Maltese Falcons Soar To Coveted Triple Crown Of Polo-Aspen Title; Nacho Novillo Astrada Sweeps MVP, BPP Honors

CARBONDALE, Colo., August 26, 2024---Maltese Falcons won their first tournament of the summer polo season Sunday at McClure River Ranch Stadium.

By Sharon Robb

On the final day of the season in front of a good crowd, Maltese Falcons (Nacho Novillo Astrada, 8, Melissa Ganzi, Alejandra Foster, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, 7) won a three-team round robin to capture the Triple Crown of Polo-Aspen.

In the round robin, Los Amigos Blue edged Mountain Chevrolet, 2-1; Maltese Falcons defeated Mountain Chevrolet (Michael Payne, 1, Vinny Sangaline, 1, Sugar Erskine, 6, and Santi Toccalino, 7) , 5-2; and in a true final, Maltese Falcons topped Los Amigos Blue (Paul Foster, Pablo Spinacci, 5, Tomacho Pieres, 6, Jason Crowder, 5), 6-1.

Argentine 9-goaler Nacho Novillo Astrada swept the Most Valuable Player and Best Playing Pony honors. Aquamarine, a 7-year-old dark bay mare, owned and bred (Open Quarzo/Travesita)by Santa Rita Polo Farm was the American Polo Horse Association Best Playing Pony.

Taita Ela, a 6-year-old chestnut mare, played by Tomacho Pieres and owned by Santa Rita Polo Farm, was the AVPC Best Playing Pony.

In the opening round robin, Mountain Chevrolet and Los Amigos Blue played a close game with Los Amigos Blue coming out on top, 2-1. Toccalino gave Mountain Chevrolet a 1-0 lead in the opening chukker. Tomacho Pieres tied the game with 30 seconds left in the chukker. Paul Foster scored the winning goal in the second chukker. Mountain Chevrolet had its chances in the final minutes but was unable to score.

In the second round robin, Maltese Falcons defeated Mountain Chevrolet, 5-2. The combination of Alejandra Foster and Melissa Ganzi working together on offense was too strong for Mountain Chevrolet to contain. The pair gave Maltese Falcons a 3-0 lead in the opening chukker and built on it for a 4-1 lead after two chukkers. Sangaline provided the only offense with two goals.

The third and final round robin was much of the same with Foster and Ganzi dictating the offense. Maltese Falcons defeated Los Amigos Blue, 6-1. Maltese Falcons opened again with a 3-0 lead in the first chukker and cruised the remainder of the match with a 4-1 lead after two chukkers. Jason Crowder was the lone scorer for Los Amigos Blue.

Ganzi and Foster worked well together offensively combining for 10 goals in the round robin. Ganzi had six goals and Foster added four. Sangaline had two goals for Mountain Chevrolet.

On Saturday, in the final Just For The Fun Of It, Santa Rita (Miles Rich, Anthony Devrient, Ricky Bueno, Grant Ganzi) defeated McClure River Ranch (Skyler Gillespie, Leanna Walker, Kendra Lauren, Juan Bollini). Gillespie, a Polo School product playing her first game on a grass field, scored a goal for Santa Rita. Ricky Bueno added two more for the winners. Grant Ganzi scored McClure River Ranch's lone goal.

Also on Saturday in the Kidz Polo in the world-class indoor arena, Polo School Blue defeated Polo School Purple, 7-2. Benja Toccalino and Mia Pieres were among scorers. At age 4, Lolo Novillo Astrada came close to scoring his first career goal.

The last time the Triple Crown of Polo-Aspen was held was in 2022 when Los Amigos (Paul Foster, Jason Crowder, Grant Ganzi, Nic Roldan) defeated defending champion Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Marc Ganzi, Tomacho Pieres, Juan Martin Nero), 5-4, to win the coveted Triple Crown of Polo-Aspen trophy. Grant Ganzi was MVP.

The Triple Crown of Polo trophy is comprised of three separate trophies that fit perfectly together to create an entire polo scene that is breathtaking in sterling silver with tournament winners' names inscribed on the trophy.

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.