C.V. Whitney Cup®

C.V. Whitney Cup®

Tournament History

Originally known as the U.S. Handicap, the C.V. Whitney Cup® was first competed for in 1979 by handicap, and played in conjunction with the U.S. Open Polo Championship®. Played at Retama Polo Center in San Antonio, Texas, it was won the first two years by Tulsa. Nine years later, in 1988, the tournament was renamed for C.V. (Cornelius Vanderbilt “Sonny”) Whitney, an avid polo player and three-time winner of the U.S. Open in 1928, 1937 and 1938, and son of 10-goal Hall of Famer Harry Payne Whitney. In its inaugural years in 1988 and 1989, Mr. Whitney was on hand in Lexington, Kentucky, to make the first presentations of the C.V. Whitney Cup®. The winner of the cup those first two years was the Ft. Lauderdale team of Jack Oxley, Joey Casey, Ernesto Trotz and Bart Evans.

Now played as a stand-alone tournament, the C.V. Whitney Cup® is the first of three 22-goal tournaments in the GAUNTLET OF POLO® at the International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC) in Wellington, Florida. Its home since 2003, the C.V. Whitney Cup® will be followed by the USPA Gold Cup® and the U.S. Open Polo Championship®. In 2015 the Orchard Hill team defeated Alegria in the highest-scoring final in C.V. Whitney Cup® history 16-13. Orchard Hill defended their title in 2016, defeating Audi 11-9, but the defending champions lost the trophy to rival Valiente in 2017 14-11. Notable past winners include Valiente (2012, 2014, 2017, 2018), Lechuza (1999, 2002, 2011) and White Birch (1995, 1996, 2000, 2001 and 2005).

History was made during the first GAUNTLET OF POLO® in 2019, when Pilot captured the C.V. Whitney Cup® to start a run to capture all three events, win the $500,000 bonus and earn $1 million over the course of the series. Surviving a fierce single-elimination tournament in 2019, Pilot and Las Monjitas emerged out of a field of 16 challengers to contend for the C.V. Whitney Cup® which was ultimately won 13-6 by Pilot. Reaching the C.V. Whitney Cup® Final for the second consecutive year, Las Monjitas (Camilo Bautista, Mackenzie Weisz, Francisco Elizalde, David Stirling) emerged as the champions in 2020, defeating La Indiana 11-10 in the hard-fought final.

A new champion will be crowned in 2021 with nine teams competing for the first leg of the GAUNTLET OF POLO® including newcomers Aspen/Dutta Corp and Scone, which features father/son duo Adolfo Cambiaso and Adolfo 'Poroto' Cambiaso Jr. The 10-goalers competing this year include Cambiaso (Scone), Sapo Caset (Tonkawa), Facundo and Gonzalito Pieres (Pilot), Polito Pieres (La Indiana) and Hilario Ulloa (Park Place). The winner of the C.V. Whitney Cup® will receive $100,000 in prize money while the runners-up receive $25,000. In partnership with USPA Global Licensing, each of the teams will select a charity of their choice from 10 non-profits and both charities of the winner and runners-up will receive a $5,000 donation. Showcasing many young and talented polo players, the competition includes active Team USPA Members Peke Gonzalez, Keko Magrini, Nico Escobar and Timmy Dutta and graduating members Jared Zenni, Cody Ellis and Matt Coppola. Click here to learn more about the GAUNTLET OF POLO®.

Photo: 2021 C.V. Whitney Cup Champions: Park Place- Jack Whitman, Juan Britos, Hilario Ulloa, Matt Coppola. ©David Lominska