March 22 - March 31

Champions Cup

USPA Polo Network will livestream the finals of the Champions Cup on Sunday, March 31 at 5:30pm ET

Champions Cup

Tournament History

The Champions Cup, an 8-goal tournament that has been hosted at Empire Polo Club in Indio, California since 2011, is back again for 2019 with a great six team line up. This tournament format is especially unique as there is major prize money on the line - $75,000 in the pot for 2019. Teams pay an entry fee which the club matches and unlike other money games, the only deciding factor is the final score. The victors garner seventy-five percent ($56,250) of the total prize money available while the runner-up collects the remaining twenty-five percent ($18,750). A unique feature considering the majority of prize money tournaments are geared towards a mid- to high-goal level of polo.

Photo: 2018 Champions Cup Winners: La Herradura (L to R) Santi Torres, Carlos Hernandez Perez, Catlin Dix, Meghan Gracida.

Champions Cup Format

- Each team plays other teams in their bracket over three days
- Top two teams in each bracket go to semi-finals Friday, March 30
- Top team in 1, 2, 3 bracket plays 2nd place team in A, B, C bracket
- Top team in A, B, C bracket plays 2nd place team in 1, 2, 3 bracket
- Two winners go to Finals Sunday Mar. 31 at 5:30pm ET

Champions Cup

Teams and Rosters

Bracket I

Anthonie's Market Grill/Lockton (1-1)

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Tim Kelly
Outdoor Handicap: A
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Alejandro Gonzalez
Handicap: 3
Tommy Costello
Outdoor Handicap: 1
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Shane Rice
Handicap: 7

Ridgway Hemp (3-1)

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Beau Staley
Outdoor Handicap: -1
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Memo Gracida
Outdoor Handicap: 3
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Quinn Evans
Handicap: 1
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Carlos Hernandez
Outdoor Handicap: 4

Spindrift (2-2)

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John Bickford
Outdoor Handicap: 1
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Omar Mangalji
Outdoor Handicap: 0T
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Leandro Floccari
Outdoor Handicap: 2
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Juan 'Juancho' Curbelo
Outdoor Handicap: 5

Bracket II

Cotterel Farms (2-1)

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Jennifer Luttrell-Benardoni
Outdoor Handicap: A
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Francisco Benardoni
Outdoor Handicap: 1
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Max Menini
Outdoor Handicap: 4
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Francisco Guinazu
Outdoor Handicap: 3

Evergreen (1-2)

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Tom Sprung
Outdoor Handicap: B
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Carlitos Galindo
Outdoor Handicap: 3
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Taylor Freeman
Outdoor Handicap: 2
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Nicolai Galindo
Handicap: 5

STG/Chapel Hill (0-2)

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John Ziegler
Outdoor Handicap: A
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Torrey Ripinsky
Outdoor Handicap: 0
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Martin Jauregui
Outdoor Handicap: 6
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Juan Jo Gonzalez
Outdoor Handicap: 3

Bracket III

Bracket IV

Bracket V

no bracket

Champions Cup

Tournament Games

Friday, Mar 22, 2019

March 22

Final

CHAMPIONS CUP

Spindrift logo

Spindrift (2-2)

10

Anthonie's Market Grill/Lockton logo

Anthonie's Market Grill/Lockton (1-1)

5

March 22

Final

CHAMPIONS CUP

Cotterel Farms logo

Cotterel Farms (2-1)

13

Evergreen logo

Evergreen (1-2)

9

Sunday, Mar 24, 2019

March 24

Final

CHAMPIONS CUP

Spindrift logo

Spindrift (2-2)

7

Ridgway Hemp logo

Ridgway Hemp (3-1)

10

March 24

Final

CHAMPIONS CUP

Cotterel Farms logo

Cotterel Farms (2-1)

11

STG/Chapel Hill logo

STG/Chapel Hill (0-2)

10

Wednesday, Mar 27, 2019

March 27

Final

CHAMPIONS CUP

Anthonie's Market Grill/Lockton logo

Anthonie's Market Grill/Lockton (1-1)

10

Ridgway Hemp logo

Ridgway Hemp (3-1)

9

March 27

Final

CHAMPIONS CUP

Evergreen logo

Evergreen (1-2)

9

STG/Chapel Hill logo

STG/Chapel Hill (0-2)

5

Friday, Mar 29, 2019

March 29

Final

CHAMPIONS CUP

Ridgway Hemp logo

Ridgway Hemp (3-1)

13

Evergreen logo

Evergreen (1-2)

8

March 29

Final OT

CHAMPIONS CUP

Spindrift logo

Spindrift (2-2)

9

Cotterel Farms logo

Cotterel Farms (2-1)

8

Sunday, Mar 31, 2019

March 31

Final

CHAMPIONS CUP

Spindrift logo

Spindrift (2-2)

8

Ridgway Hemp logo

Ridgway Hemp (3-1)

15

The Venue

Empire Polo Club, situated in the Coachella Valley in Indio, California, is the self-proclaimed “Disneyland” of polo in the United States. Boasting one of the most exquisite and elaborate grounds, the club aims to impress players and spectators alike with a polo experience like no other. Offering a competitive polo season mid-December through March with public Sunday matches and a seasonal polo school, the club operates year-round hosting numerous non-polo events, such as music festivals—including, but not limited to, the famous Coachella music festival.

Established in 1987, the club has steadily grown over nearly three decades to include 12 grass polo fields, an indoor polo arena with stadium, two exercise tracks, on-site stabling for 650+ horses and the only fully-lit grass polo field in the United States for night polo. Equine amenities aside, the club houses not one, but two restaurants—The Tack Room Tavern Restaurant & Bar and Polo Pizza Co.—as well as “The Date Shed” a former date packing facility turned nightclub and live music venue.


52995 Calhoun ST
Coachella, CA 92236
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