100th U.S. Open Championship Begins Wednesday With Triple Header
March 22, 2004

WELLINGTON, FL - The historic Stanford Financial Group - 100th U.S. Open Polo Championship begins with its own version of March Madness - a tripleheader on Wednesday at International Polo Club Palm Beach.

The opening game of the 26-goal tournament features 15-time champion Memo Gracida leading Isla Carroll, the 1997 champion, against Orchard Hill at 10 a.m. Steve Van Andel’s Orchard Hill, led by 10-goaler Eduardo Heguy, reached the U.S. Open final in 2002 and 2001. The 47-year-old Gracida, who was elected into the Polo Hall of Fame in 1997, won his U.S. Open title in 1977. The last time he won was 1997.

At noon, Pony Express, with 10-goaler Bautista Heguy making his first appearance of the season, plays Old Pueblo and its young guns of 24-year-old Jeff Hall, 17-year-old Facundo Pieres and 21-year-old Nicolas Roldan.

At 3 p.m., Millarville, a team of four pros led by steady 8-goaler Mariano Gonzalez, faces Las Monjitas, led by the brother combination of 10-goaler Javier Novillo Astrada and 7-goaler Nacho Novillo Astrada. Another brother, 9-goaler Eduardo Novillo Astrada, will not play as he is recovering from cracked ribs and a bruised lung suffered on March 7. He is hoping to play in another week to 10 days.

Thirteen teams, featuring nine 10-goalers, have entered the Stanford Financial Group - 100th U.S. Open Polo Championship, the most prestigious polo tournament in North America. The championship match is scheduled for Sunday, April 18 at 3 p.m. Fifteen teams, in 2002, is the record for teams in a U.S. Open.

Ten-goalers (the sport’s maximum rating) scheduled to play in the tournament are Mariano Aguerre (White Birch), Javier Novillo Astrada (Las Monjitas), Miguel Novillo Astrada (Bendabout), Mike Azzaro (Catamount), Bautista Heguy (Pony Express), Eduardo Heguy (Orchard Hill), Pite Merlos (Lechuza Caracas), Sebastian Merlos (Lechuza Caracas) and Adam Snow (Bendabout).

Two teams - Bendabout and Lechuza Caracas - have a pair of 10-goalers on their rosters. American Adam Snow and Argentine Miguel Novillo Astrada again form the nucleus for Gillian Johnston’s Coca-Cola team (now Bendabout) that won the 2002 U.S. Open championship. Brothers Pite and Sebastian Merlos of Argentina will patrol the middle for Victor Vargas’ Lechuza Caracas, a team that reached the final in 2003. The Merlos’ won the U.S. Open as teammates on Escue in 1998 and Les Diables Bleus in 1990.

The Stanford Financial Group - U.S. Open will be played on the International Polo Club Palm Beach’s five world-class Bermuda-grass playing fields and teams will also take advantage of the many private fields in Wellington.

The Houston-based Stanford Financial Group, a privately-held global network of affiliated companies, has signed on as the title sponsor of the 100th U.S. Open Polo Championship in 2004. Stanford’s family of companies provides international private banking, trust and brokerage services and real estate development. Currently, the Stanford organization manages in excess of $17 billion in deposits and assets, serving clients on six continents. The success of the group is the result of entrepreneurial spirit and drive spearheaded by third generation Chairman and CEO R. Allen Stanford.

Like the high-goal teams on the field, the International Polo Club Palm Beach has amassed a lineup of prestigious sponsors for the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open tournament will feature a different presenting sponsor every Sunday, including Bombardier Aerospace, Cunard Ltd. and HUMMER.

As always, there will be a delicious Sunday brunch preceding the featured stadium match, catered by The Breakers, the now traditional and very popular champagne divot stomp and an awards presentation.

Individual tickets for the U.S. Open tournament range from $15 for general admission to $120 for tailgating spots and are available in advance. For ticket information for the U.S. Open, please call the club at (561) 204-5687 or visit online at www.internationalpoloclub.com. Tickets are also available on the day of the game.

The International Polo Club Palm Beach is located at 3667 120th Avenue South, between Pierson Road and Lake Worth Road, in Wellington.