Play starts today
The months of anticipation will come to an end today as the prestigious Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup begins at Cowdray Park Polo Club. Edouard Carmignac’s Talandracas team and Corinne Ricard’s Murus Sanctus will be playing for the Carlos Gracida Memorial Trophy, kicking off the 20 matches that will form the league stages.
Corinne Ricard is the only woman playing in the Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup tournament and recently reached the Semi Finals in The Cartier Queen’s Cup. Her 2017 line-up of Hilario Ulloa, Martin Podesta and Facundo Sola will be up against the strength of the well-rehearsed Talandracas team who have been a mainstay on the high goal scene for a number of seasons.
The second match of the day will see Jean François Deçaux’s La Bamba de Areco face Cowdray locals, El Remanso. The Brits will be out in force, with the entirety of the El Remanso line up hailing from this green isle, as well as 14-year-old Ned Hine playing for La Bamba de Areco.
Fresh from their Cartier Queen’s Cup victory, RH Polo will be returning to Cowdray Park Polo Club, looking for their second big win of the high goal season, whilst their Final opponents La Indiana are also strong favourites. 2016 Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup winners, King Power, will be looking to improve on their Queen’s Cup form, with their amended line up to include 1 goal Jimbo Fewster, with the hopes of retaining their 2016 title.
Making their debuts in the tournament are the Italian patron Alessandro Bazzoni with his Monterosso side and the Habtoor team of Mohammed Al Habtoor, which includes Fran Elizalde, Nico Pieres, and a newcomer to the Gold Cup, Isidro Strada. For the eagle eyed amongst us, you will see that the Cartier Queen’s Cup entrant Sifani will not be taking part in this year’s Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup.
Today’s first match, Talandracas vs Murus Sanctus, will take place at 2pm on Lawns 1 followed by La Bamba de Areco vs El Remanso at 4pm on Lawns 2. Tomorrow, King Power will play La Indiana, whilst RH Polo will play Monterosso Polo Team.
The Quarter Finals take place over the weekend of 15 – 16 July, Semi Finals on Wednesday 19 July and the Final on Sunday 23 July. For a full schedule of matches, please click here and make sure to check out the Polo Times social media for all the results.
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup Teams:
El Remanso (21): Charlie Hanbury (4), Ollie Cudmore (5), James Beim (6) & James Harper (6)
Murus Sanctus (22): Corinne Ricard (0), Hilario Ulloa (10), Facundo Sola (8) & ‘Min’ Podesta (4)
La Indiana (22): Michael Bickford (1), Nic Roldan (7), Agustin Merlos (8& Luke Tomlinson (6)
RH Polo (22): Ben Soleimani (0), Tommy Beresford (4), Adolfo Cambiaso (10) & Rodrigo de Andrade (8)
Monterosso Polo Team (22): Alessandro Bazzoni (1), Ignacio Toccalino (8), Santiago Toccalino (8) & Matt Perry (5)
La Bamba De Areco (22): Jean-François Deçaux (0), Diego Cavanagh (8), Cristian Laprida (8) & Rodrigo Rueda Jnr (6)
Talandracas Polo Team (22): Edouard Carmignac (0), Guillermo Caset (9), ‘Pelon’ Stirling (10) & Jack Hyde (3)
King Power (22): ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha (1), Charles Cooney (1)/Hugo Taylor (1), Gonzalo Pieres (10) & Facundo Pieres (10)
Sommelier (22): George Hanbury (3), Juan Gris Zavaleta (7), Fred Mannix Jnr (8) & Alec White (4)
Habtoor (22): Mohammed Al Habtoor (0), Fran Elizalde (7), Nico Pieres (8) & Isidro Strada (7)
Photograph: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup starts tomorrow, Tuesday 27 June. By ©www.imagesofpolo.com