Pilot can now join the ranks of polo dynasties after winning its third U.S. Open.
But it wasn’t easy. After an 0-2 start, Pilot came back three weeks later to win the crown jewel of polo and third and final leg of the Gauntlet of Polo in front of a sellout crowd at National Polo Center.
Patron Curtis Pilot, King’s Academy alum Mackie Weisz, Lorenzo Chavanne, and Camilo “Jeta” Castagnola defeated BTA in its finals debut with a 15-10 victory to capture its third U.S. Open title on U.S. Polo Assn Field One.
From start-to-finish, Pilot led second-year team BTA (KC Krueger, Steve Krueger, Tommy Panelo, Nachi Viana) to win its second Gauntlet of Polo tournament and $100,000 in prize money. Pilot also won the USPA Gold Cup.
Pilot was 8-2 in the first two tournaments and won the Gold Cup. But the team struggled the first two weeks of the U.S. Open, losing to Dutta Corp, 14-12, and Coca Cola, 15-13. Pilot then turned it around, defeating Park Place, 12-9, and La Fe, 13-12. Pilot had to win a shootout just to make it into the mini-quarterfinals where it defeated DUS, 13-10. In the semifinals, Pilot avenged its earlier loss to Coca Cola, 15-5.
It was the third U.S. open title for Pilot and second for Weisz, who also won the 2022 U.S. Open with Pilot at age 19 as a 5-goaler. In seven years of playing high goal polo, Pilot has won three U.S. Opens, three Gold Cups, and one C.V. Whitney title.
“I’m seven-for-seven,” Pilot said. “It’s been an unbelievable year. The Gold Cup was amazing but this U.S. Open we lost our first two games and we were on a banana peel. We had to go to a shootout. We had all the obstacles against us. Halfway through the U.S. Open we were losing. We were ranked No. 10 out of 11 because we were 0-2.”
Teenage sensation Lorenzo Chavanne, playing only his second season of high goal with a 7-goal rating, was named Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive Gauntlet tournament. The 18-year-old scored a game-high seven goals including three 30-yard conversions. He finished as the Gauntlet of Polo’s leading scorer with 107 goals.
Chavanne also swept Best Playing Pony (BPP) honors. Open Silaba was the Argentine BPP and Open Texas was BPP of the final, both bred and owned by Chavanne. He had already earned the season’s Best String for the 2026 season and 2026 Horse of the Year with V8 Tyson. Chavanne has another string of horses waiting for him in England where he will start the season in mid-May.
“It’s amazing, I cannot believe it yet,” Chavanne said. “I’m really, really happy for all of us. It took a great effort to be here. I am super, super happy.”
Pilot dominated most of the first half, pulling away with leads of 4-1 in the first chukker, 6-2 in the second chukker and 7-2 early in the third chukker. BTA clawed its way back to trail 8-5 at halftime. BTA took advantage of a four-goal run in the third and fourth chukkers to trail 8-7.
“We had an amazing first chukker that we didn’t expect,” Chavanne said. “We knew that they would come back for sure. They have Tommy Panelo who is an amazing player. The whole team is amazing. We knew it was going to be super tough.”
BTA came within one goal two other times, 10-9 and 11-10 in the fifth before Pilot’s relentless defense and offensive attack regained momentum to score the last four goals. Pilot held 10-goaler Panelo to two goals.
“My boys are amazing,” Pilot said. “I’ve been with them a long time. I don’t think I have seen three polo players that in sync in my life. They were thinking of each other and taking care of each other. There isn’t a selfish bone in any of those boys’ bodies. They are going to go a long ways because all they care about is the team. You don’t see that a lot anymore.”
In addition to Chavanne’s seven goals, Castagnola had six and Weisz added two. Viana led BTA with four goals and was awarded a penalty-one.
In the semifinals, BTA knocked off defending champion La Dolfina Tamera, 16-10, to qualify for its first U.S. Open final appearance. KC Krueger, was one of only two women players in the 11-team tournament and would have been only the second woman in history to win the title. Sunny Hale was the first with Outback.
In partnership with USPA Global, each team selected a charity from a group of 12 non-profit organizations and were awarded $2,500 each. Pilot chose the Polo Training Foundation and BTA selected the Polo Hall of Fame Museum. KC Krueger was named Sponsor of the Year and Steve Krueger was presented the Sportsmanship Award.
The U.S. Open final will be available on multiple ESPN platforms, including ESPN2 in May. Check local listings for specific airtimes.
In the morning game, RBC defeated Marjing 14-9 to win the USPA National President’s Cup. Celestino Merlos swept MVP and Best Playing Pony with Sapo Prada.
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