The Queen was at Windsor Great Park on Sunday to present the Cartier Queen’s Cup, and for the second year in a row the trophy went to Lyndon Lea’s Zacara. They finished the tournament unbeaten, beating Edouard Carmignac’s Talandracas 10-7 in the final at Guards Polo Club.
The teams
Zacara lined up with Facundo Pieres, Gonzalo Deltour and the British four-goaler Matt Perry, alongside patron Lea. Talandracas were Carmignac, Polito Pieres, Santiago Stirling and Juan MartÃn Nero. The two had reached the final by different routes. Zacara beat Enigma 11-8 in the first semi-final on Wednesday, while Talandracas edged UAE Polo 10-9 in the second, a game in which the sides were never more than two goals apart. Ollie Cudmore missed a last-second run to goal for UAE Polo, who had Kian Hall playing in place of patron HH Sheikha Maitha.
A final built on Pieres
Zacara led at half-time and stretched the advantage to 7-2 in the fourth chukka. Carmignac’s team came back strongly and were still in touch at 9-7 as the last chukka began. That was as close as they got. Facundo Pieres scored his eighth goal of the match to seal the result, and Lea collected the cup from the Queen. Pieres was named most valuable player and also took the best playing pony award for Galactica.
The figures tell the story: eight of Zacara’s ten goals came from Pieres.
Cartier at Guards
The day also marked thirty years of Cartier sponsorship at Guards Polo Club, and before the final the Band of the Grenadier Guards formed a figure 30 on the Queen’s Ground to celebrate. The final capped three weeks of high-goal polo. UAE Polo and Enigma were due to meet earlier in the day in the subsidiary final for the Cartier trophy.
The next big fixtures are already announced: the Audi International at Beaufort on 21 June, and the teams for the Gold Cup at Cowdray have been drawn into their leagues. For now though, this is Zacara’s moment, and a second straight Queen’s Cup puts them among the form teams of the English summer.
Sources: Polo Times: Zacara retain Cartier Queens Cup title, Polo Times: Zacara and Talandracas into Queen’s Cup final, Worldtempus: The 2014 Cartier Queen’s Cup
