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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.

Wins by Vashon and Arizona set up 1-goal Sunday final

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World Gym’s Tom Schuerman scored three times in a hard-fought loss to Arizona in Saturday 1-goal competition at the Empire Polo Club.

Wins by Vashon (Stephanie Davidson, JMG, Jeffrey Rewald and Zinta Rewald) and Arizona (David Barnet, Dan Faherty, Manny Rodriguez and Benito Andrade) set up the first 1-goal final of the season at the Empire Polo Club in Saturday afternoon action.

In a noon battle, Vashon edged the Flaming Chicken (Joey Gallemore, Devon Gallemore, Victor Soto and Jose Quiroz) by the narrowest of margins, 5½ to 5 top earn a spot in Sunday’s final.

Vashon received one-half goal by handicap in the opening chukker and quickly added to it with a air of goals from JMG (one on a 40-yard penalty conversion.  The Vashon defenders held the Flaming Chickens scoreless for the early 2½ to 0 lead.

Zinta Rewald’s first goal of the day stretched the Vashon lead to 3½ to 0 before the Flaming Chickens got on the scoreboard.  A goal from the field from Victor Soto kept them from being shutout in the first half of the four-chukker match, with Vashon’s JMG scoring the final goal of the period for a 4½ to 1 advantage.

Soto got the second half started with back-to-back goals for the Flaming Chickens, bringing them to within striking distance, 4½ to 3.  JMG scored on a 30-yard penalty shot to end the chukker with Vashon sitting on top of a 5½ to 3 score.

The Flaming Chickens fought their way back into the game in the fourth on the strength of goals from Jose Quiroz and Joey Gallemore and a shutout defensive effort, but t was Vashon who rode off the field with the 5½ to 5 victory.

JMG led the field with four goals (two on penalty shots).  Ainta Rewald added a goal for the win.  Soto set the pace for the Flaming Chickens, scoring three times.  Quiroz and Joey Gallemore each added a goal in the loss.

Arizona 6½, World Gym 6

In the second league game of the day, Arizona bounced back from a halftime deficit to slip past a talented World Gym entry (Claudia Uretz, Todd Randall, Tom Schuerman and Wiley Uretz), 6½ to 6.

Wiley Uretz scored the first goal of the game followed by a 40-yard penalty conversion from Dan Faherty that gave Arizona the led, 1½-1 (Arizona was awarded one-half goal on handicap). World Gym took control of the game as Wiley Uretz converted a 40-yard penalty shot and teammate Tom Schuerman added two more goals from the field.  After the first seven minutes of play, World Gym was in front, 4-1½.

Goals from David Barnet and Faherty had Arizona within a half-goal of World Gym in the second period, 4-3½.  Todd Randall scored the final goal of the first half to keep World Gym in the lead, 5-3½.

Goals were hard to come by in the third.  Disciplined defense work by both sides held the scoring to a minimum.   Schuerman and Wiley Uretz) scored the only goal of the period, extending the World Gym lead to 6 to 3½.

Arizona had been batted around by World Gym throughout much of the first three chukkers, but the fourth and final period of the gam was all Arizona.  Supported by a defense that held World Gym scoreless, Faherty scored for the third time on the day and Manny Rodriguez added two goals of his own for a 6½ to 6 win.

Faherty led the Arizona attack with three goals (one on a penalty conversion).  Rodriguez scored twice, Barnet added a goal and the team received one-half goal by handicap.  Schuerman scored a team-high three goals for World Gym.  Wiley Uretz was credited with two goals with Randall adding a goal in the loss.

The 1-goal League final is scheduled to take place on Sunday, January 31st at noon on Field 4, with Arizona facing Vashon.  The consolation match between World Gym and the Flaming Chickens is set for 10AM, also on Field 4.

Dressing for polo . . .

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Although not everyone dresses like Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in the movie Pretty Woman, polo has a style all its own.

One of the most often asked questions when questioned about going to polo is “What should I wear?”, and the answer is there is no correct or incorrect answer.  You can dress up or dress down and fit in to any Sunday event, but you should pay attention to how and from where you plan on watching the match, as there seem to be unwritten dress codes that are apparent.

Prince William and Kate Middleton dressed up for their visit to the Santa Barbara Polo Club.

Attending a polo match is akin to stepping onto the pages of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Great Gatsby”, allowing women the luxury of dressing to the nines (for afternoon wear), with elegant sun dresses and fashionable hats a polo tradition, while men have the option of wearing a jacket, or not, with slacks or jeans.

Unlike some more formal polo settings you might find at London’s Windsor Park or Spain’s Sotogrande, Indio’s Empire Polo Club embraces a relaxed approach to the game that features everything from blazers to shorts, heels to flip flops.

Tailgaters might take a more casual approach to the game, but appear to be enjoying themselves.

Sporting attire is evident, and is often taken from the pages of “Palm Springs Life” in the club’s VIP section. Tailgaters at the Empire Polo Club tends to more reminiscent of gatherings you might find in parking lots before football games, but to date, there have been no face paintings!

It is always a good idea to call the club (760-342-7755) to confirm game times and field locations, if you’re looking for anything besides the featured 2 pm Sunday stadium game.  And remember, ladies, when selecting footwear that six-inch stiletto heels aren’t the best choice for the traditional halftime divot stomps.

The 2017-2018 Empire Polo season attracts players from across the county and around the world and offers fourteen weekends of fast-paced polo in the beautiful 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.

How to watch polo

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With the popular resurgence of polo it is a common occurrence for someone to say, “I’d really like to see a polo match, but I have no idea what to do.”

Getting yourself together for an afternoon of polo is no more difficult than going to a baseball game. Both sports require a minimum amount of planning, with much of the organizational responsibilities being assumed by the particular club you are visiting.

The events are being presented for public viewing, everyone is invited, and spectators are encouraged to attend, and even cheer for the competition. A great deal of advertising is prepared every year to assist area sports fans in finding their way to the matches, and every effort is made to assist the general public when they do arrive.

Initially, it is a good idea to call the club to find out who is playing. All levels of polo are jam packed with action, however, and are always fun to watch.

It is also a good idea to find out whether the match you will be attending will be played on a field equipped with grandstands, box seating or just fieldside parking. That way you if you need to, you can drag along a couple of beach chairs to make yourself more comfortable.

The time of the match is also important. You should allow plenty of time to arrive and get situated, as there may be a slight traffic slow-down at the entrance just before the start of the action. If you want to get a look at the horses or players, you should plan on arriving nearly an hour early, since as the game time nears, they will all be quite busy preparing for play. Finally, learn the basics of the game, and don’t be afraid to ask. Getting a basic understanding of the game and being able to identify many of the players will make the game more enjoyable and easier to follow.

Here’s what you’ll need to know to become a polo spectator without sounding like a novice:

Question: What if someone asks to borrow a bottle of champagne or a horse?

Answer: Don’t worry. These guys bring their own horses, and chances are you’ll see more of the players drinking more Gatorade than champagne. If you think that everyone should be drinking champagne, you are probably suffering from what is known as “Prince Charles Syndrome.”

Question: How big is the field?

Answer: The polo field is approximately 300-yards long and 160-yards wide. It is boarded on the sides by 12-inch sideboards that run the length of the field and serve to keep the rapidly moving ball in play. If you arrive at the field to see eight players out there chasing a ball, you’re late. But it’s okay; there are more chukkers (periods of seven-and-a-half minutes each) to see. As you watch the eight riders you might remark to yourself, “Hey, this is nothing but hockey on horseback.” You’re right, sort of. The point is to knock the ball through the other guy’s goalposts. You’ll even see a polo version of the cross-body check, it’s called a bump or a ride-off, and the strategic purpose is the same; take your opponent out of play.

Question: How do you score?

Answer: Scoring is accomplished by putting the ball through the goalposts (centered on the endlines, eight-yards apart). You might find it a bit confusing when you see that the teams change directions after each goal is scored. The practice is meant to keep either team from taking advantage of wind or field conditions. There are four periods in a polo game, seven minutes each, plus a 30-second overtime.

Question: Where are the goalies?

Answer: There are no goalies. But there are goal judges who stand behind the goal and raise a flag every time a goal is scored.

Question: What you might hear and what you might want to say:

Answer: Most comments emanating from the polo field are self -explanatory. For example, “Leave it” is usually uttered by a player who wants his teammate to ride past the ball and leave it-because the former thinks he has a better play. But on the sidelines, you are likely to encounter the occasional puzzler particularly if you’re not the horsey type. For instance, a “green” pony is simply a horse new to the game of polo, a rookie, if you will.

What you say is up to you, but there are a few simple phrases that will make you sound like a true patron of the game. No matter what’s happening on the field, you can say: “The pace is a bit choppy”, with just the right touch of impatience in your voice. This is an impeccable and unchallengeable comment. The pace is always choppy in polo.

“Boy, that chestnut mare sure is running out of steam.” There will always be a chestnut mare on the field, and all of the horses are running out of steam by the end of any chukker.
“The losers were simply out-horsed.” At the end of any lopsided game, feel free to declare this. Nine times out of ten, they were.

Name a great place to watch polo this fall. The Empire Polo Club, Indio, CA.

Three new lineups for Holiday Cup

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French polo veteran Caroline Anier will join Granite Bay for the Holiday Cup at the Empire Polo Club this weekend.

Three altered lineups will take the field for the opening round of the Holiday Cup in the final tournament of the year at the Empire Polo Club.

Pheasant Hollow team (Deb Vermoch, Cameron Smith, Tim Rudy and Suki Piper),  Granite Bay (Julie Fernandez, Caroline Anier, Eric Hammon and Goyo Mariscal) and Ocean Air/Backshot Ranch (Dave Carlson, Shannon Mendez, Ashton Wolf and Alonso Andrade) will battle one another on Feld 3 in a 2pm round-robin.

The 2015 winner, Alpha Omega (Dayelle Fargey, Hayward Pardue, Eileen Duffy and John Eicher) will not be on hand to defend their title in this year’s 2-goal Competition.

Julie Fernandez, Caroline Anier, Suki Piper, Dave Carlson and Shannon Mendez will be making their first tournament appearances of the season.

Round-robin play will begin at 2PM on field 3.

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://www.empirepolo.com or call 760-342-7755.