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La Herradura takes home $45,000 with a Champions Cup final victory

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The Empire Polo Club cashes out the season with a $60,000 money game for the Champions Cup.

Former 10-goaler Memo Gracida had guided his La Herradura (Meghan Gracida, Carlos Hernandez, Memo Gracida and Catlin Dix) through their first three Championship Cup wins but was forced into a coaching position in the tournament final against the imposing Evergreen lineup (Tom Sprung, Carlitos Galindo, Juan Jo Gonzalez and Shane Rice).

La Herradura (L to R) Santi Torres, Carlos Hernandez, Catlin Dix, Meghan Gracida and Memo Gracida celebrate a $45,000 win in teh final of the Champions Cup.

Evergreen had ruled the fields at the Empire Polo Club since the beginning of the year, taking top honors in 4-goal competition in the Stagecoach Challenge, the USPA Circuit Players Cup and the USPA General Patton Cup.  The Evergreen lineup changed for the 8-goal USPA Constitution Cup in March as they went undefeated once again, but for the season-ending $60,000 Champions Cup they ran into Memo Gracida’s La Herradura entry.

Both La Herradura and Evergreen bowled over their first three opponents before facing one another in the tournament final.  A fall suffered by Memo Gracida on Friday, March 30th, however, sidelined the Hall of Fame legend, forcing La Herradura to bring in 6-goaler Santi Torres in an effort to fill out the lineup.

A tenuous start saw Evergreen take advantage of a foul by La Herradura, with Shane Rice converting a 30-yard penalty shot for the early lead.  Carlos Hernandez, who had been a scoring powerhouse for La Herradura, tied the game with his first goal of the day.  Back-to-back goals from Santi Torres ended the first period with La Herradura on top of a 3-1 lead.

Fouls continued to plague the La Herradura lineup with, Rice converting two 40-yard penalty shots.   Hernandez scored his second goal of the game, keeping La Herradura in the lead,4-3 as the second chukker ended.

Torres scored the first goal of the third, extending the La Herradura lead to two goals, 5-3.  Two goals from Rice (one on a 30-yard penalty shot) leveled the score at 5-5, and Juan Jo

Shane Baum of Leisure Society presents the MVP trophy to La Herradura’s Carlos Hernandez.

Gonzalez scored the go-ahead goal for Evergreen to end the first half with a 6-5 advantage.

Memo Gracida might not have been on the field but he was in the team tent at the end of the field.

“It was more about Santi (Torres) and Carlos (Hernandez) talking to one another and coordinating their play on the field,” he said.  “I told the girls (Catlin Dix and his wife, Meghan Gracida) to continue pushing forward and to utilize the horses.”

The direction appeared to take hold.  Hernandez tied the game with a goal from the field followed by a penalty goal for a 7-6 lead.  Torres scored the final goal of the chukker as a solid defensive effort shut down the talented Evergreen attack and edged La Herradura ahead, 8-6.

Hernandez and Torres traded goals with Galindo and Rice in the fifth, with La Herradura maintaining their two goals lead, 10-8, with one chukker left in regulation play.

Playing as if the score was tied, La Herradura exploded in the sixth.  Meghan Gracida took the opening throw-in and raced 150-yards down the field for her first goal of the game and a three-goal, 11-8 lead.  Rice responded with a goal for Evergreen that cut the lead back to a manageable two goals, 11-9.  The teamwork between Torres and Hernandez continued to pay off. Torres scored twice from the field with the two La Herradura players taking turns passing the ball to one another and blocking out opponents for a 13-9 edge.  With time running out, Rice scored on a 60-yard penalty shot but it was too little, too late.  Torres scored the last goal of the game on a 40-yard penalty conversion as La Herradura celebrated the 14-10 win and a check for $45,000, the winner’s share of the purse.  Evergreen suffered their first loss of the winter season but were comforted with a check for $15,000 for their second-place finish.

Shane Rice with Midget, winner of the Best Playing Pony award.

“It was a tough match“, said Meghan Gracida after the game, “but our team played as a team and pushed hard.  Our horses were amazing and so was our coach (Memo Gracida)“, she added, “So happy”.

Torres led all soring with eight goals.  Hernandez scored five times and earned MVP honors while Meghan Gracida added a goal for the win.  Rice’s six goals (three on penalty conversions) led the Evergreen attack.  Galindo added three goals and Gonzalez scored once in the loss.

Rice’s horse, Midget, was named Best Playing Pony.

Buffalo 6, Vancouver/Mother Chukkers 3

La Herradura and Evergreen weren’t the only teams going home with money in their pockets as the Buffalos (Ross Adam, Tim Rudy, Felipe Sordelli and Riley Jordan) took the winners share of an $8,000 purse while the Vancouver/Mother Chukkers (Jay Garnett, Nicolas Maciel, Robert Payne III and Sukey Forbes) settled for $2,000 for a second-place finish in the 4-goal Lions Cup.

The Buffalos won the Lions Cup Final and $6,000. Ross Adam, Riley Jordan, Felipe Sordelli and Tim Rudy.

Robert Payne opened the scoring in the 4-goal Lions Cup final with a goal from the field for the Vancouver/Mother Chukkers.  Tim Rudy converted a penalty shot to tie it at 1-1 and teammate Felipe Sordelli added a goal from the field for a 2-1 Buffalo lead.

MVP was Felipe Sordelli.

Shutout defense by the Buffalos in the second period of the four chukker final was nearly all defensive in nature.  Riley Jordon scored the only goal of the period, giving the Buffalos a 3-1 halftime lead.

The two teams exchanged goals in the third, matching one another goal-for-goal.  A pair of goals from Payne were countered by single goals from Sordelli and Rudy (penalty goal).  The lead remained with the Buffalos, 5-3.

For the second time in the match, Vancouver/Mother Chukkers were unable to mount a successful attack.  Rudy’s third goal on the day accounted for all of the fourth chukker scoring as the Buffalos left the field celebrating the 6-3 win.

Rudy scored a team high three goals for Buffalo.  Sordelli added two goals and Jordan accounted for a single goal in the win.  All three Vancouver/Mother Chukkers goals came from Payne (two on penalty shots).

The Lions Cup and the Champions Cup were the final polo tournaments of the season at the Empire Polo Club and signaled the end of a 14-week season that included women’s competitions and Friday night polo under the lights as well as regular Sunday afternoon tournament action.

BPP was Renatta, owned and played by Robert Payne III.

The Empire Polo Club is located at 81-800 Avenue 51 in Indio, CA. For further information go to the club website at http://empirepolo.com or call 760-342-7755. Entrance for Friday night games is on Ave. 50 between Madison Street and Monroe Street.

La Herradura and Evergreen remain undefeated after Sunday wins

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Carlos Hernandez scored eight goals in lifting La Herradura to a 13-11 win in Champions Cup play Sunday morning at the Empire Polo Club.

Sunday victories by La Herradura (Meghan Gracida, Carlos Hernandez, Memo Gracida and Catlin Dix) and Evergreen (Tom Sprung, Carlitos Galindo, Juan Jo Gonzalez and Shane Rice) will usher them into next Friday’s semifinals of the 8-goal Champions Cup at the Empire Polo Club with 2-0 records.

There was no resting on his laurels for former 10-goaler Memo Gracida as a well-orchestrated La Herradura attack was forced to hold of a determined last chukker rally to register a 13-11 win over REMAX (Dayelle Fargey, Jared Sheldon, Gordon Ross and Matthew Fonseca) in Sunday morning action in the 8-goal Champions Cup at the Empire Polo Club.

“It was a tough game in more ways than the score,” said the Polo Hall of Famer.

Gordon Ross scored the first goal of the game before a pressing La Herradura attack resulted in three consecutive goals. Carlos Hernandez tied the game at 1-1 with his first goal of the day and then put them on top, 2-1, with his second. Gracida scored the final goal of the chukker for a 3-1 La Herradura lead.

Polo Hall of Famer Memo Gracida added five goals for the Las Herradura win.

Gracida’s second goal of the game came in the second period and extended the La Herradura lead to three goals, 4-1. Jared Sheldon got REMAX on track with a goal from the field and a 40-yard penalty conversion that cut the La Herradura lead down to a single goal, 4-3. Hernandez answered back with a pair of goals of his own (one on a 30-yard penalty shot), 6-3. Sheldon countered with his third goal of the period that had REMAX trailing by two goals, 6-4.

Two more third chukker goals from Gracida and a goal from Hernandez took control of the game while the La Herradura defense held REMAX to a single goal from Sheldon. At the end of the first half it was La Herradura in front, 9-5.

Goals were scarce in the fourth, with Hernandez and Sheldon trading goals for the only scoring in the chukker. After fur periods of play La Herradura continued to hold a four-goal lead, 10-6.

A persistent REMAX gained ground in the fifth on the strength of goals from Dayelle Fargey and Matthew Fonseca. Gracida converted a 60-yard penalty shot for La Herradura, whose lead was cut to three goals, 11-8.

Sheldon converted a pair of penalty shots for goals and Fargey added another from the field in furious sixth period action. Hernandez was up to the task for La Herradura, however, adding two more goals (one on a 40-yard penalty shot) for the 13-11 victory.

Hernandez led the field with eight goals. Gracida added five goals for the win. Sheldon scored a team-high seven goals. Fargey added two goals with Ross and Fonseca each scoring once in the loss.

Evergreen 12, Lockton 7

A powerful Evergreen team continued to have their way with their opponents as they opened up on a talented Lockton lineup (Tim Kelly, Bryan Middleton, Hernan Tejera and Francisco Guinazu) in the feature match of the day but came up short in a 12-7 feature game.

Lockton got off to an aggressive start, scoring the first three goals of the game on their way to a 3-1 opening. Two goals from Francisco Guinazu and a goal from Bryan Middleton had the Lockton team thinking upset before Carlitos Galindo stopped the bleeding with the final goal of the chukker for Evergreen.

Consecutive second period goals from Juan Jo Gonzalez, Galindo and Shane Rice (40-yard penalty goal) had Evergreen on top, 4-3. Middleton scored the final goal of the chukker, leveling the score at 4-4.

Evergreen’s Shane Rice scored five times in the 12-7 Champion Cup win.

Gonzalez and Hernan Tejera traded goals in the third, with Rice adding another penalty conversion to the Evergreen total for a 6-5 lead.

Rice split the goalposts for the third tie on the day for the first goal of the second half and a 7-5 Evergreen lead. There was no quit in Lockton as they rallied with goals from Tim Kelly and Guinazu to deadlock the score at 7-7.

A combination of horsepower and teamwork won the last two chukkers and the game for Evergreen as they outscored Lockton 2-0 in the fifth on goals from Gonzalez and Rice, 9-7.

Three more sixth chukker goals went unanswered as Galindo added two and Rice scored his fifth of the day. A strong defensive effort by Evergreen completely shut down the Lockton attack as they rode on to the 12-7 win.

Rice scored three of his five goals from penalty line. Galindo added four goals and Gonzalez was credited with three goals on the day. Guinazu scored three times for Lockton. Middleton added two goals with Tejera and Kelly adding single goals in a losing effort.

The 2017-2018 Empire Polo season attracts players from across the country and around the world and offers fourteen weekends of fast-paced polo in the beautiful and relaxed setting of California’s winter playground.

The Empire Polo Club is located at 81-800 Avenue 51 in Indio, CA. For further information go to the club website at http://empirepolo.com or call 760-342-7755.

USPA Constitution Cup wins for Lockton and Evergreen

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The Lockton polo team of Tim Kelly, Bryan Middleton, Andres Gonzalez and Francisco Guinazu on the trophy stand with friends, family and supporters following Sunday’s win in the 2018 USPA Constitution Cup at the Empire Polo Club.

There was plenty of action Sunday at the Empire Polo Club with 13 teams competing in three different and distinct levels of play.

In the feature match of the day, Lockton (Tim Kelly, Bryan Middleton, Andres Gonzalez and Francisco Guinazu) bounced back from a Friday loss to edge Granite Bay (Eric Hammon, Alvaro Tadeo, Marcos Llambias and Catlin Dix), 9-8, in the 8-goal USPA Constitution Cup tournament action.

Lockton’s Bryan Middleton exploded for three first chukker goals while Granite Bay was limited to a single 40-yard penalty conversion from Marcos Llambias.  The 7-goal Granite Bay team received one goal by handicap, but After the first seven minutes of play it was Lockton with the 3-2 lead.

Middleton struck again in the second period while his teammates succeeded in shutting down the Granite Bay attack.  The Lockton lead grew to two goals, 4-2.

Middleton’s fifth goal of the afternoon was followed by a 30-yard penalty conversion from Tim Kelly that had Lockton holding on to a four-goal lead, 6-2.  Llambias scoffed the final goal of the first half as Granite Bay trailed by three goals, 6-3.

The Granite Bay defense tightened in the fourth, holding Lockton scoreless for the first time all day.  Alvaro Tadeo scored the only goal of the chukker, getting to within two goals of the lead, 6-4.

Both offenses got on track in the fifth.  Middleton scored from the field and teammate Francisco Guinazu added a 60-yard penalty goal.  Granite Bay responded with a pair of goals from Tadeo and a goal from Catlin Dix.  After five periods of play, Granite Bay had cut the Lockton lead back to a single goal, 8-7.

In a do-or-die sixth chukker Lockton drew first blood, with Guinazu stretching the Lockton lead back to two goals, 9-7.  There was no quit in the Granite Bay offense as they pressed their attack A goal from Llambias brought Granite Bay back to within a goal of the lead, once again, but time and a solid defense was on the side of Lockton as they leveled their record at 1-1 with the 9-8 victory.  Granite Bay suffered their second straight tournament loss and fell to 0-2.

Middleton led all scoring with six goals on the day.  Guinazu scored twice and Kelly added a goal for the win.  Llambias and Tadeo scored three goals apiece.  Dix added a goal and the team received one goal by handicap.

Evergreen 14, Spindrift 12

Earlier in the day Evergreen (Tom Sprung, Carlitos Galindo, Juan Jo Gonzalez and Shane Rice) faced Spindrift (John Bickford, Luis Saracco, Tan Khan and Iggy Deltour) in their first USPA Constitution Cup match in one of the most raucous and hard-riding game of the season.

Thirty-two fouls and five Yellow flags later, according to Empire’s polo manager, Vicky Owens, Evergreen emerged with a 14-12 victory.

Shane Rice made his presence known by scoring the first goal of the game on a 60-yard penalty shot.  Iggy Deltour countered with a pair of goals for Spindrift for a ne goal lead, 2-1.  Juan Jo Gonzalez made good on a 40-yard penalty shot with Spindrift’s John Bickford closing out the chukker with his first goal of the day for a 3-2 Spindrift lead.

Penalties began to take their toll on both teams in the second.  Four of the five goals scored came from the penalty line with Rice converting from 30, 40 and 60-yards for three goals and Deltour adding a 60-yarder and a goal from the field for Spindrift.  At the end of the second period the score was all even at 5-5.

Fouls continued to plague an aggressive Evergreen offense in third period play.  Bickford scored on a 40-yard penalty shot and Tan Khan scored from the 30-yard line.  Evergreen was kept off the scoreboard and trailed 7-5 at the end of the first half.

A very physical game continued into the second half with Evergreen getting the benefit of Spindrift fouls in the fourth.  Gonzalez scored a goal from the field and Rice added another penalty goal.  Carlitos Galindo scored once from the field and once from the penalty line.  Spindrift was held to a single goal from the field from Bickford and fell behind Evergreen, 9-8.

Deltour tied the game at 8-8 with the opening goal of the fifth, but goals from Evergreen’s Tom Sprung and Gonzalez put Evergreen in front, 11-9.  Luis Saracco scored for Spindrift with Rice converting another 40-yard penalty shot that ended the chukker with Evergreen on top, 12-10.

The two teams traded goals in the sixth with Saracco scoring first for Spindrift, 12-11 and Gonzalez countering with a goal for Evergreen, 13-11.  An Evergreen foul sent Saracco to the penalty line where he converted a 40-yard penalty shot for a goal, cutting the Evergreen lead back to a single goal, 13-12, but Galindo closed the door on them with his third goal of the game for the 14-12 victory

Constitution cup play is scheduled to resume on Friday, March 16th with Evergreen (1-0) facing Granite Bay (1-1) and REMAX (1-0) meeting Spindrift (1-1).

Mix It Up wins Debii $ Dollar Memorial, Under the Lights

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                                                                     Mix It Up-winner of the 2018 Debii $ Dollar Memorial Cup at the Empire Polo Club. (Photos courtesy of Lynn Bremner)

The Debii $ Dollar Memorial Ladies Tournament final be held on Friday night, March 9th at 5:30 PM at the Empire Polo club with three teams competing.

Mix It Up (Meghan Gracida, Caroline Anier, Madelyn Cobb and Lynni Hutton/Kit Neacy) won the 2018 Debii $ Dollar Memorial Ladies Tournament under the lights Friday night at the Empire Polo Club despite losing their first mini-match of the competition.

Audry Persano (Mother Bears) earned MVP honors for her efforts.

Earlier in the week Mix It Up recorded wins over Luna Polo (Jenifer Alexi, Malia McCoy, Miranda Luna and Susan Adams) and Mother Bears (Carol

Caroline Anier’s Cheezi was honored as Best Playing Pony.

Farnsworth, Audry Persano, Catlin Dix and Sukey Forbes), setting up Friday night’s three-team round-robin as the final round of play.

Mother Bears received one-half goal by handicap from Mix It Up, but opening goals from Audry Persano and Catlin Dix had them on top, 2½ -2 (Friday night’s goals were added to their Wednesday totals in the evening’s two-chukker mini-match).

Mix It Up stormed back onto the field in the second period of play.  Caroline Anier opened the scoring with a 30-yard penalty conversion followed by a goal from the field from teammate Madelyn Cobb, 4-2½.  Two more goals from Caroline Anier and shutout defense gave the game to Mix It Up, 6-2½.

Mother Bears 3, Luna Polo 2

With Mix It Up sitting down for the ensuing two chukkers, Mother Bears faced Luna Polo, a team they tied in a 1-1 contest on Wednesday.

A scoreless first chukker was followed by a tightly-contested second and final period.  Audry Persano scored back-to-back goals for Mother Bears as

The Mother Bears team finished in 3rd place in the tournament.

Luna Polo fought to get back into the game.  Jenifer Alexi finally broke through the Mother Bears defense to score what would end up as the last goal of the game in a 3-2 final (Friday night’s goals were added to Wednesday’s team totals).

Luna Polo 4½, Mix It Up 4

The battle between Mix It Up and Luna Polo turned out to be the match of the night.  Mix It Up had edged Luna Polo 2-1½ in Wednesday’s mini-match and was poised to atone for the narrow loss.

Malia McCoy scored the first goal of the final two chukkers of the night followed by Mix It Up goals from Madelyn Cobb and Caroline Anier.  Adding the evening’s goals to Wednesday’s totals, Mix It Up had the early lead, 4-2½.

Luna Polo turned the tables on the previously undefeated Mix It Up foursome As Jenifer Alexi added two more goals in the final seven minutes of play (one on a 40-yard penalty conversion).  The Luna Polo defense held solid, blanking Mix It Up in the final chukker and lifting them to a 4½-4 victory.

Luna Polo finished in second place in this year’s Debii Dollar tournament.

With each team ending the evening with 1-1 records, Mix It Up claimed the title on the basis of net goals scored.

Audry Persano earned MVP honors for her efforts with Caroline Anier’s Cheezi being honored as Best Playing Pony.  Mix It Up’s Kit Neacy received the Dorie Forstmann Sportsmanship.

Kit Neacy (Mix It Up) received the Dorie Forstmann sportsmanship Award.

Polo action will continue on Saturday at the Empire Polo club in the 4-goal USPA Congressional Cup competition, with Empire (Rob Scapa, Erik Wright, Jim Wright and Kiki Hiller) facing Prima Polo (Robert Payne III, Jenny Alter, Toto Socas and Todd Randall) in a noon match.

The 2017-2018 Empire Polo season attracts players from across the country and around the world and offers fourteen weekends of fast-paced polo in the beautiful and relaxed setting of California’s winter playground.

The Empire Polo Club is located at 81-800 Avenue 51 in Indio, CA.  For further information go to the club website at http://empirepolo.com or call 760-342-7755.

Tournament play slated for Friday in the USPA Constitution Cup and the USPA Congressional Cup

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US team member Shane Rice will be joining Evergreen for the Constitution Cup tournament after competing in England in international cup play last week.

Action resumes at the Empire Polo Club this weekend with a total of nine teams competing at the 4-goal and 8-goal level.

Five teams will be competing at the 8-goal USPA Constitution Cup as a strong Spindrift team (John Bickford, Luis Saracco, Tan Khan and Iggy Deltour) attempting to win back-to-back trophies, following their USPA 8-goal General Patton Cup win two weeks ago.  Spindrift will open with a Friday match against Lockton (Tim Kelly, Bryan Middleton, Andres Gonzalez and Alejandro Gonzalez).  The second match of the day will pit ReMax (Dayelle Fargey, Jared Sheldon, Gordon Ross and Matthew Fonseca) against Granite Bay (Eric Hammon, Alvaro Tadeo, Marcos Llambias and Catlin Dix).  Evergreen (Tom Sprung, Carlitos Galindo, Juan Jo Gonzalez and Shane Rice) received a first round bye.

Sunday will see Evergreen face Spindrift while Granite Bay and Lockton lock horns in he second round of Constitution Cup play.

Two of the four 4-goal teams will take the field on Friday in the USPA Congressional Cup with La Herradura (Caroline Anier, Gina Padilla, Meghan Gracida and Carlos Hernandez) playing the Buffalos (Ross Adam, Tim Rudy, Felipe Sordelli and Riley Jordan) to get the tournament underway.

Empire (Rob Scapa, Erik Wright, Jim Wright and Kiki Hiller) is scheduled to battle Prima Polo (Robert Payne III, Jenny Alter, Toto Socas and Todd Randall) in Saturday’s only 4-goal game.

A full compliment of four games at both the 4-goal and 8-goal level will be featured in Sunday competition.

The 2017-2018 Empire Polo season attracts players from across the country and around the world and offers fourteen weekends of fast-paced polo in the beautiful and relaxed setting of California’s winter playground.

The Empire Polo Club is located at 81-800 Avenue 51 in Indio, CA.  For further information go to the club website at http://empirepolo.com or call 760-342-7755.