The USPA Gold Cup, the second leg of The Gauntlet of Polo, the most important polo series of the United States, resumed on Wednesday March 13, with double action at the National Polo Center, in Wellington, Florida, United States. Valiente and Park Place were victorious. It’s worth to notice that the former who had claimed the first contest of the series, the CV Whitney Cup, still remain undefeated. The tournament sees nine teams up to 22 goals, in participation.
In the opening game, Valiente claimed a narrow 7-6 victory over Clearwater, while Park Place defeated Tamera 10-6.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
All teams will play four preliminary matches each. Following the conclusion of preliminary play, all teams will be ranked 1-9. The top four ranked teams will draw for semifinal pairings with the winners of the semifinals advancing to the USPA Gold Cup final. Any ties between teams that played each other will be broken by who-beat-who. All other ties will be broken by a one-player shootout. The Retama Cup will serve as the subsidiary to the USPA Gold Cup. Teams who do not qualify for the semifinals of the USPA Gold Cup will automatically be entered in the Retama Cup.
The final of the USPA Gold Cup is due on Sunday March 24, at the National Polo Center.
USPA GOLD CUP – WEDNESDAY MARCH 13
VALIENTE 7-6 CLEARWATER
Valiente: Bob Jornayvaz 0, Peke Gonzalez 7, Paco de Narvaez Jr 5*, Adolfo Cambiaso 10. Total: 22.
*Subbed in for Federico Panzillo.
Clearwater: Chip Campbell 1, Raúl Colombres 8, Lucas Criado Jr. 7, Jared Zenni 6. Total: 22.
Score Valiente: 1-1, 1-1, 3-1, 4-2, 5-4, 6-4, 7-6.
Umpires: Gastón Lucero & Kimo Huddleston. Third man: Julian Appleby.
PARK PLACE 10-6 TAMERA
Park Place: Andrey Borodin 0*, Juan Britos 9, Hilario Ulloa 10, Marcos Bignoli 3. Total: 22.
*Reemplazado por Jesus Escapite.
Tamera: Alejandro Poma 1, Segundo Saravi 5, Matías Torres Zavaleta 8, Diego Cavanagh 8. Total: 22.
Score Park Place: 3-1, 4-2, 4-3, 8-3, 8-5, 10-6.
Umpires: Julian Appleby & Héctor Galindo. Third man: Steve Dalton.
The last league phase of the USPA Gold Cup prior to the semifinals on Wednesday March 20, will be played thorugh Friday March 15 to Sunday March 17, with the following order of play:
Friday March 15
11am: Coca Cola vs. Dutta Corp
Saturday March 16
11am: Valiente vs. Park Place
Sunday March 17
3pm: Pilot vs. La Dolfina/Tonkawa
USPA Gold Cup – Teams & Fixture
2024 THE GAUNTLET OF POLO CALENDAR
CV Whitney Cup: February 9 – 25.
USPA Gold Cup: February 28 – March 24.
U.S. Open Polo Championship: March 22 – April 21.
Utilizing the same prize money distribution for the 2023 Gauntlet of Polo, the format guarantees a total of $200,000 in prize money. $50,000 will be awarded to each of the winning teams of the C.V. Whitney Cup and USPA Gold Cup. Similarly, $100,000 in prize money will bepresented to the winner of the U.S. Open Polo Championship and any team that wins all three tournaments will be crowned the Gauntlet Champion. In keeping with the spirit of philanthropy, U.S. Polo Assn. will provide a $2,500 donation to the winner and runner-up teams of all three finals to be donated to a polo charity of their choice.
All Sunday games are due on the National Polo Center main ground.
Cover photo, by Agustina Fonda.