Patagones beat El Milagro 12-9 to capture the XII Julio Novillo Astrada Jaeger-LeCoultre Cup on Monday December 7 at La Aguada Polo Club, in Open Door, Argentina.
It is the first time Patagones win the 22-goal tournament; the winners were presented four Jaeger-LeCoultre watches.
Avendaño’s foursome dominated El Milagro (who received one goal on handicap) in the first half, thanks to a fantastic attack led by Joaquin Pittaluga, Ignacio Negri and Lerin Zubiaurre. It was Zubiaurre who secured Patagones an impressive 10-4 lead over El Milagro, by the end of the fourth chukker.
Patagones widened their advantage to 11-4 at the start of the fifth, with a goal by Ignacio Negri. However, El Milagro was far from giving up: they managed to make a strong comeback and scored three unanswered goals (two by Santiago Solari and one by Federico Tomasevich), to cut Patagones’ lead to 7-11. Nacho Novillo Astrada and Juan Carlos Harriet scored a goal apiece in the sixth chukker; halfway through the sixth Patagones were leading by just two goals (11-9).
Despite El Milagro’s efforts, Patagones kept control and Joaquin Pittaluga sealed the deal in the last seconds of play for the 12-9 result.
Score Patagones (0-1): 1-2, 5-3, 6-4, 10-4, 11-7, 12-9
MVP: Joaquin Pittaluga
Fair Play Award: Federico Tomasevich
Best Polo Argentino Breed, awarded by the Argentine Polo Pony Breeders Association: Borren Jade (owned by La Picaza, ridden by Santiago Solari)
River Slaney BPP Award: Borren La Doña (owned by La Picaza, ridden by Santiago Solari)
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