The Wellington season is closed, and the USPA has published its post-Gauntlet handicap changes, with Lorenzo Chavanne the headline name.
The big movers
The updated handicaps were released on Tuesday 28 April. Lorenzo Chavanne goes from 7 to 9 goals, a rise of two after he won both the USPA Gold Cup and the U.S. Open with Pilot. Other increases included:
- Facundo Cruz Llosa, 7 to 8
- Mackenzie Weisz, 6 to 7
- Lucio Fernandez Ocampo, 5 to 7
- Tim Dutta, 4 to 5
Among the decreases, Adolfo Cambiaso and Hilario Ulloa both drop from 10 to 9, Francisco Elizalde goes from 9 to 8, and Julián de Lusarreta from 7 to 6. In all, twelve players went up and six went down.
It is interesting to see Cambiaso at 9 on this list. He is still, by any measure, one of the best players in the world, and the fact that there is now a gap between handicap and reputation says as much about the strength of the younger generation as it does about him. Dutta’s rise to 5, after the Whitney Cup win, is well earned.
CAIH: Corrientes celebrate
In Argentina, the 36th Campeonato Argentino del Interior con Handicap, the most important championship in the Argentine interior, was played from 28 to 30 April at the Cuarto Rincon Polo Club in Mercedes, Corrientes. Naimará La Madrugada beat Jockey Club Rosario La Famille 10-9 in the final.
The winners were Pedro Cabarcos, Gustavo Usandizaga Jr, Agustin Von Wernich and Juan Morando, and Usandizaga was MVP. It was Corrientes’ third title in the tournament and its second in a row, which is quite a record for a single province. The event was founded in 1987 and is organised by the Asociación Argentina de Polo.
Looking ahead
The Argentine Triple Crown dates for 2026 have been confirmed:
- Hurlingham Open, 22 September to 3 October
- Tortugas Open, 6 October to 7 November
- Argentine Open at Palermo, 10 November to 12 December
A qualification tournament on 24 September, 28 September and 2 October will decide which teams join the Argentine Open and, for the first time, the Tortugas Open, so there will be extra interest in those games.
And in England, the high-goal season begins this week with the Prince of Wales Trophy. Next Monday we will be bringing you the first reports.
Sources: Polo Press (USPA handicaps), Polo Press (CAIH), Polo Times (Triple Crown dates)
