The Argentine Open Polo Championships

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Who will be at the Argentine Open Polo Championship 2009 ?

Saturday 14th November marked the start of the 116th Argentine Open Polo Championship: the Abierto Argentino de Polo, or also known as just “El Abierto.”

The tournament culminates in the final on 5 December and is held every year at the Campo Argentino Campo in Palermo, Buenos Aires. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious events in the international polo calendar and brings together the best of the best in players and horses from around the world.

Apart from the polo itself the horses are an inspiration. The Argentines have created an industry around their polo ponies, and breeding via embryo transfer means that a player can potentially play a favourite mare and her two daughters in the same season. They have developed a stud book, selectively breeding the Argentine Polo Pony, a carefully chosen combination of the Criollo and the best English Thoroughbreds, continually refined and improved upon. At each Open Tournament the horses are as much a feature as the players and a separate programme is issued, which lists each player’s horses with their pedigrees.

Conveniently situated across the road from the Polo Fields is the Hipodromo Argentino, the race track. Thoroughbred racing and breeding is another passion of the Argentines and many Stud farms are situated in relatively close proximity to Buenos Aries.

One of the recent successes from the Argentine Pampas was the 2007 Dubai World Cup winner, Invasor, bred by Haras Clausan and sired by Candy Stripes out of the Interprete mare Quendom.

On November 4, 2006 Invasor, ridden by Fernando Jara, won the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs, Kentucky. This win essentially secured him the Eclipse Awards for Older Male Horse and Horse of the Year.

On March 31, 2007 Invasor, again ridden by Fernando Jara, took the $6 million Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates against his rival Discreet Cat. His time of 1:59.97 for 2,000 meters was the second fastest in the race's history, exceeded only by Dubai Millennium's time of 1:59.50 in 2000.

For a racing and polo lover this is akin to “Mecca”!

Watch this space as we bring you the results of the final on 5 December. My money is on La Dolfina beating Ellerstina. After losing to the younger team last year, the older campaigners will be out to prove themselves!

Teams, fixtures and results

Zone A :

Ellerstina Etiqueta Negra :
Facundo Pieres 10, Gonzalo Pieres (Jr) 10, Pablo Mac Donough 10, Juan Martín Nero 10. Total: 40.

Pilará Piaget :
Agustín Merlos 10 , Santiago Chavanne 8, Sebastián Merlos 9, Marcos Heguy 10. Total: 37.

Indios Chapaleufú II :
Alberto Heguy (Jr) 8, Ignacio Heguy 9, David Stirling (Jr) 8, Eduardo Heguy 9. Total: 34.

Alegría :
Frederick Mannix (Jr) 6, Francisco Bensadón 8, Juan I. Merlos 9, Luke Tomlinson 8. Total: 31.

Zone B :

La Dolfina Peugeot :
Adolfo Cambiaso (Jr) 10, Lucas Monteverde (Jr) 10, Mariano Aguerre 10, Bartolomé Castagnola 10. Total: 40.

La Aguada Tupungato Winelands :
Javier Novillo Astrada 9, Eduardo Novillo Astrada (Jr) 9, Miguel Novillo Astrada 10, Ignacio Novillo Astrada 9. Total: 37.

Chapa Uno Hope Funds :
Rodrigo Ribeiro de Andrade 8, Hilario Ulloa 8, Bautista Heguy 9, Francisco de Narváez (h) 9. Total: 34.

El Paraíso :
Guillermo Caset (Jr) 8, Ignacio Toccalino 8, Mariano González 8, Alejandro Novillo Astrada 7. Total: 31

Fixtures

Saturday, 14 November

Zone A :
2:00PM : Ellerstina vs Alegria (1)
4.00 PM: Pilará vs Indios Chapaleufú II (2)

Results:
Ellerstina 20 - Alegria 15
Pilará 16 - Indios Chapaleufú II 15

Sunday, 15 November

Zone B :
2:00 PM: La Dolfina vs El Paraiso (3)
4:00 PM: La Aguada vs Chapa Uno (4)

Results:
La Dolfina 21 - El Paraiso 8
La Aguada 13 -Chapa Uno 9

Saturday, 21 November (Zone A) :

2:00 PM: Pilara vs Alegria
4:00 PM: Ellerstina vs Indios Chapaleufu II

Sunday, 22 November  (Zone B):
2:00 PM: La Aguada vs El Paraiso

4:00 PM: La Dolfina vs Chapa Uno

Saturday, 28 November (Zone A):
2:00 PM: Alegria vsIndios Chapaleufu II

4:00 PM: Ellerstina vs Pilara

Sunday, 29 November  (Zone B):
2:00 PM: El Paraiso vs Chapa Uno

4:00 PM: La Dolfina vs La Aguada

Final:
Saturday, 5 December:

5:00 PM: 1st Classified Zone A vs 1st Classified Zone B 

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