March was a Valiente month at the International Polo Club Palm Beach. Bob Jornayvaz’s team, with Adolfo Cambiaso, Diego Cavanagh and Matías Torres Zavaleta, won both the C.V. Whitney Cup and the USPA Gold Cup, the first two legs of the Triple Crown of Polo.
C.V. Whitney Cup final: Valiente 14, Orchard Hill 11
The final, played on Sunday 5 March against defending champions Orchard Hill, began well for the Pieres cousins. Felipe Vercellino converted a penalty for a 1-0 lead and Polito Pieres made it 2-0 from a run. Valiente took control in the third chukka, when Orchard Hill did not get a single shot at goal, and led 6-5 at the interval. Throw-ins mattered in the second half: Orchard Hill won more of them, but Cambiaso made the most of every one Valiente won. Valiente led by four after five chukkas, and Zavaleta scored all four of his goals after the break to take the MVP award. Orchard Hill scored five of their last six goals from penalties, but Valiente’s open play held, with 12 of their 14 goals coming from the field. Best Playing Pony went to Sugar, played by Cambiaso.
USPA Gold Cup final: Valiente 9, Coca-Cola 6
Three weeks later, on Sunday 26 March, Valiente met Coca-Cola, the team they had beaten 11-10 in the opening round. Julián de Lusarreta, Miguel Novillo Astrada, Julio Arellano and Gillian Johnston raced into a 4-1 lead and were 5-3 up at half-time. Valiente’s fightback came from Cavanagh, who scored four in a row across the fourth and fifth chukkas, three of them penalties, to make it 8-6. Cambiaso scored from 60 yards early in the fourth, and Zavaleta rounded things off by running the length of the field in the closing moments. Cavanagh finished with six goals, and Valiente did not concede a penalty chance after half-time.
Earlier in the tournament
- In a bracket game on 19 March, Valiente beat Orchard Hill 14-10 with Robert Jornayvaz deputising for his unwell father. Facundo Pieres scored all ten Orchard Hill goals.
- Coca-Cola beat Audi 11-8 the same day, with Julio Arellano named MVP.
Valiente are unbeaten in 26-goal polo this season, and they now head into the U.S. Open with the Triple Crown on the line.
Sources: Town-Crier (Whitney Cup final), Town-Crier (Gold Cup final), Town-Crier (Gold Cup double-header)
