with Ferragamo finishing as their top scorer with 4 goals. Both teams knew each other well and exhibited fast, open teamwork before a sold out crowd of 1200 strong.
Tommy Biddle’s huge hitting drew gasps of delight from the onlookers while Gracida and Azzaro’s seamless partnership was an exhibition of classical polo at its best. As the game went into the 5th chukker, the speed and intensity of play began to increase, the players were clearly vying for the $4000 Ernst Benz watches that were being kindly presented by local sponsor, Gaston Bijoux. Gracida and Azzaro made frenetic attempts on goal with no success and the game remained tied until in the dying moments John Walsh seized a goal scoring opportunity and gave See-saw the victory. Salvatore Ferragamo was awarded the MVP prize for his excellent attacking contribution of 4 goals.
The beautiful vintage trophy (donated by the Mullan Family, whose foundation was one of the event’s sponsors) was presented to the winning team by the Hon. Hilary M. Weston, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Windsor, Florida.