USPA GOLD CUP®

USPA Gold Cup®

Tournament History

The USPA Gold Cup® is the second 22-goal tournament of the Florida high-goal season and the second leg of the GAUNTLET OF POLO®. Established in 1974 at Oak Brook Polo Club in Oak Brook, Illinois, in its first edition it featured four teams. Inaugural winners Milwaukee (Tom Hughes, Tommy Wayman, Joe Barry, Robert Uihlein III) bested Houston 9-8, with a thrilling overtime victory. Wayman scored the golden goal three minutes into the sudden death chukker. The following year, the USPA Gold Cup® was moved to Milwaukee Polo Club where it was played from 1975 to 1978. In 1979 it moved to Florida and became the crown jewel of the winter season. In its heyday at the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club, during the 80s and early 90s, the USPA Gold Cup® was the tournament to win, attracting anywhere from 11 to 20 teams.

After a 17-year stretch at the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club, the tournament was hosted by several clubs over the years including Royal Palm Polo Club (Boca Raton, Florida), Greenwich Polo Club (Greenwich, Connecticut) and New Bridge Polo & Country Club (Aiken, South Carolina), before landing at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida, where it has remained since 2007.

In 2015 Audi defeated Orchard Hill 16-15 in the highest-scoring final in USPA Gold Cup® history. Notable contemporary winners include Valiente (2018, 2017, 2014, 2013, 2012), Audi (2015, 2011) and Crab Orchard (2010, 2007). White Birch holds the all-time record wins with 12 titles spanning three decades. Record wins by an individual player is held by 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso with 14 total victories beginning in 1991 and including his most recent win in 2018 with Valiente.

In 2019, Pilot outwitted their opponents one by one in bracket play, landing themselves in the final to face Aspen. With tensions high and the chance to knock off the prospective GAUNTLET Champions, the game came all the way down to the wire forcing an overtime chukker. Pilot managed to seal yet another title and an additional $125,000, narrowly preserving their undefeated streak 12-11. History was made during the inaugural GAUNTLET OF POLO® in 2019, when Pilot captured all three events to win the $500,000 bonus and earn $1 million over the course of the series. The 2020 USPA Gold Cup® was postponed on March 17, 2020, due to rising health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic and was unable to be completed in 2020, but the semifinals were rescheduled in 2021, with La Indiana and Daily Racing Form advancing into the final. The only team to defeat GAUNTLET champions Pilot, La Indiana built a seven-goal lead in the first half to hold on for the 14-9 victory and claim the $100,000 prize.

In the 2021 edition, nine teams are competing for the second leg of the GAUNTLET OF POLO® including defending champions La Indiana (Nico Escobar, Jeff Hall, Polito Pieres, Michael Bickford). Challenging them will be 2021 C.V. Whitney Cup® finalists Scone (David Paradice, Poroto Cambiaso, Peke Gonzalez, Adolfo Cambiaso), who has handed them their only loss in 2021, along with Park Place (Andrey Borodin, Juan Britos, Hilario Ulloa, Matt Coppola). The 10-goalers competing this year include Cambiaso (Scone), Sapo Caset (Tonkawa), Facundo and Gonzalito Pieres (Pilot), Polito Pieres (La Indiana) and Hilario Ulloa (Park Place). The winner of the USPA Gold Cup® will receive $100,000 in prize money while the runners-up receive $25,000. In partnership with USPA Global Licensing, each of the teams will select a charity of their choice from 10 non-profits and both charities of the winner and runners-up will receive a $5,000 donation. Showcasing many young and talented polo players, the competition includes active Team USPA Members Peke Gonzalez, Keko Magrini, Nico Escobar and Timmy Dutta and graduating members Jared Zenni, Cody Ellis and Matt Coppola. Click here to learn more about the GAUNTLET OF POLO®.

2021 USPA Gold Cup Champions: Scone - David Paradice, Poroto Cambiaso, Mariano 'Peke' Gonzalez, Adolfo Cambiaso. ©David Lominska