Mountain Chevrolet Defends Title, Wins High Alpine Cup; Gonzalito Pieres MVP; Pablo Spinacci Sweeps BPP Honors
CARBONDALE, Colo., August 5, 2024---Mountain Chevrolet won its summer polo debut Sunday at Aspen Valley Polo Club's McClure River Ranch Stadium.
By Sharon Robb
Mountain Chevrolet (Fran Spinacci, 1, Michael Payne, 1, Pablo Spinacci, 5, Gonzalito Pieres, 9) won the sixth tournament of the season defending its title in the High Alpine Cup with a thrilling 9-8 victory over Casablanca (Michael Calle, 1, Santos Bollini, 2, Grant Ganzi, 3, Nic Roldan, 8).
Michael Payne and Pablo Spinacci are repeat tournament champions.
Argentine 9-goaler Gonzalito Pieres was named Most Valuable Player. The field general scored a game-high seven goals.
Aiken, a chestnut mare, was selected the American Polo Horse Association Best Playing Pony. Aiken was played by Pablo Spinacci and owned by Santa Rita Polo Farm.
The Aspen Valley Polo Club Best Playing Pony was Silver Peak, a dark bay mare bred and played by Pablo Spinacci and owned by Santa Rita Polo Farm.
On a perfect day for polo in front of a good local crowd, Mountain Chevrolet started off strong early in the game. Pieres scored on a 100-yard shot for a 3-0 lead at the end of the opening chukker.
Mountain Chevrolet, playing a defensive game, pulled away 4-0 behind another Pieres goal. Back-to-back penalty conversions by Grant Ganzi cut the lead to 4-2 at the end of the second chukker.
Mountain Chevrolet extended its lead to 6-2 before Casablanca started clawing its way back behind Roldan's back-to-back goals. Casablanca was winning 85 percent of the bowl-ins but could not take advantage and finish them.
Early in the fourth chukker, Roldan hit a two-pointer from midfield against the wind to tie the game at 6-6. It was the only time briefly in the game Mountain Chevrolet did not have the lead. Pieres came right back to convert a 40-yard penalty to give Mountain Chevrolet back the lead which they held on to for the remainder of the game.
In the final chukker, Casablanca rallied to score three unanswered goals. In the final seconds, Ganzi converted another 30-yard penalty to cut the lead to 9-8, but ran out of time as they returned to center field.
Last season Mountain Chevrolet (Michael Payne, 1, Pablo Spinacci, 6, Hilario Figueras, 5, Martin Jauregui, 6) defeated NetJets (Santos Bollini, 2/Marc Ganzi, 1, Nacho Figueras, 5, Gonzalito Pieres, 9, Stewart Armstrong, 2), 12-9, to win the High Alpine Cup. Jauregui was MVP.
In addition to Pieres' scoring barrage, father and son Pablo and Fran Spinacci each had one goal. Roldan led Casablanca with a team-high five goals and Ganzi added three.
A good crowd was treated to 16 chukkers of polo over three games in seven hours.
In the Just For The Thrill Of it, Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Jason Crowder, 5, Tomacho Pieres, 6, Juan Bollini, 3) defeated Los Amigos Blue (Paul Foster, Vinny Sangaline, 1, Martin Jauregui, 6, Sugar Erskine 6), 9-7. Hildebrand scored a game-high four goals. Erskine and Jauregui each had three.
In the Just For The Love Of It, Tamera (Ale Poma, Marc Ganzi, 1, Hilario Figueras, 5, Santi Toccalino) defeated Maltese Falcons (Inda Pieres/Silver Novillo Astrada, Alejandra Foster, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, 7, Nacho Novillo Astrada, 8), 8-6. For Tamera, all four players each had two goals. Silver Novillo Astrada led Maltese Falcons with two goals.
In Friday's six-team qualifying round robins, Roldan weaved his way through players to score with 30 seconds left in the final chukker for Casablanca to clinch a 6-5 win over Tamera to advance into the final. Mountain Chevrolet led its third round robin from start to finish to earn a spot in the final with a 6-4 victory over Maltese Falcons.
On Saturday, in the Just For The Fun Of It at the AVPC Barn Field, Santa Rita defeated McClure River Ranch, 7-3. Megan Berry was impressive scoring a game-high six goals. Santa Rita led 4-0 after two chukkers and never relinquished its lead.
The High Alpine Cup is named after a Snowmass ski area/lift and legacy of Gwyn’s, a longtime Snowmass favorite located mid-mountain where diners experience some of the tradition and favorites from years past, in addition to a newly-envisioned take on mountain dining.
So far the season-opening tournaments have been won by:
Santa Rita (Haley Schaufeld, Grant Ganzi, Tomacho Pieres, Juan Bollini) in the Independence Cup.
Casablanca (Marc Ganzi, Martin Jauregui, Nic Roldan, Grant Ganzi) in the ChukkerTV Challenge Cup.
Casablanca (Marc Ganzi, Santos Bollini, Nic Roldan, Grant Ganzi) in the Craig Sakin Memorial
Los Amigos Red (Nic Roldan, Hilario Figueras, Paul Foster, Grant Ganzi) in the Basalt Handicap.
Los Amigos Red (Alejandra Foster, Santi Toccalino, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, Juan Bollini) in the Emma Challenge Cup.
Mountain Chevrolet ((Fran Spinacci, 1, Michael Payne, 1, Pablo Spinacci, 5, Gonzalito Pieres, 9) in the High Alpine Cup.
