The final leg of the Gauntlet of Polo is well under way at the National Polo Center in Wellington. The U.S. Open Polo Championship began on 1 April with 11 teams in two brackets, semi-finals on 22 April and the final on Sunday 26 April.
The brackets
- Bracket I: La Dolfina/Scone, Clearwater, BTA, DUS, Clinova The Sandbox and La Dolfina/Tamera
- Bracket II: Pilot, The Dutta Corp, La Fe, Coca-Cola and Park Place
The opening day saw Pilot play The Dutta Corp, which gave a rematch of the Gold Cup semi-final, and Park Place against La Fe. Pilot, the Gold Cup winners, and the Dutta Corp, the Whitney Cup winners, were therefore on a collision course from day one.
Overtime thrillers
On Sunday 12 April, two matches went beyond the regulation chukkas. Clearwater beat La Dolfina/Tamera in overtime, and La Fe beat Coca-Cola 12-11 on a golden goal in the seventh chukka. Overtime is a feature of this level of polo, because the best teams are so closely matched. In a field where nearly every team has a serious claim, bracket seeding will matter a great deal.
Standing Rock in Colombia
Elsewhere, Standing Rock won the Abraham Aparicio Cup at the Bogota Polo Club, beating their opponents 13-9 in the final. The team of Juan Esteban Uribe Salcedo, Alejandro Mora Convers, Marco Cabal Valencia and Philipp Müller were in control from the start, and Cabal Valencia was named MVP. It was their fourth consecutive tournament win in 2026. The Bogota Polo Club was founded in 1897, and the Aparicio Cup has been played there since 1984, so this is a fixture with real heritage.
The Queen Elizabeth Cup begins
This week, the third Queen Elizabeth Cup begins at Hurlingham Polo Club in Argentina, running from 14 to 18 April. It is a 15-goal women’s tournament with six teams, organised by Amalia Sáenz, who describes it as an event that is slowly building its own identity on the Argentine calendar. Defending champions La Monarchy return, and Gramercy, Camp Polo, Hurlingham BMW Bremen and Bayugar Properties are among the other entries.
The cup carries the name of the late Queen Elizabeth II, a lifelong lover of horses, and it brings a very British connection into the Argentine autumn.
This week
- U.S. Open Polo Championship continues in Wellington
- Queen Elizabeth Cup, 14 to 18 April
- The UK season is only weeks away, with the Prince of Wales Trophy due to open early in May
We will have the semi-final line-up in next Monday’s post.
Sources: Polo Times (U.S. Open qualifiers), Polo Times (U.S. Open draw), Polo Press (Standing Rock in Bogota)
