The American high-goal season has its first trophy. On Sunday 26 February, Valiente beat Pilot 10-9 in the final of the C.V. Whitney Cup in Wellington, Florida, the opening event in this year’s Gauntlet of Polo.
The line-ups
Valiente fielded Bob Jornayvaz, Lucas Criado Jr, Mariano “Peke” Gonzalez Jr and Adolfo Cambiaso. Pilot lined up with Curtis Pilot, Lucas Escobar, Matias Torres Zavaleta and Facundo Pieres. On paper it was a match between two sides built around some of the best players in the world, and on the field it played out that way, with very little between them from first to last.
How the final unfolded
Valiente led 6-4 at half-time and looked to be in control, but Pilot kept coming. A Penalty 4 in the closing chukker pulled them level at 9-9, which set up a tense finish in front of the Wellington crowd. The winner came from Peke Gonzalez, whose late drive put Valiente back in front and gave them the narrowest of margins. Pilot missed several chances to take the lead themselves, and in a game this tight those chances were the difference.
Gonzalez was named Most Valuable Player for his part in the win. The Best Playing Pony award went to his gelding Carpacho, a nice reminder that the horses are half of every polo story.
A record for Valiente
The victory was Valiente’s fifth C.V. Whitney Cup title, and it puts them in the best possible position at the start of a long spring. The tournament is the first leg of the Gauntlet of Polo, which carries on through the USPA Gold Cup and finishes with the U.S. Open Polo Championship in April. Winning the opener does not decide anything on its own, but it does tell you which teams have their ponies and their combinations working early.
For British readers, this is also the stretch of the year when many of the players we will see at Guards and Cowdray in the summer are sharpening up in Florida. We will be watching how the sides settle over the next few weeks, and we will report on the Gold Cup when it reaches its final.
Sources: Town-Crier
