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FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE SIDELINES JUNE 2011 83

Lechuza Caracas won the silver: Sapo Caset, Victor Vargas, MVP Juan Martin Nero and Martin Espain share the limelight

Victor Vargas advances the ball for Lechuza

hunt for it’s frst U.S. Open title, and came to play and play hard. Audi had the odds, but Lechuza had the hunger, as they jumped to an early lead and held it for the entire match, never allowing Audi the chance to be ahead. Despite talented play by all three of Audi’s pros and an impressive U.S. Polo debut by Audi’s Brazilian Rodrigo Andrade, they were unable to convert on goal and missed several scoring opportunities.

Lechuza demonstrated remarkable team play, and at the halfway point of the last chukker had a comfortable 4 goal lead. Audi came on strong in the last minutes of the game, but ran out of time and it was Lechuza who captured the victory with a fnal score of 8-6. Lechuza’s Juan Martin Nero, currently ranked the #1 player in the world by the World Polo Tour, was named tournament MVP, while Audi’s Rodrigo Andrade garnered Best Playing Pony honors with his 12 year old gelding Zoltan. Lechuza’s Sapo Caset was awarded the Best Playing String award in recognition of the overall ability of his collective group of horses in the tournament.