Audi Captures Rocky Mountain Open In Season-Finale; Gonzalito Pieres MVP
CARBONDALE, Colo., August 26, 2024---Audi, one of the sport's top teams, saved its best for last Sunday in the final of the Rocky Mountain Open at rain-soaked McClure River Ranch Stadium.
By Sharon Robb
In a fast-paced, physical matchup, Audi (Santos Bollini, 2, Martin Jauregui, 6, Gonzalito Pieres, 9, Marc Ganzi, 1) dominated defending champion Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, 1, Grant Ganzi, 3, Hilario Figueras, 5, Nic Roldan, 8) for a 10-6 victory to close out the most successful season in the 11-year history of Aspen Valley Polo Club. It was Audi's first tournament win of the season.
Gonzalito Pieres was named Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive year in the five-team tournament.
"We had a really good team," Pieres said. "The idea was they had to shoot from quite far away and we were quite lucky some of them didn't go in.
"It was quite fun. I always enjoy playing with Marc. This summer I only had two opportunities to play with him. It was nice to win with him again. I was happy with the summer. It went from starting a bit more quiet and it ended in a good way for me so it was nice."
Open Regalia, an 11-year-old chestnut mare (bred by Ellerstina Sportivo/Open Regalona) played by Marc Ganzi and owned by Santa Rita Polo Farm, was the AVPC Best Playing Pony.
Gizmo, a bay gelding played and owned by Jeff Hildebrand, was the America Polo Horse Association Best Playing Pony.
Audi jumped out to a 6-0 lead at the end of the second chukker before Tonkawa knew what hit them. Playing a swarming defense and control game, Audi did not let Tonkawa in the game.
Roldan scored Tonkawa's first goal with three minutes left in the third chukker. Jauregui came back with a goal at the 1:30 mark for a 7-1 lead. Ganzi converted a 30-yard penalty just before the half to trail, 7-2.
"It was good to start like that because you never know, if you are one or two goals ahead they can come back real easy," Pieres said. "We kept the ball more."
Audi was just as relentless in the second half leading 9-3 after the fouth chukker. Tonkawa tried to claw its way back but Audi remained aggressive. Figueras' goal in the final two minutes of the fifth chukker cut the lead to 9-5, but Bollini came back with 45 seconds left to score for a 10-5 lead. The sixth chukker was more defensive with Figueras scoring the only goal.
Tonkawa, which had played well in Friday's round robin qualifier with a 3-2 win over Audi and 6-4 win over Mountain Chevrolet, looked frustrated with its unforced errors. Tonkawa had its share of scoring opportunities but could not take advantage.
"We played them Friday and we lost against them. We knew we had to change a few things and we changed a lot of things," Pieres said. "We changed positions. Martin was going with Nic, Tato with Granti and I was going with Hilario. Marc was more free and when we attacked he did a lot of damage."
Pieres led Audi with four goals, including two in the fourth chukker. Marc Ganzi, Bollini and Jauregui each had two goals. Roldan, Figueras and Grant Ganzi each had two.
Pieres and his family will now return to Argentina to prepare for the upcoming Argentine season with his new team.
Special guest Mr. Brainwash, a French-born Los Angeles-based street artist who rose to fame after a documentary film by Banksy presented the tournament awards with Riley Ganzi. Mr. Brainwash designed the beautiful "Polo Is Beautiful" art sculptures at Aspen Valley and Grand Champions Polo Clubs.
In last year's Rocky Mountain Open, Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, 0, Marc Ganzi, 1, Gonzalito Pieres, 9, Nic Roldan, 8) held off Santa Rita (Melissa Ganzi, 0, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, 7, Polito Pieres, 10, Stewart Armstrong, 2), 14-12, to win the Rocky Mountain Open presented by NetJets. Gonzalito Pieres swept the MVP and BPP honors.
There were eight different team champions illustrating the parity of competition of the 2024 summer season. They were:
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, Michael Payne, Pablo Spinacci, Gonzalito Pieres) in the High Alpine Cup.
Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Grant Ganzi, Nic Roldan, Hilario Figueras) in the Carbondale Classic.
Los Amigos Blue (Paul Foster, Pablo Spinacci, Tomacho Pieres, Jason Crowder) in the Silver Queen Invitational.
Maltese Falcons (Nacho Novillo Astrada, Melissa Ganzi, Alejandra Foster, Alejandro Novillo Astrada) in the Triple Crown of Polo-Aspen.
Audi (Santos Bollini, Martin Jauregui, Gonzalito Pieres, Marc Ganzi) in the Rocky Mountain Open.
"The competition was nice this season, especially that team of Tonkawa," Pieres said. "They played together with different sponsors. Granti, Nic and Hilario played a lot together. They did really good in the summer so we knew that they were a team to beat."
