What started as a dream more than a decade ago, when a skinny teenager starting out playing low goal polo in front of a handful of friends at Grand Champions Polo Club, turned into a reality before a packed crowd at the National Polo Center.
In one of the biggest upsets in Gauntlet of Polo’s eight-year history, Dutta Corp won the prestigious C.V. Whitney Cup with a 14-9 victory over La Dolfina Scone on U.S. Polo Assn. Field One.
Playing in their first-ever Gauntlet of Polo final, unheralded Dylan Rossiter, Lucas Diaz Alberdi, Facundo Llosa, and Timmy Dutta led the entire game to stun one of the tournament favorites and 10-goaler Poroto Cambiaso.
“This is a dream come true,” said Dutta, 24. “This is many, many years in the works. To finally happen today, this is something very special. Like Diaz Alberdi said, ‘We came out here to play polo.’ I can’t believe it, it really was a dream.”
Before the celebration, trophy presentation, and champagne sprays, Dutta joined his father and mentors, Tim Dutta and Piki Diaz Alberdi, his coach and former 10-goaler, for an emotional moment after the game. The trio have shared that dream since he was 13.
“It’s been a long journey, it’s been a hard journey with lots of ups and downs,” Dutta said. “This is amazing. It’s a dream of mine, dream of my father’s and dream of everybody’s…the grooms, the teammates, the barn, the vet, the farrier. We all today made dreams come true.”
To make it to the final, Dutta Corp had to win a shootout to advance into the semifinals, and then knocked off tournament favorite Pilot with another stunning win, 16-9, in the semifinals. The team earned $25,000 for winning the first leg of the Gauntlet of Polo, America’s Triple Crown.
“You get to a finals like this, you play the best of the best horses… you double, you triple up,” said Dutta, who has played all eight Gauntlets including 2020 with Diaz Alberdi. “You have to be on your best horses as much as you can.”
Born and raised in Wellington, Dutta grew up around horses, so it was only natural he started riding at an early age. His mother, Susie, is an international Grand Prix dressage rider. His father grew up playing polo in India and owns and runs Dutta Corporation, a well-respected international transport company that flies horses around the world. Dutta picked up a mallet at age 13. He turned pro three years later playing with and against some of the world’s top players.
All four players could have been chosen as the C.V. Whitney Most Valuable Player but Rossiter, rated at six goals, got the nod. He swept MVP and Best Playing Pony honors. Mega Povinciana, played in the sixth chukker, was the USPA Best Playing Pony. Llosa’s horse Don Ercole Adelina was the Argentine Best Playing Pony. Jesse Bray earned the Sportsmanship Award.
With a disciplined team effort, Dutta Corp kept La Dolfina Scone (David Paradice, Rufi Merlos, Jesse Bray, and Cambiaso) flat-footed for most of the game. In the first half, Dutta Corp shot 100 percent (5-for-5) while not allowing La Dolfina Scone to score from the field (0-for-5) to lead 3-1, 5-1 and 8-3 in the first three chukkers. For the game, Dutta Corp shot 79 percent from the field (11-of-14) to La Dolfina Scone’s 23 percent shooting (3-of-13).
Dutta Corp started the second half with a player down. Alberdi was assessed his second yellow card of the game and had to sit out the final 30 seconds of the third chukker and 1:30 of the fourth chukker before returning. La Dolfina Scone couldn’t capitalize playing 4-on-3, missing a scoring opportunity.
La Dolfina Scone cut the lead to 8-4 in the fourth chukker but Dutta scored back-to-back goals in the final two minutes to extend the lead to 10-4. Cambiaso was held to three goals, only two from the field, all in the fifth chukker. It was the third time Cambiaso finished runner-up in the tournament.
Llosa scored a game-high seven goals and led the tournament in scoring with 31 goals. Rossiter had four goals and Dutta added two. The team was also awarded a penalty-one. Merlos led La Dolfina Scone with six goals including four penalty conversions.
“Facu is the energy,” Dutta said. “He’s amazing. I played with him a bunch in Argentina and we won a lot of tournaments together. He’s only 5-foot-5, but he thinks like he’s 6-foot-8, 230-pound MMA fighter. You give him the ball, you give him the space and you give him the cover and the guy gets the job done. When you have someone like that on the team that you believe in and that you fight for, he gets the job done.”
Scone designated its’ $2,500 charitable donation from U.S. Polo Assn to Polo For Life and Dutta Corp selected Vinceramos Therapeutic Riding Center.
Originally known as the U.S. Handicap, the C.V. Whitney Cup was established in 1979 and first competed for on handicap and played in conjunction with the U.S. Open Polo Championship at the Retama Polo Center in San Antonio, Tex. Nine years later, in 1988, the tournament was renamed for C.V. (Cornelius Vanderbilt “Sonny”) Whitney, an avid polo player and three-time winner of the U.S. Open (1928, 1937, 1938) and son of 10-goal Hall of Famer Harry Payne Whitney.
Now played as a stand-alone tournament, the C.V. Whitney Cup is the first in a series of three prestigious 22-goal tournaments hosted by the National Polo Center followed by the USPA Gold Cup and U.S. Open. The second leg of America’s Triple Crown begins Wednesday with the USPA Gold Cup and runs through March 29.
Facebook Comments