WELLINGTON, Fla., November 23, 2024---Santa Rita rallied in the final chukker to win the ChukkerTV Fall Challenge Cup Friday at Santa Rita Polo Farm.
By Sharon Robb
Photos by Candace Ferreira
Santa Rita (Rebecca Cohen, Andres Fanjul, Martin Jauregui, Juan Bollini) defeated Newport (Gene Goldstein, Pablo Spinacci, Tomacho Pieres, Pablo Dorignac), 4-3.
It was anybody's game between the two well-matched teams until Martin Jauregui scored the winning goal on a buzzer beater in a crowd of players. Jauregui finished with two goals.
In the first half, Newport jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Pieres' goal. With seven seconds left in the opening chukker, Spinacci scored for a 2-0 lead.
The lead changed two more times before Jauregui's heroics.
Jauregui scored in the second chukker to trail, 2-1. Rebecca Cohen scored her first goal of the game with 1:50 left to tie the game at 2-2.
Andres Fanjul scored his first goal of the game at the 4:50 mark of the third chukker to put Santa Rita in the lead, 3-2, for the first time. A minute later, Pieres scored his second goal of the game at 3:10 to tie the game again, 3-3.
Both teams had scoring opportunities in the final chukker until Jauregui scored the winning goal.
Model and influencer Cindy Prado, who competed last weekend in the World Polo League beach polo event, presented the awards.
The season-ending Fall Classic is Sunday at 11 a.m. with Santa Rita (Miles Rich, Rebecca Cohen, Martin Jauregui, Juan Bollini) playing Newport (Gene Goldstein, Tomacho Pieres, Pablo Spinacci, Eliza Limehouse).
Grand Champions is winding down after a successful season that featured both medium and high goal tournaments.
Looking back on the season, other 2024 fall champions were: Tackeria Invitational, Audi (Dominic State, Martin Jauregui, Marc Ganzi, Sugar Erskine); Pedro Morrison Memorial, Maltese Falcons (Melissa Ganzi, Teo Calle, Grant Ganzi, Nic Roldan); Banyan Cup, SebiLion (Sebastian Mandelbaum, Santos Bollini, Sugar Erskine, Jason Crowder); Fall Plates, Grand Champions (Miles Rich, -1, Grant Ganzi, 3, Martin Jauregui, 6, Pablo Dorignac, 4); Casablanca Fall Cup, Santa Rita (Rebecca Cohen/Phil Gutman, Jason Crowder, 5, Nic Roldan, 8, Juan Bollini, 3).
The family-friendly club welcomes spectators of all ages. All matches are open to the public and dogs on leashes.
The well-organized fall tournaments attracted players from all over the world. Roster lineups changed from tournament to tournament with evenly-matched teams featuring pro and amateur players.
Wellington-based ChukkerTV (CTV Sports) live streamed the entire fall season. Grand Champions is the only USPA club that live streamed all its games.
Grand Champions and Santa Rita Polo Farm is the largest and most unique private 102-acre polo facility in Wellington with 212 stalls in nine self-contained barns, two tracks, five climate-controlled tack rooms, vet room, staff quarters, guest house and four polo fields with state-of-the-art underground irrigation and short work arena. The club has 11 well-manicured world-class fields at GCPC and Santa Rita.
Grand Champions Polo Club caters to men, women and youth polo players at all levels. Its' expert staff can customize a complete playing experience including horses, pros and certified umpires in addition to lessons and practice sessions as part of its' Polo On Demand program.
The Polo School is for all ages and ability levels and operates in Wellington year-round. The Polo School, a 501c3 organization and stand-alone USPA club, is dedicated to teaching polo to all ages, particularly grass roots youth. Its mission is to provide individuals opportunities in polo at every economic and ability level. The Polo School operates year-round in Wellington. For more information on the club's leagues or Polo School contact Cale Newman at 561-876-2930.