empire polo club Archives - Page 2 of 10

La Herradura rallies to win USPA Congressional Cup at the Empire Polo Club

March 18, 2018 by Empire Polo

La Herradura (L to R)-Carlos Hernandez, Caroline Anier, Meghan Gracida and Gina Padilla, winners of the 2018 USPA Congressional Cup final at the Empire Polo Club. Photos courtesy of Lynn Bremner.

Prima Polo (Robert Payne III, Jenny Alter, Toto Socas and Todd Randall) rode onto the field like gangbusters in the final of the 4-goal 2018 USPA Congressional Cup at the Empire Polo Club Sunday afternoon, but it would be a last chukker rally by La Herradura (Caroline Anier, Gina Padilla, Meghan Gracida and Carlos Hernandez) that would take the day in a hotly-contested 7-5 win.

2018 Congressional Cup MVP, Robert Payne, III.

Toto Socas scored the first two goals of the day for Prima Polo followed by a goal from Todd Randall. Shutout defense kept La Herradura off of the scoreboard in the opening chukker as Prima Polo ran up a 3-0 lead.

A reorganized La Herradura team put together a coordinated offensive attack in the second period. Caroline Anier scored first followed by a pair of goals from Carlos Hernandez (one on a penalty conversion). This time it was the La Herradura defense that set the tone for the chukker by shutting down the Prima Polo attack. At the end of the first half of the four-chukker match it was all even at 3-3.

A determined Prima Polo team got their attack back in gear in the third. Robert Payne, III scored once from the field and once on a 40-yard penalty shot to make it 5-3, Prima Polo. Meghan Gracida got her team on the scoreboard with the final goal of the chukker, but it was Prima Polo with the one-goal lead, 5-4.

Robert Payne, III, with his mare Renata, who earned Best Playing Pony honors.

2018 USPA Congressional Cup runner-up, Prima Polo (L to R)- Robert Payne, III, Jenny Alter, Toto Socas and Todd Randal.l

La Herradura needed a stellar final chukker to salvage the win, and they got it . Another solid defensive effort was complimented by three consecutive goals from Hernandez (the last on a penalty shot) for the 7-5 victory.

Hernandez led all scoring with five goals (two on penalty conversions). Anier and Gracida each scored once for the win. Socas and Payne scored two goals apiece for Prima Polo, with Payne receiving MVP honors for his efforts. Randall added a goal in the loss.

Payne’s mare Renata was named Best Playing Pony on the day.

USPA Constitution Cup wins for Lockton and Evergreen

March 11, 2018 by Empire Polo

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 16^th 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

March 10, 2018 by Empire Polo

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

March 7, 2018 by Empire Polo

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 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.

With seconds on the clock, Spindrift scores for 10-9 win in USPA General Patton 8-goal final

February 26, 2018 by Empire Polo

The 2018 USPA General Patton 8-goal Cup winner (L to R) Leslie Tims, John Bickford, Juan Curbelo and Luis Saracco.

A large and enthusiastic crowd was on hand and it was a back-and-forth battle that put an exclamation mark at the end of an exciting day of polo at the Empire Polo Club Sunday afternoon. In the final game of the day, Spindrift (Leslie Tims, John Bickford, Juan Curbelo and Luis Saracco) rebounded from a last chukker rally by STG (John Ziegler, Tommy Costello, Max Menini and Francisco Guinazu) to win the 2018 USPA General Patton 8-goal Cup.

Juan Curbelo opened the scoring with a goal from the field for the early Spindrift advantage, but fouls proved costly in the early goings. Penalty goals from STG’s Max Menini and Francisco Guinazu closed out the chukker with STG on top, 2-1.

Curbelo tied it at 2-2 with his second goal of the game, but STG countered with a 40-yard penalty goal from Guinazu for a fragile one goal advantage, 3-2. Leslie Tims scored the final goal of the period, leveling the score at three goals apiece, 3-3.

The Spindrift defenders were on their game in the third. Shutout defense coupled with a pair of 40-yard penalty conversions from John Bickford gave the lead to Spindrift, 5-3.

Two more penalty goals from Bickford and a goal from the field from Luis Saracco and a second consecutive scoreless chukker for STG saw Spindrift expand their lead to five goals, 8-3, with just two periods of regulation play remaining.

The STG offense came alive in the fifth with Menini opening with a goal from the field followed by two penalty goals from Guinazu, 8-6. Bickford converted a penalty shot from the 30-yard mark, 9-6, with Menini adding the final goal of the period. Spindrift continued to lead but a storming STG team appeared to have morphed into attack mode, and trailed by just two goals, 9-7.

The momentum remained with STG as the final chukker got underway. Guinazu’s fifth goal of the day had STG within a goal of the lead, 9-8, and Tommy Costello’s first goal of the afternoon had it all even at 9-9. Both teams pressed frantically for the winning goal and with 13 seconds on the clock it was Saracco executing the winning shot for the 10-9 win.

All five of Bickford’s five goals came on penalty shots and earned him MVP honors. Saracco and Curbelo each scored twice and Tims added a goal for the Cup. Guinazu was STG’s top scorer with five goals (four on penalty conversions). Menini scored three times (twice on penalty shots) and Costello was credited with a goal in the loss.

Curbelo’s Curbelo’s Briza was named Best Playing Pony.

Following a weekend off, polo returns to the Empire Polo Club on March 9^th with the 8-goal USPA Constitution Cup and on March 19^th with the USPA Congressional Cup.

General Admission and tailgating are free with a $20 parking fee. VIP is $30 per person with a reservation. Call 760-393-7298 for VIP reservations. Entrance is on Ave. 50 between Madison St. and Monroe St. Visit http://www.EmpirePolo.com for more details

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.