The Tortugas Open, the second leg of the Triple Crown in Argentina, commenced on Tuesday October 6, following the success of La Natividad La Dolfina in the Hurlingham Open. The first winners in Tortugas were La Ensenada and Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu. After that, the contest was set to be continued on Wednesday October 7, with two Leagud B matches, on Wednesday October 7… but everything got stucked on that Tuesday. From then onwards, all was a delay after delay… and no other games were played. 

The reasons were plenty of rain, bad weather forecast, grounds that don’t dry; but the worst was about to come – on Monday October 12, it was announced that the tournament was set to resume on Tuesday October 13 (not without previous postponements). On the appointed day, with everything ready in Tortugas – horses, players, ponylines set, as well as spectators arriving to the Tortugas Country Club, a sudden rain came, and everything was cancelled again. Everybody had to go back home…

Of couse, no one is to blame for this particular climate phenomenon known as El Niño, that seems to bring some more weather drama in the next months, at least in Argentina – that means a cooler spring and unusual amount of rain. This year, the Tortugas Open showcases ten teams in participation, which makes the contest longer, one month and one day – the final is due on Saturday November 7, three days before the start of the Argentine Polo Open Championship, on Wednesday November 4 (the original day, Tuesday November 10, was changed due to the visit of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to Argentina, which will bring many closures and alterations of the traffic sorrounding Palermo, for security reasons). As we all know, the Tortugas Open always opened the Triple Crown in Argentina; and a change was decided, to start with the Hurlingham Open followed by the Tortugas Open –  was, precisely the rains; because heavy rainfalls always happened by the time of the Tortugas Open (for example, in 2001, the final had to be cancelled due to rains). Last year, the Tortugas Open was played almost normally. But this year, at a time it should be approximately mid-contest, it is stuck in the first matchdate; the continuity is still uncertain, and it is only known that “it would resume” on October 15-16.

There are still three weeks until the final in Tortugas, but the future doesn’t looks clear enough, yet – on Tuesday October 13, a sudden rainfall obliged to postpone the contest again, which means that, eventually, the grounds should dry appropiately in order to be safe enough to play, for both horses and players.

On the other side, the Tortugas Open had a history of many postponements and delays due to rains; some years ago, the semifinals and final had to be played at Palermo. And why? Because the fields weren’t safe enough to play after rain, and even after many days of sun. The most recent incident happend on October 23, 2019 – La Dolfina and Ellerstina were playing the final, on an spectacular, sunny day. Suddenly, Pelon Stirling’s mare suffered a heavy fall, with four minutes and a half in the first chukka; after that, the eight players agreed that the soil was slippery, and impossible to play. As a result, the match was postponed and rescheduled for November 14. It’s worth noting that the field had been checked the day before, and approved to play.

This is the Triple Crown in Argentina, the most important polo contest worldwide. Could these things happen? Should this be the right time for the authorities to seize the reins and meet with experts to improve the conditions of the fields at the Tortugas Country Club? OK, maybe we are journalists, and it is most likely that we ignore things that only technicians or experts know and explain much better; as we said before, no one is to blame of these climate phenomenons, but these climate factors shouldn’t damage one of the most significant tournaments in the world, in a way that must be stopped for more than a week – and this in case Tortugas resumes on October 15-16. Probably, and because it is much smaller, the fields in Tortugas are not strong enough like those in Pilar or Palermo or private clubs. And perhaps, given that the Tortugas Open is longer now with ten teams in competition, a good idea could be to play some of the league games of the Tortugas Open in Pilar or even in private clubs, that agree to host the matches, in a sort of distribution to help to preserve the good quality of the fields in Tortugas, in order to have them ready to play the semifinals and final.

At the moment, is just questions. Here, there and everywhere, there are bad weather forecasts, humitidy, black clouds; and nothing is granted with regards to the continuity, even if the sun shines.

Good ideas are welcome…