WELLINGTON, FL., March 10, 2025----3 Graces Polo broke open a close game in the sixth chukker to win the Santa Rita Open in the featured game Sunday at Grand Champions Polo Club.
By Sharon Robb
Photos by Candace Ferreira
3 Graces Polo (Matias Gonzalez, 5, Juan Martin Nero, 10, Pablo MacDonough, 10, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, 7) scored four goals in the final chukker to defeat Casablanca (Grant Ganzi, 3, Rufino Bensadon, 8, Sapo Caset, 9, Gonzalito Pieres, 9), 10-6.
Argentine great Juan Martin Nero was Most Valuable Player.
Sasha, a bay mare played by Caset in the first and fourth chukkers, was the Grand Champions Best Playing Pony.
Ensenada Gilda, a bay mare played by Nero and owned by Santa Rita Polo Farm, was the American Polo Horse Association Best Playing Pony.
With 61 goals playing, (32-goal 3 Graces and 29-goal Casablanca), the game turned into more of a defensive battle than the expected offensive battle in the first half.
The lead changed hands only three times in the first half. Bensadon and Caset gave Casablanca an early 2-0 lead. Bensadon stole the ball to set up his goal and Caset scored off the throw-in.
With 5:22 left in the first chukker, Gonzalez found Nero open for 3 Graces' first goal of the game. A minute later, Gonzalez scored off the throw-in to tie the game, 2-2. Pieres scored to regain the lead for Casablanca, 3-2. With less than a minute, MacDonough hit a high ball which Astrada took and finished off the goal for a 3-3 tied going into the second chukker.
Both teams exchanged goals in the second chukker for a 4-4 tie. Caset hit a 140-yarder off the post and Pieres followed with a goal.
In the third chukker, the defensive battle continued with Nero scoring the only goal with 28 seconds left to give 3 Graces Polo a 5-4 lead at halftime.
In the first half, Casablanca outshot 3 Graces, 9-8. 3 Graces led throw-ins, 6-3, and knock-ins, 5-3. There were only two fouls called in the first three chukkers.
Bensadon took Ganzi's high pass out of the air to score and tie the game, 5-5, to open the second half. 3 Graces Polo regained the lead, 6-5, after Astrada came up with a great defensive stop of an attempted goal. MacDonough then scored off a broken play by taking the ball out of the air and putting it through the goal posts.
The defensive battle continued in the scoreless fifth chukker with several outstanding defensive plays. Both teams had scoring opportunities but were unable to capitalize.
3 Graces Polo found its offense in the final chukker outscoring Casablanca, 4-0, to take a 10-5 lead with 3:18 remaining. MacDonough scored first off a pass from Astrada. Nero's tail shot pass to Gonzalez for the score made it 8-5. Astrada then scored back-to-back goals, converting a 30-yard penalty and scoring from the field when he picked up a lucky bounce after the throw-in. Caset's neck shot in the final minute closed the gap to 10-6.
3 Graces Polo ended up outshooting Casablanca, 19-14, and won more throw-ins, 10-7. Each team had eight knock-ins and each team committed four fouls.
Both teams got balanced scoring from their lineups. For 3 Graces Polo, Astrada and MacDonough each had three goals. Nero and Gonzalez each scored two goals. Casablanca's Bensadon, Caset and Pieres each two goals.
During the winter polo season, Grand Champions Polo Club, the nation's largest and most innovative USPA-sanctioned polo club nestled in the heart of the world's winter equestrian capital, hosts a wide range of tournaments: 6, 8, 12, 20, and 26-goal leagues, 26-goal World Polo League, The Polo School Women's Weekly Polo League, WCT Finals, several Polo Training Foundation junior tournaments, World Polo League Pride and Sunset Chukkers & Cocktails at either Grand Champions and Santa Rita Polo Farm.
Grand Champions and Santa Rita Polo Farm is the largest and most unique private 102-acre polo facility in Wellington with 212 stalls in nine self-contained barns, two tracks, five climate-controlled tack rooms, vet room, staff quarters, guest house and four polo fields with state-of-the-art underground irrigation and short work arena. The club has 10 well-manicured world-class fields at GCPC and Santa Rita.
Grand Champions Polo Club caters to men, women and youth polo players at all levels. Its' expert staff can customize a complete playing experience including horses, pros and certified umpires in addition to lessons and practice sessions as part of its' Polo On Demand program.
The Polo School, now located at the former Pony Express facility, operates in Wellington January through May and September through November. The stand-alone USPA-sanctioned polo club is dedicated to teaching polo to all ages.
For more information on leagues or The Polo School contact Juan Bollini at 561-346-1099 or Cale Newman at 561-876-2930.