WELLINGTON, FL., February 15, 2025---The Top Pony 8-Goal Tournament begins Sunday with defending champion Amaro Polo taking on Quite on Z at Grand Champions Polo Club.
By Sharon Robb
The second 8-goal tournament of the season begins 11:30 a.m. on Field Four.
The first 8-goal tournament was the Aspen Valley Cup won by Quite on Z (Ricky Bueno, -1, Joao Pedro Souza, 2, Artemio Figueras, 2, Lucio Ocampo, 5) for the second consecutive year with a 12-7 win over Newport.
Amaro Polo's lineup features Scott Sorbaro, 0, Nick Manifold, 2, Kris Kampsen, 6 and Michael Armour, 0. Quite on Z's roster is Alecia Seidler, -1, Artemio Figueras, 2, Joao Pedro Souza, 2, and Lucio Ocampo, 5.
Five teams are entered in the month-long tournament. The other three teams are:
Tuffrider: Timmy Sharma, 0, Benjamin Obregon, 0, Nico Eurnekian, 3, Agustin Obregon, 5.
Victory Polo: Kevin Schmeits, 0, Dami Belardinelli, 1, Segundo Caimi, 4, Marcos Bignoli, 2.
Smithfield: Craig Callen, -1, Fran Villamil, 1, Juanse Olivera, 3, Manu Villamil, 5.
After bracket play and all teams have had two games, the teams will be ranked 1-5 based on record. A single player shootout will be used as a tiebreaker. Top two teams advance to the final. Third and fourth place teams will play a subsidiary final.
In last year's final, Amaro Polo led from start to finish to win the Top Pony 8-Goal Tournament. Amaro (Scott Sorbaro, 0, Nick Manifold, 2, Kris Kampsen, 6, Michael Armour, 0) jumped out to a 7-2 halftime lead against Victory Polo (Tiffany Armstrong, 0, Kevin Schmeits, 0/Vinny Sangaline, 1, Leo Mandelbaum, 2, Tommy Collingwood, 5) and went on to win the four-team tournament, 11-9.
Kampsen, rated at 6 goals for 23 consecutive years, was named Most Valuable Player. Los Machitos Thelma, played by Manifold, was Best Playing Pony.
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.
The 26-goal World Polo League, that gets under way Sunday at 4 p.m. with a historical 32-goal final for the All-Star Challenge & Riemenschneider Memorial, is the club's highlight of the season. The WPL, the only 26-goal polo played outside of Argentina, is now entering its seventh season with some of the world's top players including 10-goalers Pablo MacDonough, Juan Martin Nero and Tommy Panelo.
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.