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82 SIDELINES JUNE 2011 FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE P O L O

By Danika L. Rice

The pinnacle of polo in the United States is reached during the high-goal season in Wellington, FL and there is certainly no doubt that this year it was Victor Vargas’ Lechuza Caracas team that was on top.

After spending nearly two years rebuilding their organization, Vargas’ team reached all three fnals in the 26 goal series at the International Polo Club Palm Beach, clenching victories in the C.V. Whitney Cup and U.S. Open Championship, sandwiching a disappointing overtime loss to Audi in the USPA Gold Cup Final.

The 2011 season was certainly not short of surprises, as legendary 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso and Jim Rawlins’ Crab Orchard team (defending champions of the 2010 US Open title) was knocked out of the Open early in a quarterfnal defeat to Camillo Bautista’s Las Monjitas. Facundo Pieres and his Zacara squad was also defeated early, losing in the quarterfnals to brothers Gonzalito and Nicolas as part of the Audi team. Audi bested Valiente in their semi-fnal match, while the Las Monjitas versus Lechuza semifnal proved to be a hard fought battle, getting sent into overtime to determine the victor who would face Audi in the coveted fnal match. The Sunday fnal on Field 1 at IPCPB was certainly more like home to Marc Ganzi’s Audi squad, who made it to the fnals for their third consecutive year. Lechuza was in the