Brookshire Wins Basalt Handicap; Nacho Figueras Sweeps MVP, BPP Honors

CARBONDALE, Colo., July 25, 2022----Brookshire won its second tournament of the summer polo season Sunday at McClure River Ranch Stadium.

By Sharon Robb

Brookshire (Scott Wood, Ale Poma, Nacho Figueras, Torito Ruiz) led from start to finish to defeat Mountain Chevrolet (Michael Payne, Stewart Armstrong, Nic Roldan, Alex Gooding), 12-7, in the championship final of the Basalt Handicap.

Figueras was named Most Valuable Player. Chancho Va, owned and played by Figueras in the second and sixth chukkers, was selected Best Playing Pony. Chancho Va, named after a card game, is part of Figueras' Cria Yatay world-class horse breeding operation he started in 2004 outside Buenos Aires.

"I think we all played very well as a team, there was good chemistry," Figueras said. "We all did what we said we would do. Things just really jelled. It felt like things were always coming our way because we were in the right place."

Figueras started playing polo at age 9 and turned pro at 17 and is known as polo's ambassador around the world. Like many of the summer players, Figueras is playing very well early in the season.

"I think what helps is that I never stopped playing," Figueras said. "I played in Florida to Santa Barbara and to here. I have been competing for the last six months. I think that obviously has helped, not taking off any time. I've been prepared, focused and fit for a few months.

"I think we have a good group of players and the fields are playing good," Figueras said. "We're all happy to be here and play together. It's a great opportunity to be here in this beautiful place. All those things put together brings the best out of everyone."

Brookshire, making its Aspen Valley Polo Club summer debut, scored 18.5 goals in two games. The team also won the ChukkerTV Cup the second week of the season. It was the second consecutive year Ruiz won the Basalt Handicap. Last year he won with Tonkawa.

Brookshire took control of the game early and led 6-2 at the half. The foursome never let up in the second half, leading by as many as eight goals (12-4) early in the fifth chukker.

"You have to stay aggressive because I have seen leads of seven and eight goals go away," Figueras said. "You can not let go until maybe the fifth or sixth when you see the lead is too big then. Things can turn around very quickly and you can lose."

Against a strong defensive effort, Mountain Chevrolet was unable to score in the first two chukkers other than its one goal it picked up on handicap. Roldan was held to two goals.

Brookshire got balanced scoring from its offense. Figueras and Ruiz, working well together, each had four goals. Poma had three goals and Wood added one. Armstrong led Mountain Chevrolet with four goals.

Six teams competed over two days in the fourth tournament of the season.

For the second consecutive Sunday, 18 chukkers were played in addition two five-minute chukkers of Wheely Polo.

In the subsidiary Just For The Fun Of It Cup, Santa Rita (Melissa Ganzi, Marc Ganzi, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, Juan Bollini) defeated El Tiburon (Collen Clark, Jason Crowder, Grant Ganzi, Pancho Bensadon), 11-9.

Santa Rita jumped out to a 5-0 lead midway through the second chukker and never relinguished it. El Tiburon started chipping away at its deficit in the fifth chukker and trailed 7-6 with 3:51 left but Bensadon connected with Marc Ganzi on a great pass for a clutch goal. El Tiburon could get no closer than two goals for the rest of the game.

Marc Ganzi scored a game-high six goals and Astrada added five. Clark, Grant Ganzi and Bensadon each had three goals for El Tiburon.

In the Just For The Thrill Of It Cup, La Karina (Alejandra Foster, Brian Boyd, Gonzalito Pieres, Tomacho Pieres) edged Victory (Sugar Erskine, Kevin Schmeits, Nacho Novillo Astrada, Paul Foster), 7-6.

Victory started off with a 2-0 lead on handicap and led 2-1 and 3-2 for the first two chukkers. La Karina took the lead in the third chukker and never trailed after that.

Alejandra Foster had a game-high four goals for La Karina.

Polo School Green and Polo School Blue played to a 3-3 tie in a two five-minute chukker Wheely Polo exhibition. Artemio Figueras scored the tying goal for Polo School Green in the closing minute. Artemio is one of four children of Nacho and Delfina Blaquier. The others are Alba, Aurora and Hilario, who is playing in Saint-Tropez.

"I have my family wherever I go or at least I try," Figueras said. "It's always good to have them and I cannot think about anything else, not having them around would not be my ideal situation ever."

In Friday's preliminary round robin qualifiers, Brookshire advanced with a 6.5-3 win over La Karina and 5-4 win over Santa Rita. Mountain Chevrolet got into the final with a 5.5-2 win over Victory and 4.5-3 win over El Tiburon.

The winner of last year's Basalt Handicap was Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Jimmy Seward, Torito Ruiz, Grant Ganzi), 13-10 winners over La Karina (Brian Boyd, Gussie Busch, Nic Roldan, Marc Ganzi). Ruiz was MVP.

The Basalt Handicap honors the former railroad town which was named for the basaltic rock formation on Basalt Mountain. Basalt is known as a vacation mecca for families and sports enthusiasts.

Aspen Valley Polo Club kicked off its ninth season on July 3. In the season-opener Los Amigos (Paul Foster, Marc Ganzi, Gonzalito Pieres, Tomacho Pieres) won the Independence Cup with a round robin victory over Casablanca (Alejandra Foster, Grant Ganzi, Torito Ruiz, Nic Roldan) and NetJets (Melissa Ganzi, Nacho Figueras, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, Juan Bollini). Brookshire (Scott Wood, Jason Crowder, Nic Roldan, Juan Bollini) won its club debut in the ChukkerTV Cup with an 11-7 win over Los Amigos (Paul Foster, Vinny Sangaline, Gonzalito Pieres, Nacho Figueras). Last weekend McClure River Ranch (Marc Ganzi, Jason Crowder, Pancho Bensadon, Stewart Armstrong) won the Craig Sakin Memorial with a 9-8 victory over Santa Rita (Melissa Ganzi, Vinny Sangaline, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, Juan Bollini).

The world's destination spot for summer polo has attracted some of the world's top players, sponsors and world-class horses.

Other summer tournaments are this week's Emma Challenge Cup, High Alpine Cup, Mount Sopris Cup, Rocky Mountain Open, Carbondale Classic, Triple Crown of Polo-Aspen, Silver Queen Invitational, Maroon Bells Cup and Ute Challenge.

The highlight of the season is the Aug. 28th Summer Polo Benefit for the Aspen Valley Hospital Foundation. Last year's event raised more than $500,000 after a year's hiatus because of the pandemic. It is the club's summer marquis event and one of the city's most anticipated social summer events.

Wellington, Fla.-based ChukkerTV will live stream the entire 2022 polo season Mountain Standard Time with announcer Dale Schwetz calling the action.

Since Marc and Melissa Ganzi resurrected the club and polo in 2014, polo has increased in popularity in Aspen and surrounding cities with the club's offerings of various weekly grass and arena tournaments, Arena & Asado Nights, Kidz Polo, Kids Wheely Polo, The Polo School headed by former 8-goaler Juan Bollini, and Polo On Demand. In addition, the club offers practice sessions for teams competing in the club tournaments on more than six world-class fields. There are also indoor and outdoor polo arenas.

The Polo School for all ages and ability levels operates in Carbondale July through September. For more information on tournaments or Polo School contact Director of Operations Juan Bollini at 561-346-1099 or club manager Cale Newman at 561-876-2930.

Aspen Valley 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 family-friendly club welcomes spectators. All matches, food and refreshments are free and open to the public.