Richard Mille Three-Peats St. Regis World Snow Polo Championship; Pablo MacDonough MVP

ASPEN, Colo., December 20, 2021---Richard Mille made history at the St. Regis World Snow Polo Championship Sunday at Rio Grande Park.

By Sharon Robb

Photos by Candace Ferreira

In front of a sold-out heated VIP tent and worldwide ChukkerTV audience, Richard Mille (Sarah Siegel Magness, 0, Jesse Bray, 7, Pablo MacDonough, 10) won its third title with an impressive 9-6 victory over St. Regis (Melissa Ganzi, 1, Nacho Figueras, 6, Nic Roldan, 9) on the final stop of the World Polo Tour.

Richard Mille has won the tournament three of the last four years. MacDonough, the only player on all three winning teams, was named Most Valuable Player.

"It was good to win for the third time," said the Argentine 10-goaler. "We had a very good game. We played well. The most important thing was we won many throw-ins and we scored. It was an advantage towards the end of the game."

It was the first time Bray and MacDonough played together.

"There is a reason the guy is 10 goals and one of the best players in the world," Bray said. "He is a great teammate. It's hard for players who play outdoor to go and play in the arena or only do it once a year but he just picks it up so quickly. He is super talented and it shows."

Bray earned the High Scorer Award after scoring 12 goals in the tournament. The 29-year-old scored a game-high five goals in the championship. He also scored four goals in his team's 10-7 opening tournament win over Aspen Valley Polo Club and three goals in a 3-2 win over defending champion World Polo League.

"I think throw-ins are a huge part of any polo, but especially in the arena or the snow because it's so short," Bray said. "If they throw the ball in and you win it you're half a shot or breakaway to the goal."

It was Bray's fifth snow polo tournament appearance and third final. It was also the first game his 2-month old baby Dorothy Lily watched him play.

"The pressure was on, it wouldn't have been good if I lost the first game she watched," Bray said. "I'm really happy with the win. I knew it was going to be a hard game, that was a really good team. I knew we had a good chance once we got to the snow."

The victory avenged last year's 11-10 overtime shootout loss to WPL (Riley Ganzi, Hilario Figueras, Alejandro Novillo Astrada). Bray, Siegel Magness and Jason Crowder played for runner-up Royal Salute.

"Jesse Bray is a machine at this kind of polo," MacDonough said. "This was the toughest tournament so far because there were so many competitive teams. I remember the last time I was here the field was good, but this time the quality of the field was even better so we could run more. It was outstanding and that made the polo a lot better and the final much more exciting."

It was Siegel Magness' fourth snow polo appearance.

"I think it is the biggest win in my career just because it's nearly impossible to make that final," Siegel Magness said. "This tournament is won in the arena in the qualifying. It's so hard. There are so many good teams and so many good players. And everybody wants to win.

"You think about what it's going to be like when you win. Honestly, the only thing I could think about was 'I wish I had played a better game.' That's how polo is. Every day you just try and get better. Even winning, I think what do I need to do to get better next time.

"I felt like I played much better in the arena. I think I was really, really extremely nervous and really wanted to win. My teammates came alive which I knew would happen. I'm very appreciative of winning just because maybe next year I can relax a little bit."

Best Playing Pony was home-bred Centauros, played by Bray and owned by Wellington-based Santa Rita Polo Farm. Father Heckle, an American thoroughbred out of Hennessey and grey Argentine mare Juana.

It was the most competitive final in the nine-year history of North America's only snow polo tournament and fitting way to kick off the holiday social season in Aspen.

"It's arguably two of the best finals this tournament has ever seen," said tournament co-host Marc Ganzi. "A huge thanks to the Aspen Ski Company's whole team...great preparation and incredible effort by the whole staff; all our great sponsors and to everyone that came out in the city of Aspen, Mayor Torre, the City Council and everyone that made this part of a great tradition. It's official, the holidays have begun in Aspen and Snow Polo 2021 is in the books."

After a fast-paced 1-1 opening chukker, Bray scored a quick goal off the throw-in to give Richard Mille a 2-1 advantage. Richard Mille's physicality and domination of throw-ins (90 percent)were the reasons they never trailed for the remainder of the four-chukker game. Bray scored again for a 3-1 lead and Ganzi closed the gap with a 15-yard penalty conversion to trail by one at the half.

Richard Mille outscored St. Regis, 6-4, in the second half. Bray scored back-to-back goals early in the third chukker to give Richard Mille a 5-2 lead with. Figueras scored a goal off Ganzi's pass to trail by two. Siegel Magness and Ganzi each converted 15-yard penalty attempts to end the chukker at 6-4. Throughout the fourth chukker, Richard Mille led 7-4, 8-4 and 9-4 before St. Regis scored the final two goals.

In addition to Bray's five goals, MacDonough added three and Siegel Magness had one. Ganzi scored a team-high three goals, all on penalty conversions, for St. Regis. Figueras had two and Roldan one goal.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Casablanca (Grant Ganzi, 3, Juancito Bollini, 4, Juan Martin Zubia, 8) captured the Aspen Cup with a 7-5 victory over ChukkerTV (Vinny Sangaline, 1, Martin Pepa, 4, Tommy Biddle, 9) to finish third in the seven-team tournament.

Zubia scored a game-high three goals, including one from center field and 40-yarder through horses' legs to earn Most Valuable Player honors.

The hardfought game was close for three chukkers. The teams were tied 1-1 after the first chukker. Biddle's goal with 33 seconds left gave ChukkerTV a 3-2 halftime lead. Casablanca came alive in the second half outscoring ChukkerTV, 5-2, including a 3-1 final chukker.

Ganzi added two goals and Bollini had one. There was also a penalty-one awarded. Hometown favorite Sangaline and Biddle each had two goals and Pepa, outstanding on defense after a two-year snow polo hiatus, added one.

The tournament featured four women team captains, a first for the tournament, helping to inspire more women to play snow polo.

For the second consecutive day, actress and singer songwriter Kelley Jakle, sang the National Anthem and flag bearer Hannah Hayden carried the American flag on horseback during the pre-game ceremony.

Richard Mille, the official timekeeper of the tournament, is a luxury Swiss watch brand. Founded in 1999, the brand applies a three-part philosophy: the sharpest cutting-edge technology, three-dimensional constructions shot through with pure mechanics, and hand-finishing. MacDonough is Brand Ambassador for Richard Mille and wears his specially-designed RM 53-01 Tourbillon in every polo game he plays.

During post-game festivities, tournament co-host Marc Ganzi presented President and CEO Deborah Breen with a $15,000 check benefitting Aspen Valley Hospital Foundation and Calaway-Young Cancer Center. The tournament was a fundraiser for the Aspen Valley Hospital Foundation, the designated philanthropic charity.

Since Marc and Melissa Ganzi resurrected the Aspen Valley Polo 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.