The 20-goal Joe Barry Memorial Cup at the International Polo Club Palm Beach is one of the first big events of the Florida high-goal winter. A 21-game schedule covers the main cup and the subsidiary Bobby Barry Cup, and the opening round alone brought some intriguing pairings.
The opening round
- La Indiana v Enigma: La Indiana (Michael Bickford, Joao Paulo Ganon, Ruki Baillieu and Tommy Biddle) met Enigma (Jerome Wirth, Jeff Hall, Matías Mac Donough and Carlucho Arellano). Both teams have been based in England in recent seasons, and this is La Indiana’s first 20-goal tournament in Florida.
- Coca-Cola v Tonkawa: Coca-Cola (Gillian Johnston, Sugar Erskine, Julio Arellano and Steve Krueger) faced Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Gonzalo Deltour, Sebastián Merlos and Mason Wroe).
- Dubai v Valiente: Dubai (Rashid Albwardy, Carlos Gracida, Diego Cavanagh and Alejo Taranco) made their North American debut against Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Roberto Zedda and Santi Torres, with a fourth player to be confirmed).
- Audi-Millarville v Orchard Hill: Audi (Grant Ganzi, Nic Roldan, Julian Mannix and Freddie Mannix) took on the defending champions, who lined up with Steve Van Andel, the Pieres cousins Facundo and Polito, Peke González and Lucas Criado.
- Villa del Lago v Palm Beach Illustrated: a father-and-son match, with Jim Zenni leading Villa del Lago (alongside Guille Agüero, Hilario Ulloa and Agustín Obregón) against his son Jared, who captains Palm Beach Illustrated (Nacho Badiola, Facundo Obregón and Jesse Bray).
Why Dubai matter
Dubai arrive with a proud record in Britain, having collected several British Open and Queen’s Cup titles since 2001. Seeing them test themselves against the American 20-goal teams is one of the stories of the winter, and it is a sign of how international the Wellington season has become.
Early results
Play moved on at pace on Sunday 24 January, a bright and cool day in the mid-50s Fahrenheit, with eight teams on different fields chasing a place in the final round. The featured match saw Enigma beat Villa del Lago 11-7 after pulling clear in the second half. Enigma’s Carlucho Arellano was named MVP for his stickwork, and his pony Morisette took the best playing pony award.
It is a promising start to a season that will lead on to the 26-goal tournaments. We will be following the knockout stages closely, not least to see whether Orchard Hill can retain the cup they won last year.
Sources: Hurlingham Polo Magazine, Town-Crier Newspaper
