La Dolfina tops Valiente for USPA Gold Cup title
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WELLINGTON — La Dolfina won the 50th USPA Gold Cup Sunday in front of a sold-out crowd at the windswept National Polo Center.
La Dolfina, making its U.S. debut in high goal polo this season, avenged its C.V. Whitney Cup loss with a 12-9 win over Valiente.
La Dolfina (Jeff Hildebrand, Rufino Merlos, Poroto Cambiaso, Tomas Panelo) knocked Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Peke Gonzalez, Pacquito de Narvaez, Adolfo Cambiaso) out of contention for the Gauntlet of Polo Series, denying Adolfo Cambiaso his 16th Gold Cup. Making that even more bittersweet Poroto Cambiaso is Adolfo’s son.
“This win means everything to me,” said Merlos, at 15 the youngest player on the field. “I am very grateful to the entire La Dolfina organization and the Cambiasos for giving me this opportunity. My teammates helped me play well. They made it very easy.”
Valiente trailed for most of the game, plagued by foul troubles and the double yellow cards ejection of Adolfo Cambiaso for four minutes in the penalty box in the fourth chukker for unsportsmanlike conduct.
It was the second consecutive USPA Gold Cup title for Poroto Cambiaso and Panelo, who won with Scone in 2023. Panelo led the scoring with five goals and was named Most Valuable Player. Poroto Cambiaso and Merlos, who marked Adolfo Cambiaso well throughout the game, each added three goals. Adolfo Cambiaso and de Narvaez each had four goals.
“We are really happy,” Panelo said. “It’s always a difficult game against Valiente and Adolfo. This is one organization that works every day together to achieve the finals and try to win. They won the C.V. Whitney and lucky this one we won.
“We lost our first game in the Gold Cup and that made us wake up and put pressure on ourselves. We needed to win every game and that was a good thing for us because we knew we didn’t have another chance without winning.”
By the fifth chukker, La Dolfina, 5-4 halftime leaders, had a four-goal lead (10-6).
“We defended really well and Jeff did a good job of pushing the team forward,” Panelo said. “After the C.V. Whitney loss, we changed our attitude. We couldn’t lose twice in a row. We remembered the feeling of losing.”
La Dolfina takes advantage of Adolfo Cambiaso’s absence in 4th chukker
Panelo and his teammates were unable to take advantage of Cambiaso’s absence in the rain-soaked fourth chukker.
“We didn’t take advantage, we didn’t score one goal,” Panelo said. “He went out and we couldn’t score, we missed two to three easy goals in front of the goal. We couldn’t use that moment and he came back.”
La Dolfina took home $50,000 in prize money and also contributed $2,500 to the Polo For Life charity. Valiente contributed to Philadelphia-based Work To Ride program. The donation checks were provided by U.S. Polo Assn.
In the subsidiary Retama Cup final, Tamera defeated Clearwater, 14-10. Matias Torres Zavaleta was MVP. Delmay Masia, played and owned by Diego Cavanagh, was Best Playing Pony.
The $100,000 U.S. Open, the final leg of the Triple Crown, begins Wednesday with a doubleheader. Dutta Corp plays Park Place at 11 a.m. and Coca Cola plays Pilot at 4 p.m.