Hurlingham Open History Made 

History was made on Saturday 6 November, as La Natividad defeated RS Murus Sanctus 14-8 and secured the team’s first ever Triple Crown title. This was also the first Triple Crown title for the Castagnola brothers, Jeta and Barto and team mate Ignatius du Plessi, as well as being the first Argentine Triple Crown title for 13 years and 38 Finals not to feature either La Dolfina or Ellerstina; this was Polito Pieres’ fourth Hurlingham Open title, having won in 2016, 2017 and 2018 with Ellerstina.

La Natividad had an excellent Final from the offset, always managing to maintain a few goals in advantage and limiting the effectiveness of RS Murus Sanctus’ 10 goal powerhouse, Juan Martín Nero, which meant that over four chukkas Nero was not able to convert goals nor capitalise on fouling opportunities. This combined with the unstoppable forward power or Jeta Castagnola and Pieres, the solid backdoor of du Plessis and Barto Castagnola scoring an impressive nine goals, saw La Natividad secure the title, much to the delight of the onlooking supporters, family and friends who have been aiming for these heights for many years.

Barto Castagnola was the tournament top scorer, with 31 goals; Pieres was named Most Valuable Player; Open Voina (Ellerstina Pícaro x Grappa Gallera), played by Pablo Pieres, was the Daniel Kearney Cup Best Playing Pony; Monkey Puzzle (Osh Kosh x Cheeky Monkey SPC), played by Pablo Pieres, was the AAP’s Best Playing Pony and Latia Ramona (Open Cabernet x Future Rayuela), played by Barto Castagnola, was the Best Polo Argentino Bred.

On an interesting side note, Monkey Puzzle – the Daniel Kearney Cup Best Playing Pony – was chosen as the Polo Times Best Playing Pony at The Valerie Halford Memorial Trophy at Guards Polo Club in June 2019!

Hurlingham Open Final Teams:
La Natividad (36): Camilo Castagnola (9), Polito Pieres (9), Bartolomé Castagnola Jr. (2) & Ignatius du Plessis (9)
RS Murus Sanctus (39): Facundo Sola (9), Guillermo Caset (10), Pablo Mac Donough (10) & Juan Martín Nero (10)
 
Photograph: La Natividad, winners of The Hurlingham Open. By Matías Callejo / Prensa AAP
Text: Courtesy of Polo Times - for the polo purist