The American high-goal season has a new shape this year, and Pilot have started it in commanding fashion. On Sunday 24 February, at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida, they beat Las Monjitas 13-6 to win the C.V. Whitney Cup, the first leg of the newly created Gauntlet of Polo.
What is the Gauntlet of Polo?
The Gauntlet links three of the biggest tournaments of the Florida winter: the C.V. Whitney Cup, the USPA Gold Cup and the U.S. Open Polo Championship. A team that wins all three earns a bonus on top of the individual prizes, with a seven-figure total at stake. It is a simple idea, and it gives the long season a story line that even casual followers can grasp.
The Whitney Cup is the one knockout event of the three, which makes it a cruel tournament for a favourite. One bad afternoon and you are out. Pilot did not have one.
The final
Pilot, the team of owner Curtis Pilot, lined up with Matias Gonzalez, Gonzalito Pieres and Facundo Pieres. Las Monjitas fielded Camilo Bautista, Francisco Elizalde, Hilario Ulloa and Matt Coppola, with Santi Toccalino also named in their squad. The winners took home the $125,000 first prize.
- Final score: Pilot 13, Las Monjitas 6.
- Most Valuable Player: Matias Gonzalez, who scored two goals.
- Best Playing Pony: Open Pennsylvania, ridden by Facundo Pieres.
A margin of seven goals in a 22-goal final is not something you see every week. It tells you that Pilot were comfortably the better side on the day, and that the team’s mix of Facundo Pieres’s power and Gonzalez’s all-round game was working from the first throw-in.
What it means for the season
Winning the first leg is the best possible start for a team with Gauntlet ambitions, and it makes Pilot the side everyone else must now plan around. The USPA Gold Cup comes next, followed by the U.S. Open in late March and April. Las Monjitas, for their part, showed enough to be dangerous again later in the season.
We will be following the next two legs closely. If Pilot keep this level, the rest of the Wellington field will have a long winter ahead of them.
Sources: Wellington Town-Crier
