The 120th Argentine Open in Palermo confirmed that La Dolfina Hope Funds is the best team in the world, and proved runner-up Alegría Sancor Seguros earned a place among the elite. After all, it was the first time since 2006 that La Dolfina faced a team other than Ellerstina in the Palermo final. La Dolfina’s win capped off an exemplary season, in which the team, led by 10-goal great Adolfo Cambiaso, earned its first Triple Crown victory. This season was also full of surprises.

The road to the Triple Crown began with the Tortugas Open.

Tortugas” is Spanish for “turtle” and in the early 1990s, U.S. Ambassador to Argentina James Cheek became a popular figure for his appearances on various television programs. In one of them, Cheek embarrassingly said his family had suffered an irreparable loss: their family pet—a small turtle—was gone. Diego Armando Maradona, not only the best soccer player in the world but an ineffable machine when coining popular phrases, used that fact to establish one of his most popular sayings.

The turtle escaped” was used every time someone wanted to express that something unthinkable happened. After many seasons, Adolfo Cambiaso can proudly say the turtle did not escape this time. The No. 1 of the quartet from Cañuelas, initially reluctant to face the first leg of the Triple Crown, won the traditional Open of the oldest country club in Argentina for the first time as team leader.

The Tortugas, established in 1930, started this year on Tuesday, September 24, with the clash between Alegría Sancor Seguros and La Aguada ICBC, a team that suffered the loss of Javier Novillo Astrada (with a relapse in his health because of a brain tumor), who was replaced for the season by Guillermo Terrera.

Taking advantage of the high caliber of its striker Pablo Pieres (scoring 11 total) and the strong Canadian Frederick Mannix playing Back, Alegría hit first and went ahead 6-3 in the first two chukkers, extending its lead as time went by until a victory of 13-8. “I had time to watch Hilario Ulloa and Polito Pieres play. It’s weird, in other words, I was watching [because] I was playing bad,” admitted Lucas Monteverde, No. 3 of the winners.

The other bracket launched the next day in front of VIP spectators. Several members of New Zealand’s All Blacks, the best rugby team on the planet, were present to see the clash between La Natividad Amarok and La Aguada Las Monjitas ICBC. The former, a team of Novillo Astradas, had Agustín Merlos instead of Lucas James and began more focused, leading the score 7-2 midway through the third chukker. But soon after, La Natividad began controlling the ball, and the story changed. La Natividad Amarok reversed the score 10-9 in the bottom of the fifth and over the next 14 minutes triumphed to end 14-12, with 10 goals from Guillermo “Sapo” Caset. “We started badly, inaccurate. We lacked pace and they were very neat. We gave back with more heart and [made a] good game,” admitted el Sapo, best scorer in the afternoon.

Ellerstina Piaget, winner of the previous six titles, debuted on September 28 against La Aguada ICBC, but rain postponed the match after two chukkers with Ellerstina ahead 2-1. Back in action five days later, it seemed victory would be a formality for the defending champions as they went ahead 7-2 in the fourth period. Miguel Novillo Astrada’s aim from the penalty line got his team closer, at 10- 9 at the close of the sixth, but Ellerstina squeaked by with a 12-11 win.

I was sad about the result and happy with the performance,” said Miguel Novillo Astrada. On the other side, Facundo Pieres (who scored six goals) admitted, “We must correct a lack of concentration and keep our pace.”

It took 24 hours for the other main candidate to debut: La Dolfina Hope Funds. Cambiaso’s team did not dominate despite having a handicap six goals higher than its rival, La Aguada Las Monjitas ICBC. The match started evenly, and only when it doubled its best mounts in the last three periods did La Dolfina Hope Funds get the edge to reach the final score of 13-8.

It was logical that happened. I wanted the guys to get the best possible tempo and that means sometimes making some mistakes hitting the ball,” Milo Fernández Araujo analyzed from his new position as La Dolfina Hope Funds’ coach.

On October 5 the first finalists were decided. Ellerstina Piaget returned to contest the Emilio Anchorena Cup for the ninth time in a decade, but it was not as easy. At the start of the third, Alegría Sancor Seguros was ahead 5-0 thanks to its forwards, Ulloa (with six goals in the afternoon) and Pieres (with five).

After the shock, Facundo Pieres adjusted to tie the score. Ellerstina sped up the game and ended ahead 16-11. “Luckily we were able to recover. My hat is off to Alegría who played so well,” admitted high scorer Facu Pieres. La Dolfina Hope Funds earned its passage differently. Languidly but forcefully, it steamrolled La Natividad Amarok 16-6 to reach its fourth consecutive final.

The ninth consecutive definition between the two archrivals took place on Tortugas Country Club’s field No. 7 on October 12. Cambiaso knows what it feels like to be crowned in that scenario after winning the trophy in 1992, 1994 and 1995 when he was a member of Ellerstina, but he has never succeeded with his own team. For a long time he overlooked Tortugas to instead prepare for Palermo, but since 2010 he began to think about winning the trophy. After tripping up three times, he felt this was the right time and dominated from the first chukker (3-2).

In a very balanced match, the longtime rivals went 13-13 to the last episode. Uruguayan David Stirling and Cambiaso gave Ellerstina the one-two punch to end 16-14, handing Ellerstina Piaget its first loss in this tournament in more than seven years since it was defeated by el Paraíso on September 30, 2006. Adolfito, who also was recognized as the best player of the match, completed a memorable day knowing his mare V12 was chosen as the best horse in the game.

We did not play as well as I’d like, but we won. Lifting the Tortugas’s cup is a good start to the season. This time it could not escape me,” said the No. 1.

La Dolfina’s next step was the Hurlingham Open, one of the oldest tournaments played at the institution located 15 miles from downtown Buenos Aires. The action was initiated on October 15 with a classic match in Group A between defending champion La Dolfina Hope Funds and Chapaleufú Lange, with three Heguy cousins returning to high competition after earning their place in the qualifying tournament. La Dolfina outpaced Chapa 22-10.

A novelty touched the public in that inaugural match when Cambiaso began the third chukker riding Show Me, a 6- year-old clone of Sage, the first horse of its kind playing in the Triple Crown. While riding the white-faced chestnut, Cambiaso scored one of his 10 goals of the match. “I knew it was a historic moment. We wanted to see how she responded in high competition and she behaved very well,” he explained.

In the second round on opening day, as happened in Tortugas, La Aguada ICBC faced Alegría Sancor Seguros.

The quartet of Canadian Fred Mannix was without striker Pablo Pieres, healing from an appendectomy, so his place in the tournament was occupied by Diego Cavanagh. Unlike what happened in the first match, this time the victory went to La Aguada ICBC by a clear 20-15. From the first throw in, the Novillo Astradas dominated play—almost against its custom—in a very wide open way. Brothers Miguel and Ignacio Novillo Astrada had slick performances with six goals each, a number matched by Cavanagh.

The next day, Group B was launched. Ellerstina Piaget faced the other team coming from the qualifier: Magual. While Ellerstina, known as La Zeta, imposed its greater strength, the seven goal difference in handicap between the two teams was not evident. In fact, Ellerstina led by just a goal at the end of fifth episode (10-9). It seemed the afternoon would be a nightmare for La Zeta when Nicolás Pieres suffered a strained hamstring in his left leg in the sixth. But the entry of substitute Francisco De Narváez allowed Ellerstina Piaget to reorganize to take the 17-12 victory, with 10 goals coming from Facundo Pieres. After the match, Mariano Aguerre made clear his feelings: “I’d rather win playing badly than lose playing well.”

In the next match, another underrated team also gave a surprise. La Natividad Amarok had to go to the extreme to beat La Aguada Las Monjitas ICBC in extra time. The return of Lucas James (absent in Tortugas because an elbow injury) gave La Aguada Las Monjitas offensive power in combination with Cristian Laprida. So it was able to recover from a shaky start and go up 7-6 at the half.

The trend was extended in the following episodes and Eduardo Novillo Astrada’s quartet entered the final seven minutes with a comfortable four-goal lead 13-9. Game over? Not if the opponent has a fighter like Bartolomé Castagnola. “Lolo” forced four consecutive fouls, brilliantly scored by Sapo Caset with his marksmanship. When the bell rang, the score was 13-13, so play went into overtime. Another penalty conversion by Caset (nine goals in the clash) gave La Natividad Amarok victory.

In the next round, La Dolfina Hope Funds again demonstrated its vigor, scoring its second win of the tournament after beating Alegría Sancor Seguros 19- 10. The Cañuelas’ quartet exhibited increasing cohesiveness with its usual firepower and tight defensive system. After closing the first with a 3-2 lead, its opponent converted just two goals in the next 35 minutes, putting La Dolfina atop a lopsided 16-4 score.

The advantage gained, added to a hard fall suffered by Pelon Stirling (in which he was not injured), made La Dolfina Hope Funds ease up in the last two periods and allowed Alegría Sancor Seguros to close with a decent 19-10 score.

The second match of the afternoon was between La Aguada ICBC and Chapaleufú Lange, but 40 seconds into the third chukker the slippery field resulted in Nacho Novillo Astrada falling and fracturing his left collarbone. The match was suspended with the 3-2 score in favor of the Novillo Astradas’ team. The action resumed two days later, with the South African Ignatius Du Plessis taking Nacho’s place. The scoring ability of Facundo Sola (seven in the match) allowed La Aguada ICBC to finish ahead 16-12.

Some 24 hours later, La Natividad Amarok did not suffer the same troubles as in its debut, disposing of Magual with some comfort 18-13. La Natividad showed its authority in the attack thanks to the effectiveness of Caset in front of the goals (13 in the match), very well supported by the Brazilian Rodrigo Ribeiro de Andrade.

Then it was the turn of Ellerstina Piaget, with Francisco de Narváez still in the Back position. La Zeta scored seven straight goals in the first 10 minutes against La Aguada Las Monjitas ICBC. After the start, Ellerstina maintained control to reach its second win of the tournament by a wide 17-10 thanks to 10 strikes from Gonzalo Pieres.

Group A was defined on October 25, an unusually shrill and rainy afternoon. Alegría Sancor Seguros got its first win of the tournament against Chapaleufú Lange 16-14. With Alegría ahead 9-6 at the end of the first half, Julián de Lusarreta stepped in for an injured Bautista Heguy (with back spasms) and gave new impetus for Chapa to narrow the margin to a single goal (11-10) with 14 minutes to play. In the decisive stage was the vital goal-scoring of Diego Cavanagh (seven in the match) to ensure the victory of the Canadian team.

Later, La Aguada ICBC did not flinch despite the new line-up and the eight-goal handicap margin as it battled La Dolfina Hope Funds. Leading 11-5, La Dolfina seemed determined but a strategist as Miguel Novillo Astrada was not going to give up. Converting 11 goals (his best mark in Argentina), he put his team just one goal away (15-14) with four and half minutes of play. But Cambiaso turned up the heat (conquering 11 goals in the match) to bring the final score to 18-15 and putting his team in the third successive final in Hurlingham.

Group B was scheduled to be defined the next day. La Aguada Las Monjitas ICBC jumped ahead of Magual 3-2 but the match was suspended after Eduardo Novillo Astrada fell near the close of the initial chukker. The match was completed on Tuesday, October 29 with La Aguada Las Monjitas winning 13-11 and closing the tournament with joy.

The pool was defined by the battle between La Natividad Amarok and Ellerstina Piaget, a match that showed La Zeta having problems. The premise of Lolo Castagnola’s team was clear: put an iron defense on Facundo Pieres and take full advantage of Sapo Caset’s aim (eight goals). With that clear game plan, La Natividad managed to reach the final chukker with the score matched (13-13). In the seven critical minutes appeared the remarkable scoring ability of Facundo with a foul and two field goals (10 in the afternoon) for the 16-13 win that put the Men in Black in the definition for the fifth year in a row.

Bad weather postponed the final—the 10th consecutive between La Dolfina and Ellerstina—until November 9. The club’s Lewis Lacey field was the scene of a hotlycontested match full of suspense for eight chukkers. Ellerstina Piaget got a better start with a hat trick from Gonzalo Pieres to go ahead 3-1. It kept the lead in the next period to complete the first quarter 5-4. In the third, Adolfito Cambiaso took advantage of mistakes made by Nicolás Pieres, who was back in the line-up, to achieve parity at 7-7. In the fourth chukker, a couple more goals from Cambiaso gave La Dolfina a 9-7 advantage La Zeta could not overcome.

Facundo’s accuracy from the penalty line put the Men in Black just one away at the end of the fifth (10-11), but in the next episode The Cañuelas’ team managed to escape with three goals (14-11) thanks to the great work of Pablo Mac Donough.

Facundo made three penalties in the seventh to come within one, 15-14. But just 15 seconds into the eighth chukker, Pelón Stirling not only stretched the lead but showed his rivals they had no chance to reverse the score. Stirling and Cambiaso (scoring the last of the dozen he converted in the match) sealed Ellerstina’s fate. Two goals coming from brothers Facundo and Gonzalo served to put the final count at 18-16.

Thus, members of La Dolfina Hope Funds captured the second step of the Triple Crown and, after putting on the gray blazers that distinguish the champions, raised The Ayrshire Cup for the seventh time since 2000.

We played well, but have many things to improve if we want to win at Palermo. It was very clear that La Dolfina is not just up to me. If I do not get to goal, then Pelon appears or Pablo, or from the back comes Juanma Nero. We have many ways to reach the goal,” said Cambiaso, who not only took the recognition as the best scorer but was elected final MVP. In addition, his mare Carla received the Daniel Kearney Cup as the best horse in the final.

The final step in the Triple Crown brought even more surprises. In Argentina there are no official betting houses. Nonetheless, several bookies risked bankruptcy because the 120th Argentine Open gave one of the worst combinations for betters: a champion almost by decree and an unexpected challenger.

From the start, on Saturday, November 16 there was electricity in the air. In the opening match, defending champion Ellerstina Piaget defeated Chapaleufú Lange, a team that emerged from the qualifier, by a large 23-14. The match allowed brothers Eduardo and Alberto Heguy (from the losing team) to equal the their father Alberto’s record of presentations in Palermo with 28 tournaments. If Facundo Pieres showed his scoring attitude at this offensive festival with 12 goals, a while later his cousin Polito imitated him, getting a dozen in the victory of Alegría Sancor Seguros against La Aguada ICBC 16-13. Recovered from the appendectomy that kept him out of Hurlingham, Polito led his team to a crucial victory in Group A.

The next day Group B was launched. La Dolfina Hope Funds got its eighth consecutive win of the season, beating Magual 15-9. After an even start, with the initial 21 minutes ending 4-4, horses decided the victory for the quartet from Cañuelas. Then La Natividad Amarok just surpassed La Aguada Las Monjitas ICBC 15-14. In a tangled and very boring game, La Natividad lifted the score at the right time to take its third win of 2013 against the same opponents (they also won in Tortugas and Hurlingham).

The second weekend made it clear that Group A was unexpectedly wide open. The first shift came when Alegría Sancor Seguros beat Chapaleufú Lange 19-16 with another great display from Polito Pieres scoring 11 goals in the afternoon. For Chapa’s Ruso Heguy, he was recognized for scoring his 600th goal in Palermo.

In the Ellerstina Piaget vs. La Aguada ICBC match, Ellerstina struggled against a team eight goals less in handicap and without two starters (Javier Novillo Astrada still out because of a brain tumor and his brother Ignacio with broken collarbone). Entering the final episode down by four goals (13-9), Facu Pieres had a moment of brilliance as he scored four of his 10 goals to force an extra chukker. On the first play, Ellerstina’s Mariano Aguerre got the winning goal.

Smaller teams continued to make bigger ones stagger. On Sunday, November 24, Magual beat La Natividad Amarok, the third-ranked team. An amazing performance by Ignacio Toccalino (best scorer with nine) allowed the team coming from the qualifier its first victory in Palermo by 14-12. Later, La Dolfina Hope Funds left no place for surprises and defeated La Aguada Las Monjitas ICBC 15-10 on the strength of Cambiaso’s nine goals.

Palermo trembled on Saturday, November 30. The day had opened with the success of La Aguada ICBC against Chapaleufú Lange 19-17, which served to show Ignacio Novillo Astrada fully recovered from his injury playing alongside his feverish brother Miguel. Meanwhile, Facundo Sola exploded to the max with 16 goals.

Then, the unthinkable: Alegría Sancor Seguros left no doubt against Ellerstina Piaget as it triumphed 19-15 to lead Group A. “Not being finalist in Palermo is a disaster,” said Facundo Pieres, author of 10 goals. His cousin Polito, who matched his goals, showed the other side of the coin: “They say we are going to the final match, but I cannot believe it.”

Not only would the defending champion be kept from the final, but it cut that hegemony between La Zeta and La Dolfina that had settled in the Palermo finals since 2005, as well as the Triple Crown streak that stretched for 10 consecutive tournaments. Canadian Fred Mannix, patron of this team, thus realized a dream that began in 2006 by becoming the first North American to play the final of Palermo in 19 years, since Carlos Gracida.

La Aguada Las Monjitas ICBC got its first celebration by dispatching Magual 15-8, allowing La Natividad Amarok to dream of reaching the final, but first it would have to beat La Dolfina Hope Funds, which proved impossible. Led by 13 goals from Adolfito, the team from Cañuelas left no doubts and won by demolition (20-13) to score its 10th success of 2013 in a row. The win put it just one step from the Triple Crown for the first time in its illustrious history. The bad news for La Dolfina came when Juan Martín Nero fractured his right thumb on the last play, so he would have to be replaced by Sebastián Merlos.

The 120th final of the most important tournament in the world was played in front of over 15,000 people. Many dressed in magenta to support Alegría, the Cinderella of the tournament. Most sensed there was almost a predestined champion, but Alegría tried to break that trend. With great defense and attitude it reacted to an inauspicious start to raise the score to 6-5 with the unstoppable Polito Pieres (nine goals, the same number as Adolfito).

The game went back and forth to close the first half 8-8, but La Dolfina, very well commanded by the clever Pablo Mac Donough, managed to pull ahead 13-10 with seven minutes to play. Alegría tried desperately but allowed Cambiaso & Co. to take advantage to win 16-11.

With the win, La Dolfina joined a select number to have won the coveted AAP Triple Crown, matching Coronel Suárez (1972, 1974, 1975 and 1977), Ellerstina (1994 and 2010), Santa Ana (1973) and La Aguada (2003). Cambiaso, the king of the afternoon, was chosen MVP by the Argentina Polo Players Association and won three awards for his horses: Lady Susan Townley Cup for his mare Chocolate, the Fomento Equino Cup as best mounted player of the final and the Gonzalo Tanoira Prize for best mounted of the competition. In recognition of a fantastic tournament, Polito Pieres was honored as the top scorer of the tournament and received the Gonzalo Heguy Award because of his great work.

By Ernesto Rodríguez
Photos by Sergio Llamera