tournament report
DUKE OF WELLINGTON TROPHY
MAIZ DULCE FIND SWEETNESS IN VICTORY
The Hon Eleanor Wellesley presents the Duke of Wellington Trophy to Lottie Lamacraft of the winning Maiz Dulce team
Peter Barfoot ’ s Maiz Dulce team headed back to Cowdray Park Polo Club with one of Guards Polo Club ’ s most prestigious prizes – the Duke of Wellington Trophy . Sadly , the Chairman of the Sussex Club was unable to be part of this victory as he was recovering from a serious polo fall , but Lottie Lamacraft proved an excellent substitute in this final .
Maiz Dulce , one of 14 teams which had entered this Victor Ludorum-qualifying tournament , snatched an 8-7 victory over Mo Sheikh ’ s BHC in a tight game . BHC had the upper hand in the early chukkas , thanks to goals from Ralph Richardson and Dirk van Reenan , giving BHC a two-goal advantage ( 4-2 ) at half-time . Maiz Dulce failed to score at all in this chukka and it looked as if BHC patron Mo Sheikh could well be adding his name once again to this trophy – a feat he achieved in 2009 .
But Maiz Dulce came out fighting in the third . Glen Sherriff , later named Polo Magazine ’ s Most Valuable Player , successfully converted a couple of penalties and shot through a field goal , while teammate Tomas Hunt scored too . Brothers Jack and Ralph Richardson kept BHC in contention with a couple of goals , but this was an open game .
Hunt scored first in the final chukka , giving Maiz the lead for the first time since the first chukka , only for Jack Richardson to produce a great run up the field to score . Sherriff responded with a fabulous , angled shot for Hunt to score the winning goal .
Jack Richardson received the Polo Times Best Playing Pony Prize for his own Nobu , a nine-year-old thoroughbred mare . The Hon Eleanor Wellesley , granddaughter of the 8th Duke of Wellington , after whom the trophy is named , presented the prizes , accompanied by her father Lord Christopher Wellesley .
Earlier in the day Emma McCarthy led her father Clinton ’ s Emlor C team to victory in the sub final . They defeated Elio Leoni-Sceti ’ s Il Sole 6-5 in another close game . The final goal of the game came off the stick of Manuel Fernandez-Llorente when the scores were reading 5-5 .
In a change of format for 2016 , Guards Polo Club introduced the Polo Manager ’ s Trophy for those teams that were knocked out at in the league stages . This saw a win for Mats Ottosson Cederflycht ’ s La Rosada , defeating Chris Bruckner ’ s Asian Art 6-4 . Asian Art were up 3-1 up at halftime , but La Rosada found their form in second half , scoring five goals to only one in reply from Asian Art .
Maiz Dulce : Lottie Lamacraft ( 0 ); Jack Berner ( 2 ); Glen Sherriff ( 5 ); Tomas Hunt ( 5 ). BHC : Mo Sheikh ( 0 ); Ralph Richardson ( 2 ); Dirk van Reenan ( 4 ); Jack Richardson ( 6 ). Emlor C : Emma McCarthy ( 0 ); Edward Morris-Lowe ( 2 ); Henry Fisher ( 4 ); Manuel Fernandez Llorente ( 6 ). Il Sole : Segundo Daarritchon ( -1 ); Jonny Good ( 4 ); Chris Hyde ( 6 ); Tomas Palacios-Bacque ( 3 ). La Rosada : Mats Ottosson Cederflycht ( 0 ); Jonny Coddington ( 3 ); Pedro Harrison ( 4 ); Nico Fontanarrosa ( 5 ). Asian Art : Ned Hine ( -1 ); Chris Bruckner ( 0 ); Paco O ’ Dwyer ( 6 ); Marcos Araya ( 7 ).
198 guards polo club official yearbook 2017