Old Pueblo Wins 12-7; Is Last Team to Reach Quarterfinals in Stanford Financial Group - 100th U.S. Open Polo Championship
April 8, 2004

WELLINGTON, Florida - Old Pueblo became the final team to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Stanford Financial Group - 100th U.S. Open Polo Championship, defeating Texas Polo 12-7 Thursday at the International Polo Club Palm Beach.

The loss eliminated Texas Polo from the tournament.

In other first-round action, 10-goaler Javier Novillo Astrada scored eight goals to lead Las Monjitas over Pony Express 10-7 and clinch first place in Division I. Pony Express and Old Pueblo finished with 2-2 records, but Pony Express placed second and Old Pueblo finished third based on their head-to-head record - Pony Express defeated Old Pueblo 11-10.

All four quarterfinals are Sunday beginning with a doubleheader at 10 a.m. when Las Monjitas plays 1997 champion Isla Carroll and 1999 runner-up Pony Express plays 2003 finalist Lechuza. White Birch, which reached the finals three times, plays Old Pueblo at noon followed by 2002 champion Bendabout (as Coca-Cola) against Catamount at 3 p.m.

After Texas Polo closed to within one at 8-7, Old Pueblo scored four consecutive goals, two by 8-goaler Jeff Hall and two by 9-goaler Matias Magrini, in the final two chukkers to break open a close game.

“The key was hitting the ball and running,” said Hall, who was a member of the 2003 champion C Spear team with Magrini. “We opened up the game. We used some of our best horses in the beginning and in the end.”

Magrini finished with a team-high five goals while 8-goaler Facundo Pieres scored four goals, all in the first half. Hall added three goals while patron John Hall, Jeff’s 55-year-old father, did not score.

Gaston Laulhe led Texas Polo (1-3) with three goals while Pepe Heguy scored two goals and patron Michael Price and Milo Araujo added one goal each.

Las Monjitas welcomed the return of 9-goaler Eduardo Novillo Astrada to the lineup after an absence of almost five weeks due to cracked ribs and a bruised lung. He scored one goal as did patron Camilo Bautista. Nacho Novillo Astrada did not score.

“I got a little tired at the end, but it was fun playing,” said Eduardo Novillo Astrada.

Las Monjitas jumped out to a 8-3 lead after four chukkers and coasted to its fourth consecutive victory. Pony Express rallied to cut the margin to two twice, the last time at 9-7 on Sapo Caset’s breakaway goal with 1:35 remaining in the game.

Caset and substitute Pablo MacDonough, who replaced an injured Alex Agote, led Pony Express (2-2) with three goals apiece. Ten-goaler Bautista Heguy added one goal and patron Bob Daniels did not score.

Thirteen teams, featuring nine 10-goalers, entered the Stanford Financial Group - U.S. Open Polo Championship, the most prestigious polo tournament in North America, highlighting the historic inaugural polo season at the International Polo Club Palm Beach. The 26-goal tournament culminates with the championship match on Sunday, April 18 at 3 p.m. Fifteen teams, in 2002, is the record for teams in a U.S. Open.

The Stanford Financial Group - U.S. Open is being 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 Stanford Financial Group - U.S. Open tournament will feature a different presenting sponsor every Sunday, including Bombardier Aerospace, Cunard Ltd. and HUMMER, Mitchell-Peck Jewelers, Piaget and Roder.

As always, there will be a delicious Sunday brunch, catered by The Breakers, open to the public preceding the featured stadium match, along with the now traditional and very popular champagne divot stomp and a post-match awards presentation.

Individual tickets for the U.S. Open tournament Sunday games range from $15 for general admission to $40 for terrace lawn seating 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 at the gate.

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