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Coast to Coast
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Players and grooms exercise ponies in the Pacifi c surf near Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club
With the summer season in full swing across North America, the focus of the high-goal game moved from East to West
It was by coincidence that two of the most important highgoal tournaments in the USA were scheduled for the same week, thousands of miles apart on the Atlantic and Pacifi c coasts. e 20-goal East Coast Open was played at Greenwich Polo Club in Connecticut. Greenwich was founded in 1984 by highgoal patron Peter M. Brant on his vast Conyers Farm residential estate and plays a split season, early and late summer. is year heavy rains repeatthe 20-goal Robert Skene Trophy tournament. Geoff Palmer’s Antelope defeated Michael Hakan’s Duende 14-11 in the fi nal. e tournament is named after the late, Australian-born American 10-goaler Bob Skene and his widow, Elizabeth, was on hand to present the prizes.
Antelope’s 10-goal star, Adam Snow, was the high scorer in the fi nal with 6 goals, closely followed by teammate Joseph Stuart with 5. Stuart was named Most Valuable Player and Snow’s black mare Hale Bopp won Best Playing Pony. Santa Barbara, founded in 1911, is one of the oldest clubs in the USA and one of the most beautiful, with tree-covered hills on one side and the Pacifi c Ocean on the other. ■
edly forced postponement of matches between the fi ve teams entered in the East Coast Open and there were few people there to watch Brant’s own White Birch team prevail over Larry Austin’s Endeavor Capitol 15-9.
Brant was on a high after winning the 26-goal US Open Championship in Florida in April. Having won every other major high-goal tournament during his long career, it was his fi rst US Open victory, although he himself did not play in the fi nal.
White Birch’s line-up was partly the same as it had been in Florida, with 10-goaler Mariano Aguerre and young Julio Gracida, 3, as key players. Brant played off 4 and Miguelito Torres, 2, was added to make up the 20-goal squad.
Aguerre and Gracida shared the scoring honours with seven goals each, and Julio was named Most Valuable Player of the fi nal. Aguerre’s mare Criollita won the Best Playing Pony prize.
Across the continent in California, at Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club, six teams entered
Joseph Stuart, Most Valuable Player in Robert Skene tournament, with his mother, left, and Skene’s widow Elizabeth. Below: 10-goaler Adam Snow over the boards in Santa Barbara tournament.
Left: The winners of the East Coast Open, (l to r) Peter Brant, Martin Aguerre, Miguelito Torres and Julio Gracida
