The news we feared has come. On 27 March the United States Polo Association, the International Polo Club Palm Beach and U.S. Polo Assn. Global Licensing announced that the rest of the 2020 Gauntlet of Polo winter season has been cancelled, in the interests of the health and safety of players and everyone else involved in the sport.
What the announcement said
- The remainder of the 2020 USPA Gold Cup, suspended after the quarter-finals, is expected to be rescheduled for late January 2021, before the 2021 Gauntlet begins.
- The organisers are still considering whether the 2020 U.S. Open Polo Championship can be rescheduled.
- Changes to the handicap level of the pre-Gauntlet tournaments next winter are being weighed, and the teams will be consulted before decisions are final.
- The USPA and the International Polo Club plan to maintain the polo fields year-round together, to send out off-season progress updates, and possibly to add two tournament fields.
What it means for the Gauntlet
The 2020 Gauntlet was a season in which Las Monjitas had won the C.V. Whitney Cup and had a chance of the $500,000 bonus for a sweep. That chance has now gone for this year, and so has the U.S. Open final that had been scheduled for 19 April, with a CBS Sports broadcast planned for the week after.
It is a sad ending to a promising season. The field of 14 teams included five ten-goal players, and the first leg had given us a fine one-goal final. To have it stopped midway is a real loss to the teams, the sponsors and the spectators.
The longer view
There is, however, a sensible plan. Rescheduling the Gold Cup rather than scrapping it keeps a major trophy alive and gives teams that were in the semi-final stage a chance to finish what they started. The decision to look at the handicap level of the early-season tournaments is also welcome, since it may help teams to build up for the Gauntlet in a more orderly way.
We think the organisers have struck a good balance between caution and ambition. Polo is a sport that needs time to recover, and the horses, as always, will need to be looked after in the interim.
We will return to these stories as plans are firmed up. In the meantime, look after yourselves and your horses.
Sources: Wellington Town-Crier
