The United States Polo Association (USPA), USPA Global Licensing and International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC) hosted the USPA Gold Cup Draw Party, Thursday, February 21, 2019, at the IPC in Wellington, Florida, for players and team owners competing in the inaugural GAUNTLET OF POLO. The sport’s newest and most challenging tournament series, the GAUNTLET, boasts an unprecedented 16 teams across three tournaments and a potential $1,000,000 purse.

The official draw determined the playing order for the second tournament, the USPA Gold Cup, which begins Wednesday, February 27 at IPC. All of the C.V. Whitney Cup semifinalists were seeded into four different brackets and the remaining teams drew for tournament positions. The C.V. Whitney Cup, the first leg of the competition, has showcased exceptional competition and impressive new talent, further solidifying the success of the historical initiative.

The C.V. Whitney Cup Final between Las Monjitas and Pilot will take place at 3pm ET on Sunday, February 24, on the U.S. Polo Assn. Field at IPC and will determine the GAUNTLET Champion contender for the remaining two tournaments, including the USPA Gold Cup and the U.S. Open Polo Championship.

USPA GOLD CUP TOURNAMENT FORMAT:

Teams will play within their bracket. After the first round, the top two teams in each bracket will advance to the quarterfinals. Two-way ties will be broken by who beat who. All others will be broken by a one-man shoot out. Teams that do not advance to the quarterfinals will advance to the subsidiary tournaments.

Quarterfinal Pairings will be as follows:

Quarterfinal One: Bracket I winner vs. Bracket II second

Quarterfinal Two: Bracket II winner vs. Bracket III second

Quarterfinal Three: Bracket III winner vs. Bracket IV second

Quarterfinal Four: Bracket IV winner vs. Bracket I second

Quarterfinal winners will play the semifinals. If possible, teams will play a team they have not already played. Teams who have played each other will draw from those they have not played. All other pairings will be by draw. Semifinal winners will play the USPA Gold Cup Final.

BRACKET 1: Tonkawa, Aspen, Park Place, La Indiana.

BRACKET 2: Stable Door Polo, Coca-Cola, Postage Stamp Farm, Las Monjitas.

BRACKET 3: Iconica, Santa Clara, Equuleus, Cessna.

BRACKET 4: Daily Racing Form, Old Hickory Bourbon, SD Farms, Pilot.