Tuesday the 23 June, marked the much-anticipated start of the St. Regis Cowdray Gold Cup, with Akasha taking on White Crane on Lawns 1 in the opening match for the Carlos Gracida Memorial Cup. Established in 2014 in honour of one of polo’s greatest players, the Mexican Carlos Gracida, who tragically passed away while playing the sport he loved, the trophy now traditionally marks the opening game of the St. Regis Cowdray Gold Cup.
Riding out at 1 in the blue shirts for Akasha was Alexandre Garese (0) at 1, Facundo Llorente (7) at 2, 9-goaler Pablo Mac Donough at 3, and Santiago Laborde (6) at Back. Wearing the number 1 shirt for White Crane was Alexie Calvert-Ansari (0) at 1, Matt Perry (5) at 2, 10-goaler Pablo Pieres at 3, and Tomas Beresford (7) at Back.
The first chukka saw Mac Donough open the scoring with a 30-yard penalty conversion inside the opening 30 seconds. Pieres quickly responded with a successful 30-yard penalty of his own. Llorente then restored Akasha’s advantage with an offside neck shot, but an Akasha foul allowed Pieres to level the scores once again. A goal in the final minute, finished by Beresford and assisted by Calvert-Ansari, gave White Crane a 3-2 lead at the end of the opening chukka.
White Crane was off to a good start in the second with an opening neck shot to goal by Pieres, but Mac Donough quickly responded with an end-to-end run to goal. White Crane continued this volley with an impressive team goal finished by Calvert-Ansari. However, Mac Donough took control in the closing stages of the chukka, scoring a remarkable hat-trick in the final three minutes to put Akasha ahead 6-5 going into the third.
The third started with a 60-yard penalty conversion by Mac Donough to grow their lead, but a cut shot from afar by Beresford kept White Crane within touching distance. However, an unstoppable Akasha continued to build momentum with another two field goals by Laborde and Mac Donough to take them into half-time leading 9-6.
With the sun shining down brightly, the players started play in the fourth chukka with a couple of costly fouls by White Crane, giving Mac Donough the opportunity to successfully convert both a 60-yard and 30-yard penalty. But a last-second strike by Pieres kept White Crane in contention, 11-7.
The fifth chukka was evenly contested. Perry opened the scoring after just 30 seconds with a breakaway goal, before Pieres added another with a well-executed neck shot. Akasha refused to surrender their advantage, responding through yet another line-out goal from Mac Donough and a field goal from Laborde to take a 13-9 lead into the final chukka.
A determined Beresford opened the last with an under-pressure field goal, but Mac Donough responded with another perfectly converted penalty. Despite a last-second run to goal by Beresford, it wasn’t enough to catch Akasha, who took victory 14-11.
A delighted Alexandre Garese stepped forward to receive the Carlos Gracida Memorial Cup from The Hon. Lila Pearson. The Cowdray Vikings Best Playing Pony Rug was awarded to Irenita Señalada, played and owned by Pablo Mac Donough.
