The Grand Champions Polo Club, Palm Beach Illustrated won the coveted $100,000 World Cup presented by Audi. The team including the talented foursome of Jared Zenni, Santi Torres, Agustin Obregon and Tommy Collingwood won the eight-day, winner-take-all tournament with an impressive 13- 7 victory defeating Valiente I.
In front of the largest star-studded crowd ever to witness a polo game in Grand Champions’ history, the 21-goal underdog team culminated the 16-team sing
elimination tournament undefeated with a perfect 4-0 record.
Obregon, who scored eight goals, was named Most Valuable Player.
Valiente I, an 18-goal rated team, (Bob Jornayvaz, Roberto Zedda, Pablo Spinacci, Gringo Colombres) saw its three-goal handicap lead quickly disappear by the end of the first chukker.
Valiente I was not able to get its offensive attack going. In the first half, Valiente I scored one goal in the second and one goal in the third to add to its three-goal handicap cushion and trailed 7-5 at the half. Valiente I scored one goal each in the fourth chukker as well as in the final two minutes of the game.
Palm Beach Illustrated put the game away in the fifth chukker, outscoring Valiente I by 3-0.
Collingwood was the one to look out for, he blocked goals, steals and gave big booming passes to teammates scoring 5 goals for the team.
In addition to Obregon’s eight goals, Zenni scored three goals and Torres scored two. Colombres could manage only two goals, both on penalty conversions to lead Valiente I. It was the second prize money tournament Palm Beach Illustrated has won at Grand Champions.
Two years ago, Palm Beach Illustrated won the $50,000 National 12-Goal title with a different lineup- Todd Thurston, Jared Zenni, Geronimo Obregon, MVP Jesse Bray.
The American Polo Horse Association Best Playing Pony for the championship final was Mini Watt, ridden by Torres with trainer Fabian Lezano earning $2500. Delfina Chita, owned by Bob Jornayvaz, was also selected as the APHA BPP of the finals and his groom Victor was awarded $2,500.
The APHA BPP for the overall tournament was Creciente, ridden twice by Adolfo Cambiaso and Pablo Spinacci with trainer Gloria D’Angelo who was awarded $2,500. Created in 2006 by legendary polo pioneer Sunny Hale, the APHA recognizes polo ponies in America and encourages events that showcase them.
The $100,000 World Cup was the second of two classic and prestigious tournaments that Grand Champions owners and high goal polo players Melissa and Marc Ganzi revived. Thanks to the generosity of Glenn Straub of Palm Beach Polo, where they were last played in the late 1990s. The first tournament they revived was the Sterling Cup.
2017 GRAND CHAMPIONS WINTER SCHEDULE
(Subject to change because of weather and scheduling conflicts).
SPRING SCHEDULE
APRIL 21-23: GCPC Abierto.
APRIL 28-30: USPA Eastern Challenge.
MAY 5-7: USPA Sun Cup
MAY 12-14: The Spring Challenge Cup.
MAY 19-21: Polo Gear Invitational.
MAY 26-29: The Memorial.
