Casablanca Wins Maroon Bells Cup At St. Regis World Snow Polo Championship; Miles Rich MVP
ASPEN, Colo., December 21, 2024---Before a packed house, Casablanca won the Maroon Bells Cup Thursday at Rio Grande Park.
By Sharon Robb
Casablanca (Miles Rich, Pierre Henri Ngoumou, Grant Ganzi) defeated Petrossian (Becky Schmeits, Kevin Schmeits, Sugar Erskine), 3-1.
Rich, the most improved player of the season and product of The Polo School at Wellington-based Grand Champions Polo Club, was Most Valuable Player. Rich scored all three goals in the final to add to his four-goals in the semifinals.
The Maroon Bells Cup was one of four tournaments in the Regis World Snow Polo Championship lineup.
In the main event, The Agency (Grant Ganzi, Jason Crowder, Pierre Henri Ngoumou) defeated St. Regis (Tony Calle, Nacho Figueras, Alejandro Novillo Astrada), 9-7, for the coveted trophy. Ganzi was MVP.
Aquamarine, a 7-year-old dark bay mare played by Rich and owned and bred by Santa Rita Polo Farm, was Best Playing Pony.
The newly-created tournament for lower level players, was competitive from the opening bowl-in.
Rich scored the opening goal for a 1-0 lead. At the 1:48 mark, Becky Schmeits scored to tie the game. Late in the first chukker, Ganzi connected with Rich for his second goal and 2-1 lead. Rich scored his third goal with 37 seconds left.
In other Thursday championship finals:
Edmiston (Teo Calle, Nic Roldan, Sugar Erskine) defeated Aspen Valley Polo Club (Sarah Siegel-Magness, Jesse Bray, Geronimo Obregon), 10-8, for the High Alpine Cup.
Highlands, a 12-year-old Bay gelding, played by Obregon and owned and bred by Santa Rita Polo Farm, was Best Playing Pony.
Aspen Valley Polo Club controlled the first three chukkers of the game with slim leads of 3-2, 5-4 and 8-7. Edmiston came alive in the fourth and final chukker. Roldan connected with Calle for a goal early in the chukker to tie the game 8-8. With 1:23 left, Roldan converted an open goal penalty-two for Edmiston's first lead of the game, 9-8. Calle scored an insurance goal with 51 seconds left.
Obregon, playing on snow for the first time, scored a team-high four goals. Bray added three and Aspen Valley Polo Club was awarded a penalty one. For Edmiston, Roldan scored a game-high seven goals, including three penalty conversions, Calle had two and Erskine added one.
In the Aspen Cup final, Hennessy Paradis (Taggart Mills, Jason Crowder, James Byrd) downed Arhaus (Britt Burtz, Vinny Sangaline, Nacho Figueras), 4-3. Mills led Hennessy Paradis with two goals and Crowder added one. The team had a one-goal handicap. Sangaline scored all three of his team's goals.
Beyonce, a 12-year-old dark bay mare, played by Burtz and owned by Santa Rita Polo Farm, was Best Playing Pony.
The two evenly-matched teams played to a 3-3 tie in regulation and tied again 2-2 after a shootout. The game was decided on a long ball shot converted by Crowder against Figueras.
Veteran umpire Gaston Dorignac also received an award for his tireless work and devotion to the game.
In the Potamkin Charity Chukker, Potamkin Black (Grant Ganzi, Geronimo Obregon, Alex Potamkin) defeated Potamkin Yellow (Billy Stolz, Stephen Alexander, Sugar Erskine), 2-1. The chukker benefitted Aspen Valley Hospital Foundation and Calaway-Young Cancer Center and honored beloved Aspen resident Robert Potamkin, the father of Melissa Ganzi, who passed away in November, 2023.
The annual tournament returned for its 12th edition bringing together locals and a Who's Who in players and VIPs from around the world to kick off the social season in the ski town. It also marked the 120th anniversary of the St. Regis brand.
Among celebrities enjoying the polo, DJ music and impressive variety of food and refreshments provided by St. Regis, were five-time Olympic snowboarder Shaun White, Kelley Jakle, Nicky Hilton Rothschild, Mauricio Imansky, Riley Keough, Rebel Wilson and Anna Kendrick.
For the 12th consecutive year, Aspen Valley Polo Club owners Melissa and Marc Ganzi hosted the world-class event which has joined St. Moritz as one of the world's top snow polo tournaments and one of Aspen's major international sporting events.
The event is one of the world's top snow polo tournaments, only snow polo tournament in North America and final stop on the 2024 World Polo Tour.
Go Rentals, the sole preferred rental car provider for the World Polo League, is also a major sponsor for the St. Regis World Polo Snow Polo Championship. The premier provider of elite vehicle rentals tailored for private aviation and luxury travel, was recently nominated for the 2024 Los Angeles Business Journal Disruptors Award signifying its approach to enhancing the travel experience and reshaping personalized service.
With a vision for the community and surrounding areas, philanthropists Marc and Melissa Ganzi resurrected the club and polo in 2014. Since then polo has increased in popularity in Aspen and surrounding cities during the summer.
The club's offerings are various weekly grass and arena tournaments, Arena & Asado Nights, Kidz Polo, Kids Wheelie Polo, Gymkhana, Christmas In July, The Polo School at AVPC and Polo On Demand. In addition, the club offers practice sessions for teams competing in the club tournaments on more than six world-class fields. There are also indoor and outdoor polo arenas. There is the Polo School for all ages and ability levels and operates in Carbondale.