Without doubts, Ojo Caliente is expected to be one of the main attractions of the upcoming season in England, both in medium and high goal. Mexican-born Ana Escobedo’s organisation is currently playing the 15-goal Queen Elizabeth The Queen’s Mother Centenary Tournament, at Guards Polo Club, having reached the semifinals following four consecutive wins in the league stage. The team is made of Ana, Facundo Sola, Milly Hine and Ned Hine, who will go for a spot in the final on Friday May 9.
In addition, Ojo Caliente are due to participate in the first high goal tournament of the season, the Prince of Wales Trophy. Ana and Facundo will be joined by Félix Esain and Alfredo Cappella; up next, they will play the Queen’s Cup, Guards Polo Club’s premier tournament.
Ana Escobedo met up with PoloLine, to talk about their remarkable Autumn season in Argentina and what’s coming next in England.
Ana, you had a very good Autumn season in Argentina, mostly during the Argentina Polo Tour. The series saw Ojo Caliente victorious in one tournament and runner up in two. What’s your own account on it?
Indeed, as you say, it was a very good season; I can´t ask for more. Honestly, I didn’t expect such great results in the three tournaments of the Argentina Polo Tour we played. We were able to be very competitive, we reached all the finals. We won Centauros, and we were very close in Ellersina. Having had one more chukka, we could have won.
What’s the best about having Facundo Sola, Santiago Laborde and Agustín García Grossi as your team mates?
I learned a lot from them, I had the opportunity to play with three remarkable players; however, Jesús Cobino played in the first tournaments. Santiago Laborde subbed in for Agustín García Grossi in Centauros, which change the team’s dynamics a bit, because Santiago played as a back and Jesús was able to demonstrate his skills. The team worked very well and that allowed us to win. And by the time we played the Ellerstina leg of the series, we developed an accurate system of play that allowed them to make it to the final. And I am happy to have been able to play alongside such great players, who ho helped the team a great deal.
The very good Autumn season in Argentina has been very encouraging for Ojo Caliente prior to the season in England. How are you feeling about what’s coming up next?
Well, it is a long season. We’ve played several games in the first days, we fought very hard. We had to understand each other in the field very quickly, and was the same with the horses in order to play as good as possible. Now we have to focus on the horses to get them in the best shape as possible to play the Queen’s Cup. Although we know there is a lot of hard work ahead, we are very enthusiastic; we want to have the best team possible, so I think the Prince of Wales Trophy will help us a great deal to find our system in order to reach the Queen’s Cup in the best form.