Have a safe and joyous holiday season!
-The San Diego Polo Team
Kimo Huddleston
San Diego Polo Club Wins Match in Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships
On Saturday, October 24th, nearly 12,500 spectators attended the Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships: Horses & Horsepower, taking in all of the sights and sounds of the “world’s most interesting polo event.” This year’s attendance set a new one-day record. Celebrating its fifth anniversary, the event featured some of the world’s best polo players. Six competitive polo teams traveled to compete in three highly-contested matches, including the San Diego Polo Club. Some of the players included top American player Nic Roldan of the Aspen Valley Polo Club, top ranked player Andres Camacho of the Arizona Polo Club, collegiate player of the year Kareem Rosser, and Wales’ top rated player Pete Webb.
The day’s festivities included more than just polo. Fans also took advantage of The Canine Couture dog fashion show, the Larsen Art Gallery LIVE Art Auction, the World’s “Longest” Catwalk Fashion Show, and a preview of the world famous Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction. It also featured ballroom dancing field side for the first time ever, as well as a Phoenix Symphony quartet performance along with play, and a High Tea Tent by The Phoenician. This year also saw the debut of the Triyar Ivy League Lounge, packed throughout the entire day with over 1,000 people dancing and drinking in a nightclub like atmosphere.
The first match on Saturday began at 11:00 AM with Barrett-Jackson Automobile Auction Company Chairman and CEO Craig Jackson making the first drop in the match between Polo Azteca and Club Polo Cabo, presented by One & Only Palmilla of Los Cabos, Mexico. In that match, Club Polo Cabo beat Polo Azteca, 9-8, and was led by the play of team founder and San Diego Polo Club member, Tony Yahyai.
In the match that followed, local favorite Arizona Polo Club took on rival San Diego Polo Club. Six-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Amy Van Dyken made the first drop to get the exciting match started. Despite the tremendous play of Andres Camacho in the match’s second half, San Diego Polo Club beat Arizona Polo Club by a score of 9-3. San Diego Polo Club’s first half lead proved too much for Arizona Polo Club to overcome. Alvaro Tadeo led San Diego as he executed both offensively and defensively.
The Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships’ Featured Match presented fans an opportunity to witness two of the world’s best polo teams face off against one another. Defending champion Clogau Wales Polo Team, featuring players Ricky Cooper, Pete Webb, and Roddy Matthews, faced Aspen Valley Club, led by Nic Roldan, Melissa Ganzi, and Juan Bollini. The Phoenix Suns’ Tyson Chandler, an NBA Champion and Olympic gold medalist, provided the first drop for the day’s most thrilling match. From the start, Aspen Valley dominated their counterparts and won 9-5 to be crowned the new champions of the Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships. Roldan scored six of Aspen Valley’s nine goals.
In one of the most unique elements of the day, the Phoenix Symphony provided the musical backdrop to one of the featured match’s chukkers. Fans were regaled with classical music all while witnessing the two teams take on one another.
“Even though we weren’t able to defend our title, the Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships have become one of my favorite polo events to compete in,” said Clogau Wales Polo Team captain Ricky Cooper. “It was a great crowd and we enjoyed ourselves fully.”
5th Annual Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships: Horses & Horsepower
The The Fifth Annual Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships: Horses & Horsepower returns bigger, badder and better than ever, and is less than two weeks away! Last year the Scottsdale Polo Championships drew the biggest crowd in the country for a two-day polo event with over 12,000 fans, enjoying the four-match showdown at the annual Polo Party.
On Saturday, October 24th at the WestWorld of Scottsdale, our players from San Diego, including Tony Yahyai, Tracee Brunetti, Alvaro Tadeo and Kimo Huddleston will be playing in front of the thousands of specators. At 11:00am, catch Tony Yahyai and his team Club Cabo take on Polo Azteca.
Make sure to catch the San Diego Polo Club in action as Tracee Brunetti, Kimo Huddleston, and Alvaro Tadeo take on the Arizona Polo Club at 1:00pm. At 3:00pm, the reigning champions, the Clogau Wales Polo Team vs. Aspen Valley Polo Club, with SDPC friends Melissa Ganzi and Nic Roldan. A Polo Clinic by some of the Valley’s top professional players will follow.
This year, attendees are in for a treat with sneak previews of the 2016 Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show and Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction along with local car clubs lining the field, Larsen Gallery’s LIVE Fine & Contemporary Art Auction and the Phoenix Symphony!
Nearly 15,000 people are expected to attend this year’s event! For a full schedule of the day’s festivities, please click here.
Tickets for the matches and other festivities can be purchased here.
We look forward to seeing you in Scottsdale!
USPA Rossmore Cup Finals & White Party to benefit the San Diego Film Foundation
The San Diego Polo Club hosted its USPA Rossmore on September 6, with its annual White Party to benefit the San Diego Film Foundation. The San Diego Film Foundation is an educational, 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization that produces the annual San Diego Film Festival and hosts year-round, cinema-related events to foster and promote the film community in San Diego.
Guests entered the gates modeling their white ensembles. Before taking their seats, guests strolled around the venue, taking a look at our vendors including Buzz Box cocktails, JL Rocha leather goods, and Roast Coach.
For a quick (and fun) recap, watch the USPA Rossmore Cup & White Party Video below.
Patrons enjoyed an intermission show of Brazilian Drumming/Dancing as they celebrated Brazilian Independence Day.
Sacha Boutros de Cázares had the pleasure of singing the national anthem. San Diego native, Sacha, has gone from gigging at a few San Diego clubs and U.S. festivals to touring the world and back, to having her recordings hit the top of the charts in Japan and on emusic, to even receiving a Grammy nod for best jazz and Latin jazz album in 2008 and 2013.
The feature match of the day began at 3:00pm between Twin Palms/Roseville Motors in blue and Pasion sporting the day’s theme of white. Merridee Books, Vice President of Development of The San Diego Film Foundation had the honors of doing the first ball throw-in.
The first chukker concluded with two goals from Graham Bray and Chris Maloney for Twins Palms/Roseville Motors. In Chukker Two, Kimo Huddleston and Diego Velarde each scored a goal for Pasion.
Chukker Three left the game tied with one more goal from Patrick Uretz representing Twin Palms/Roseville Motors and another goal from Diego Velarde representing Pasion.
With the score at 3-3, the teams entered the fourth chukker. Uretz, Bray, and Maloney scored three goals for Twin Palms/Roseville Motors and Velarde scored once more for Pasion.
In the 5th chukker, Bray took a hard bump from the opposing team, knocking both him and his horse on to the ground. The horse rolled on top of Bray before running back to the tie rails. Bray sat on the field for some time and while his fellow players told him to take it easy and sit out for the remainder of the game, Bray pushed them aside, wiped off the blood and mounted up. In the final two chukkers, Bray played his hardest.
By the sixth chukker the score was 8-7 with Twin Palms/Roseville Motors in the lead. Diego Velarde scored two more goals for Pasion. Maloney and Bray together scored three goals in the final chukker leaving the final score at 11-9, Twin Palms/Roseville Motors.
Alice Collins presented Chris Maloney with the Best Playing Pony Award for his horse Pulona.
USPA’s Mike Uretz presented the winning team with awards. Eric Hammon, Patrick Uretz, Graham Bray and Chris Maloney.
Needless to say, Graham Bray won the Most Valuable Player Award. He’s one of the most skilled horsemen in the sport and one of the toughest guys on the field.
Opening Day Exceeds Expectations
Opening Day at the San Diego Polo Club has evolved into one of San Diego’s signature events, where people flock to the fields for thrilling polo, champagne, divot stomping and an incredible fashion scene. On Sunday, May 31, 2015, the San Diego Polo Club celebrated the kick-off of their 29th season in Rancho Santa Fe and 109th anniversary of polo in San Diego with a crowd exceeding 4,000, all to benefit local charity, Wounded Warrior Homes.
One of the day’s most captured moments was at the entrance of the venue. The team at SDPC worked with local artists to build a wall made with recycled wood, succulents and plants arched with the letters “SD Polo”. Guests of all shapes and sizes posed in front of the SD Polo Wall. To see your photos, visit our Facebook Page.
As an added feature, this year’s Opening Day showcased Southern California’s Food Truck Challenge and 3rd Annual Hot Rods for Heroes, a car and food truck competition. Over 100 hot rod cars, vintage autos and motorcycles were on display for everyone to peruse. Guests sampled food from the competing food trucks and tasted beers from San Diego’s finest craft breweries, including Ballast Point, Belching Beaver and Left Coast Brewing.
The day started off with a game between Luna Polo (Virgil Kyle A, Jennifer Alexy A, Topo Mendez 2, Diego Lareggli 2) and San Fernando/San Judas (Roberto Estudillo A, Ramon Richard B.5, Francisco Guiquazu 3, Sam Sheike 1). Francisco Guiquazu scored the first goal on the afternoon and two total in the first chukker for San Fernando/San Judas and Topo Mendez shot one in for Luna Polo.
In the second chukker, Jennifer Alexy, Topo Mendez and Diego Larregli all scored for Luna Polo, bringing the score 4 to 2 at half time.
Diego Larregli came back strong with two goals in the third chukker and one in the fourth, bringing Luna Polo up to 7 goals. Francisco Guiquazu scored twice more for San Fernando/San Judas, but it wasn’t enough to take the win.
Sempra Energy’s Executive Vice President, Jessie J. Knight congratulated Luna Polo on their win on the trophy deck. Jessie J. Knight is chairman of San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (SDG&E); chairman of Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas), an affiliate of SDG&E; and executive vice president of external affairs for Sempra Energy. Jessie Knight was Mayor Faulconer’s chief aide when he was a City Council member and is also currently heading Mayor Faulconer’s new Chargers Stadium Task Force.
After the first match, guests stomped the divots that were kicked up by the horses and sipped champagne! Among the stylish polo crowd were polo players, celebrities, entrepreneurs and scientists alike. Scott Eastwood, son of Clint, is currently filming 3 major motion pictures and just starred in The Longest Ride, but he found time to stomp divots and watch polo with friends.
Guests in the VIP tent enjoyed complimentary Woodford Reserve tasters and mini-cocktails with the Kentucky bourbon and lemonade, our favorite way to enjoy the liquor.
A 1954 Bentley Mark VI Sedanca Custom owned by David Young of San Diego led the parade of teams for the featured match. The car is fully restored and the only one of its kind in existence today. He drove alongside J. Craig Venter’s 1963 vintage Jaguar XKE.
Genomics entrepreneur and one of Time Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential People in the World, J. Craig Venter pitched the first ball into play Sunday for the San Diego Polo Club’s Opening Day featured match. Venter is a biologist renowned for his contributions in sequencing the human genome and creating the first synthetic bacterial cell. He is founder and CEO of the J. Craig Venter Institute, co-founder and executive chairman of Synthetic Genomics Inc and co-founder and CEO of Human Longevity Inc. His new privately held company is focused on extending the healthy, high performance of the human life span. He’s been called one of the most influential scientists of our time. He is a proud graduate of UCSD, an avid sailor and a award winning rare car collector.
The 3:00pm match featured Team Von Fuerstenberg (Stephan Goss B, Nour-Dean Anakar A.5, Nicole DeBurg B, David Samaniego A.5, Diego Cossio 3) vs. Adeptus/La Pasion (Tracee Brunetti B, Colleen Wilson A, Ashton Wolf 3, Kimo Huddleston 2). Co-owner of Team Von Fuerstenberg, Stephan Goss had the first two goals on the afternoon, which set the tone for the remainder of the day.
Diego Cossio scored another for their team, bringing the score 3 to 0 at half time. In the third chukker, Cossio scored again, but Kimo Huddleston retaliated by putting two in for Adeptus/La Pasion.
Tracee Brunetti also scored one for their team in the fourth chukker. Final score was 4 to 3, Team Von Fuerstenberg.
It was a sweet win for the underdogs and new polo players, Nicole DeBurg and Stephan Goss of Team Von Fuerstenberg. Nicole is known as the COO of the J. Craig Venter Institute, as well as past CFO of the San Diego Housing Commission. Goss, 27 year old CEO of Zeeto Media— San Diego’s fastest growing sustainable internet marketing company– was lucky enough to celebrate his first win at the San Diego Polo Club on Opening Day in front of the massive crowd. Founding Member and Vice President of the San Diego Polo Club, Nour-Dean Anakar has volunteered countless hours to SDPC and deserved the win more than anyone else. Team Von Fuerstenberg couldn’t have been happier.
Publisher of Riviera Magazine, Ken St. Pierre presented both teams with gift bags on the trophy deck.
Esteemed member of OC Polo and the USPA and CEO of Leisure Society, Shane Baum presented the winners with umbrellas and gifted the MVP, Diego Cossio, with a pair of luxury sunglasses. Leisure Society is an eyewear brand created by Mr. Baum as an extension of his perspective on what life should be: spending time with family, friends, and enjoying intimate moments of absolute leisure.
Craig Venter presented Leo, owned by Colleen Wilson of Adeptus Nutrition, with the Best Playing Pony award- carrots!
Guests enjoyed the 7th Chukker After Party presented by Riviera Magazine with beats by DJ Here.
Grand Prix training at the San Diego Polo Club
Jesse Bray and Uakea “Buddha” Huddleston training for the 2014 Grand Prix. Good luck, guys! 😉
2nd Annual Aloha Sunday
Join us as we kick off our second half of the 2013 Polo Season with Aloha Sunday. We are partnering with ilovemusubi.com for this island inspired Sunday. The Wild Thyme Catering Company and Chef Dawn Parks will be putting together a special menu consisting of Hawaiian specialty items like Loco Moco, Pineapple Pig with Coconut Rice and Ahi Poke. We’ll have fresh plumeria lei, shave ice and hip shaking island jams from Kieljhon of Ezzrah.
Pavilion tickets and General Admission tickets are still available online: sandiegopolo.ticketleap.com
Meet Kimo Huddleston
We swung by Kimo’s barn and found him with his two daughters, Hi’ilawe and Ilihia, jamming to some Hawaiian tunes and cleaning his horse stalls.
Kimo, tell us how you got here.
Well, it starts with Steph (my wife). We met in Oahu at a polo match. She came to watch and we just started talking. One day we went riding and when she fell off and got back on, I knew she was the one. We got married, moved to the big island and had 2 girls, Hi’ilawe and Iliha. Steph became a nurse and wanted to move to San Diego to take care of her family. Playing polo in San Diego seemed like a great opportunity so she didn’t have to ask twice.
How long have you played here and where else have you played?
I’ve been here for four years. My family is here, so we don’t move around (like most players). I’ve played in San Diego, Indio and Oregon.
How long have you been teaching at our Polo School?
This is my third season.
How did you get involved in the Polo School?
I started teaching private lessons in my spare time and it just developed from there. I started teaching intermediate lessons and just this past year, beginner lessons. I actually like the beginner lessons better because the players don’t know much and are better students. I go crazy when someone has taken 3 lessons and they think they know everything. I want to knock them around. I’ve been playing for 30 years and they think they know more than me. I love teaching and helping people who want to learn.
So, what do you do to relax?
I can’t. Well, maybe with a golf club.
What do you mean, golf?
Yea. I was going to come to San Diego to either play polo or golf. I won a $700 bet a few years ago on the Encinitas golf course. I guess the full sleeve of tattoos threw the guy off.
That’s pretty funny. Switching gears here, how do you find help?
Well, Hi’ilawe (his eldest daughter) helps me groom. She needed money and something to do over the summer. I figure I have to pay someone, it might as well be my kid.
What about finding a horse? What is the process involved?
Once you put out the word at the barn, they (horse breeders and trainers) come out of the woodwork. Everyone is different with how they choose horses. I look for one a good size and good tempermant. I don’t care if it’s ugly, it has to be good. And it’ll look good playing. Then you stick and ball with it a bit, try it out in practice chukkers, see how it handles and then make a deal.
Does that usually take a few weeks?
Yea. If it takes longer than that, you’re not going to buy it.
That makes sense. Do all of your horses have Hawaiian names?
Yep. Hula Girl, Shakalaka, Onolicious, Big Mama… I actually have a funny story about Big Mama. I was playing her in a game and this larger woman was on the opposing team. The woman came ripping right past me and Big Mama wanted to go fast too, but I said, “easy Big Mama, easy.” The heavier woman came up to me after the game and told me it wasn’t very nice that I commented on her weight. Everyone laughed and I explained the horse’s name was Big Momma.
Oh no. Big Momma sounds like a trouble-maker. Tell us Kimo, what does the future hold for you?
I was meant to play sports, so I’ll keep playing polo for as long as I can. Then retire and play golf!
Surf Cup & Hat Day!
It was another exciting afternoon at San Diego Polo Club as crowds gathered for the annual Surf Cup.
In the first match, Kimo Huddleston (4) of Monteverde/Southwind had a stellar performance, surprising onlookers with a breakaway after a knock in, trapping an air ball and sailing it though the goal about 40-60 yards out. With just 10 seconds left in the 2nd chuckker, his resulting goal tied the game at 4 to 4.
Miguel Gutierrez of team Hanalei Bay/Adeptus broke a quiet streak, scoring 3 goals in the match. And Mariano Fassetta racked up 4 more goals in the second half to ultimately take his team to the trophy deck.
Alvaro Tadeo, at a diminutive 5’8” compensated for his stature with aggressive action on the field. He scored 2 goals for team Monteverde/Southwind but it wasn’t enough to win the match – the team was outscored by team Hanalei Bay/Adeptus who came out on top, 10 to 8.
During intermission, Del Mar Hat Company produced a fun fashion show celebrating Hat Day at the San Diego Polo Club. Models showed off hats big and small, just in time for the Race Season!
In the feature match, Tritech/La Pasion thought they had it in the bag during the first half of the game, winning 8 to 1 over San Judas/San Fernando. But San Judas/San Fernando gave Tritech/La Pasion a run for their money in the final chukkers. Ramon Richard and Roberto Estudillo scored 3 goals each.
Tracee Brunetti earned the ball well and scored 4 goals for team Tritech/La Pasion who won the match 12 to 8.
Guests mingled with the players during the Polo After Party and listened to the Bill Magee Blues Band.
The “Late Nite After Party” was held at Paradise Grille and sponsored by Mogl.