Tonkawa Captures Carbondale Classic; Nic Roldan MVP; Summer Polo Charity Classic Attracts Record Crowd
CARBONDALE, Colo., August 19, 2024---On a spectacular day of polo, Tonkawa defended its title Sunday in the Carbondale Classic at McClure River Ranch Stadium.
By Sharon Robb
In front of the season's biggest crowd including a soldout Summer Polo Charity Classic VIP tent, defending champion Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Grant Ganzi, 3, Nic Roldan, 8, Hilario Figueras, 5)broke open a close game in the fifth chukker to defeat Polo 4 Christ (Steve Cox/Silver Novillo Astrada, Melissa Ganzi, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, 7, Nacho Novillo Astrada, 8), 9-6.
"This game was everything," Grant Ganzi said. "We talked about going into the game Friday how we wanted to win the whole thing. I knew we had the team to do it. It was good fun.
"This was a huge day for the club with the benefit," Ganzi said. "There were lots of people coming to polo which obviously we love because it brings more attention, more eyes and visibility to the sport. It was great to go out there and win on a day like today."
Roldan, the winningest player in Aspen Valley Polo Club history, was named Most Valuable Player.
Little Nell, an 11-year-old bay mare played by Grant Ganzi and owned and bred (Open Quarzo/Fresh Scent) by Santa Rita Polo Farm, was the AVPC Best Playing Pony. Ganzi has been playing her for two years in Aspen and Wellington.
"She is amazing," Ganzi said. "She is fantastic. She is one of my best mares here. She's explosive, compact and has a great mouth. She's quick on the turns. She does everything you want a good mare to do. I'm very fortunate to play her."
Mancha, a 10-year-old bay mare, played and owned by Steve Cox, was the American Polo Horse Association Best Playing Pony. The APHA, created by legendary Hall of Famer Sunny Hale, collects, records and preserves pedigrees of polo horses in the U.S.
The lead changed hands ten times before Tonkawa scored three unanswered goals by Figueras, Roldan and Ganzi in the fifth chukker to take an 8-5 lead.
"We wanted to get out ahead before the sixth," Ganzi said. "We did talk about that. Obvously, it's easier said than done. We had to have faith in the team and gameplan we put together before the game. Keep hitting the ball, keep hitting back shots and keep working and it will eventually come to fruition."
Tonkawa, a strong second-half team, played one of its best games of the season. Tonkawa continued to control the tempo of the game with great passing and anticipation in the sixth chukker not allowing Polo 4 Christ to get its offensive attack going. Ganzi took a great pass from Figueras and scored again with four minutes left to give Tonkawa a 9-5 lead, the team's biggest lead of the game.
"I think that was a key moment of the game and obviously wouldn't have happened without a great pass from Hilario," Ganzi said. "There was good team play with all four of us. We just needed to play our game. We didn't change anything. We had a good understanding of what we wanted to do and had a good flow. We played pretty open classic polo and it worked out."
Figueras had a game-high four goals for Tonkawa. Roldan had three goals and Ganzi added two. Melissa Ganzi led Polo 4 Christ with three goals, Alejandro Novillo Astrada had two and Cox added one.
It was one of the biggest weekends for the 11-year-old polo club featuring three exciting polo games, wheelie polo, fun charity event, live auction, great food, vendors and two DJs. The Summer Polo Charity Classic, the highlight of the summer polo season benefitting the Aspen Valley Hospital Foundation has raised millions since 2016 for the vital services the hospital provides to the Roaring Fork Valley community.
The Carbondale Classic, the eighth of 14 season tournaments, featured six teams battling it out for the coveted trophy.
On Friday, in two of the most exciting preliminary round robin qualifying games of the season, Polo 4 Christ and Tonkawa advanced into the final. At McClure River Ranch, Polo 4 Christ defeated Santa Rita, 9-5, and Los Amigos Red, 4-3. Melissa Ganzi led Polo 4 Christ with five goals. Cox and Alejandro Novillo Astrada each had three. Jason Crowder and Santi Toccalino each had three goals for Los Amigos Red. Fran Spinacci led Santa Rita with four goals including a 30-yard penalty conversion and penalty-one.
At High Mesa, Tonkawa defeated Mountain Chevrolet, 9-2, and Los Amigos Blue, 5-4. Nic Roldan led Tonkawa with five goals and Grant Ganzi added four including a 60-yard penalty conversion. Vinny Sangaline and Michael Payne led Mountain Chevrolet each with two goals. Gonzalito Pieres led Los Amigos Blue with three goals including a 60-yard penalty conversion.
In the Just For The Love Of It battle for bragging rights in the Foster family, Los Amigos Red (Alejandra Foster, Jason Crowder, 5, Santi Toccalino, 7, Jimmy Seward, 3) edged Los Amigos Blue (Paul Foster, Marc Ganzi, 1, Tomacho Pieres, 6, Gonzalito Pieres, 8,) 8-7.
Open Baviera, bred, owned and played by Gonzalito Pieres, was the subsidiary Best Playing Pony. Alejandra Foster led scoring with three goals. Seward and Crowder each had two goals and Toccalino had one goal. With 3:25 left, Seward connected with Crowder on a great pass for what turned out to be the winning goal.
In The Just For The Thrill Of It at McClure River Ranch Field Two, Santa Rita (Fran Spinacci, 1, Santos Bollini, 2, Pablo Spinacci, 6, Juan Bollini, 3) held off Mountain Chevrolet (Michael Payne, 1, Vinny Sangaline, 1, Sugar Erskine, 6, Martin Jauregui, 6) to win, 7-5. Santa Rita featured two pairs of fathers and sons playing together. The Spinacci family each had two goals. Santos Bollini had two goals and Juan Bollini added one. Payne and Jauregui each had two goals and Erskine had one.
In the summer's second Wheelie polo game, Aspen Valley and Grand Champions battled to a 2-2 tie. Benja Toccalino and Inda Pieres were among scorers.
On Saturday, Aspen Valley Polo Club (Sterling Jones, Tomacho Pieres, Ricky Bueno, Grant Ganzi) and McClure River Ranch (Kendra Lauren, Inda Pieres, Silver Novillo Astrada, Juan Bollini) played to a 2-2 tie in the Just For The Fun Of It at the AVPC Barn Field. Actor Sterling Jones led Aspen Valley Polo Club with two goals. Inda Pieres and Silver Novillo Astrada each had one goal for McClure River Ranch. Jones scored the tying goal with 40 seconds left in the game.
The Kidz Polo game in the club's world-class indoor arena was just as entertaining with Polo School Red defeating Polo School Purple, 6-2. Lolo Novillo Astrada, at 4 years old, made his solo debut with the help of Silver Novillo Astrada sharing a horse. Among scorers were Benja Toccalino, Violetta Pieres and Lupe Pieres.
In last season's Carbondale Classic, Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Gonzalito Pieres, 9, Tomacho Pieres, 6, Marc Ganzi, 1) defeated defending champion Mountain Chevrolet (Michael Payne, 1, Santos Bollini, 2, Martin Jauregui, 6, Nacho Novillo Astrada, 8), 11-9. Gonzalito Pieres swept MVP and BPP honors.
The Carbondale Classic is named after the city of Carbondale, at the base of majestic Mt. Sopris and home of the thriving Aspen Valley Polo Club. Located 170 miles west of Denver and 30 miles from Aspen in the heart of Colorado’s central Rocky Mountains, the picturesque town of Carbondale was first occupied by the Ute Indians, then by silver prospectors, cattle ranchers, and potato farmers. With a strong arts and music community, the town embraces its mining, ranching, skiing, resort and polo identities.
