The champions start the Triple Crown as they ended the last one. On Sunday 4 October, La Natividad La Dolfina beat La Hache 18-14 in the final of the 133rd Hurlingham Open, retaining the title and winning the first leg of the 2026 Triple Crown.
The final
The match was scheduled for Saturday 3 October but was pushed back a day because of rain, and it was played on Field 1, the Lewis Lacey field, at the Hurlingham Club. La Natividad La Dolfina were Adolfo Cambiaso, Poroto Cambiaso, Jeta Castagnola and Barto Castagnola. La Hache were Hilario Ulloa, Carlos María Ulloa, Tomás Panelo and Benjamin Panelo.
La Hache had made the final by beating Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu 13-12 in a memorable semi-final, so they were no pushovers, but the champions’ firepower told.
The Drysdale Cup
On Thursday 1 October, Hiper Polo Club beat La Ensenada 15-14 in the final of the Drysdale Cup, the subsidiary competition, at the Hurlingham Club’s Field 2, named after Gonzalo Tanoira. Teo Lacau scored the winning goal in the last 30 seconds of extra time. Hiper were Francisco Elizalde, Teo Lacau, Torito Ruiz and Gonzalo Ferrari, and La Ensenada, the two-time defending champions, were Diego Cavanagh, Juan Britos, Juan Martin Zubia and Jerónimo del Carril.
Torito Ruiz was the standout through the first half. It was an epic match and the report calls it Hiper’s first Triple Crown title.
Qualifiers decided
On Friday 2 October at the AAP grounds in Pilar, the qualifying tournament for the Remonta and Veterinaria Cups produced two close finals. La Irenita beat Velay 14-12 in League A, and La Zeta Kazak edged La Dolfina II 14-13 in League B. Both teams are now in the Tortugas Open and the Argentine Open. Matías Mac Donough Jr scored six for La Irenita, and Lucas Criado Jr scored nine for La Dolfina II in defeat.
What comes next
- Tortugas Open: begins tomorrow, 6 October, and runs to 7 November
- Argentine Open: 10 November to 12 December
La Natividad La Dolfina are bidding to repeat their Triple Crown of last year, and this win makes them the favourites once more. But La Irenita and La Zeta Kazak have both shown they will be dangerous, and with ten matchdays in each of the next two tournaments, there is a lot of polo still to come.
Sources: Polo Press (final), Polo Press (Drysdale Cup), Polo Times (qualifiers)
