Aug 07, 2019 4:53 PM
Story Courtesy of Aspen Valley Polo Club/Sharon Robb.
Casablanca upset two-time defending champion Flexjet to win the United States Arena Handicap Final on Tuesday, August 6, at Aspen Valley Polo Club in Carbondale, Colorado. Casablanca (Grant Ganzi*, Juan Bollini Jr., Nic Roldan) dominated the game from start-to-finish to win the four-team tournament 16-11 in front of a good local crowd and the USPA Polo Network worldwide audience.
Having won the trophy in 2017 and 2018, Flexjet (Melissa Ganzi, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, Juan Bollini) was looking for their third consecutive title, but could never mount a consistent offensive attack and was forced to play catch-up for most of the game against Casablanca’s defense.
Leading 2-1 after the opening chukker, Casablanca racked up an impressive seven goals to Flexjet’s single goal in the second chukker for a 9-2 lead at halftime. Scoring five goals within the first two chukkers, Roldan, one of the highest-rated arena players, scored a game-high seven goals including a two pointer.
Retaliating in the second half, Flexjet outscored Casablanca in both the third and fourth chukkers, but could not make up the deficit by the final horn. Working together as a cohesive team to seize the victory, Casablanca claimed the 2019 title 16-11.
Most Valuable Player was awarded to Grant Ganzi. Ganzi was Casablanca's second-leading scorer with six total goals including a two-pointer and Penalty 4 conversion.
Best Playing Pony honors were awarded to Kit Kat, a 7-year-old bay mare played by Astrada in the fourth chukker. She is owned by the Ganzi’s Wellington-based Santa Rita Polo Farm.
*Grant Ganzi is a member of Team USPA. Team USPA is a USPA program designed to enhance and grow the sport of polo in the United States by identifying young, talented American players and providing mentored training and playing opportunities leading to a pool of higher rated amateur and pro players and the resultant giveback to the sport of polo.
All photos courtesy of ©Candace Ferreira/Aspen Valley Polo Club.
Effective Date: Saturday, May 16, 2020
The suspension of USPA Tournaments and Events will be lifted for USPA Member Clubs in locales where hosting polo matches and tournaments is permitted under applicable state and local laws, executive orders and similar decrees. The USPA Member Clubs in these locales are encouraged to follow all such requirements of their state and local authorities with respect to polo operations. In addition, we also encourage all USPA Member Clubs to take the precautions recommended by the CDC. We are preparing a detailed list of best practices for USPA Member Clubs as they return to hosting USPA Tournaments and Events and plan to circulate these guidelines within the next week. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely and will notify you if we determine a different course of action is necessary.
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