The highlight of the British season is finally here! The much anticipated final of the British Open Gold Cup, one of the Grand Slams of Polo alongside the Argentine Open and the US Open, will see Dubai and Park Place go head to head at Cowdray Park Polo Club on Sunday, July 17, at 3pm.

The final will not only see two of the most powerful organisations in British polo play for the title, but ti will also be a rematch. Dubai and Park Place met on June 30 in the league stage, with the former claiming the 17-14 victory over Park Place. The fianl will see Park Place try to redeem that loss.

Dubai, an organisation with much experience in England, has already claimed the title several times. In they tournament so far, they are undefeated, having beaten great rivals like Scone – twice, once in the league stage and again in the semifinals. Led by the indomitable Camilo “Jeta” Castagnola, Dubai, who didn’t play the British Open last year, came back in 2022 ready to take the coveted trophy once again. Dubai claimed the title for the last time in 2019 (which was the first time Jeta won the title).

“When I was in Argentina, I was really anxious, we had to take it day-by-day because I didn’t know what was going to happen, if the visa was going to be granted or not, and the polo in England was kicking off, so I had to watch it on TV,” Dubai’s Jerónimo del Carril told PoloLine. Fortunately, Jero was able to join Dubai to play the British Open Gold Cup after having missed the Queen’s Cup because he was struggling to get his working visa. “When I arrived in England, my group of people – Pato, Carpincho and Rulo – were on top of everything,” Del Carril continues. “They were warming up the horses, and Terre [Guillermo Terrera] helped me a lot, Teo Lacau and the whole Dubai organisation. They supported me from day one, as if I had been in England with them. That made me more comfortable, calmed me down and made me play better.” 

However, for the talented Jero, who, like Park Place’s Joshua Hyde, will be playing his first ever British Open final, it was not easy getting into the swing of the competitive British season after missing the Queen’s Cup. “Maybe you are nervous when you enter the field because you are kind of anxious and excited about playing,” says Del Carril. “At first I wasn’t very sharp, and that made me more nervous. But I knew I had a big support from our corner all the time.” Luckily, all the pieces came together quickly. The support of a significant figure like Lolo Castagnola was key to helping him deal with the process. “Lolo is awesome,” says Del Carril. “He gives you peace of mind, he says the right words. I was a bit nervous, anxious and reckless at the beginning, so he came to me and said: ‘take it easy, man, enjoy it, have fun’. I was able to listen to him and that helped me calm down and play better.”

Dubai reached the final undefeated, but Park Place’s story has been quite a different. They struggled in the league stage, but made it through. While Andrey Borodin’s team has already played a few finals in England, this is their first ever Gold Cup final. “This is a remarkable tournament for the organisation,” shares Facundo Pieres, who alongside Fran Elizalde (Gold Cup in 2012 with Cortium), is a key figure within the organisation. “Park Place have already played finals of the Queen’s Cup, but never played a final of the Gold Cup. We are very happy to have qualified, and will be doing our best to win, we are all working hard to reach this goal. We have the horses in the best form. We have the whole organisation at our disposal, so that’s very good for us.” 

It was a long road to the final for Park Place. In the league stage, they lost their debut games to Talandracas (they went on to beat the French team in the semifinals) and Dubai. But their performance slowly improved, and they managed to win crucial games against Twelve Oaks and Monterosso, which allowed them to qualify for the quarter final. “I guess the most important thing is that we maintained a strong confidence in ourselves,” says Pieres. “We didn’t play that well in a couple of matches, and we felt we shouldn’t have lost one of them. When that happens, your confidence can drop and you can start doubting yourself. But we never gave up; we believed in our team, and we always aimed to improve and focus on team work. The idea was always to move forward. We have a very good team, good horses, and we knew we had to wait for things to fit in, and play a bit better. We were able to win two significant games to reach the quarter finals. The team worked better; we improved with every match, and that’s what I like about Park Place. We got to the final by improving game by game, and playing better every day.”

Facundo Pieres is not stranger to the Gold Cup: He has won the title six times. The first was in 2009, with his older brother, Gonzalito, playing for La Bamba de Areco. He claimed his second British Open with Zacara in 2013, and then achieved remarkable success with King Power, winning the title three years in a row (2015, 2016 and 2017). In 2013, Zacara lineup included Matt Perry, who Pieres will face in this upcoming final. “I have a great relationship with Matt, it was a lot of fun to win this cup together,” he says. “We will now face each other, and it will be hard for me because he is playing really well. We need to find a way to make them to feel uncomfortable. Well, at least make them to feel uncomfortable during the match, then we can be friends again!”

Park Place has made several changes to its lineup over the seas0n so far. They played the Queen’s Cup with Andrey Borodin and Will Harper, who were then subbed in by rising stars Josh Hyde and Louis Hine (the latter of which is current title holder, having won the Gold Cup in 2021 with Thai Polo). Asked about what it was like playing with such young boys, Facundo, one of the best players of the world, says: “That’s the best thing about polo, you have the opportunity to play with young kids. You can always help them, give them advice and make them play better. To be able to see that process while we are playing together is really nice, you enjoy it a lot. I really love polo, but I also love all the process that leads you to win tournaments, as well as the many other things; and one of the most important things is seeing your teammates build confidence, play well, get a proper system going while they are still very young, like Josh and Louis. They are both very enthusiastic, they have a willingness to learn and improve, and I like that a lot.”

What are your feelings and expectations for the final of the Gold Cup? 

Jerónimo del Carril: I’m very happy right now, I’m really enjoying it. I’m happy for the team, for the group of people, for all the boys who work with us every day, and also happy for myself. We must prepare well to in the best possible shape to win the final.

Facundo Pieres: I don’t have any specific expectations, either to win or not to win. My only expectation is to try to play the best we can, prepare ourselves in the best possible way and have the horses in the best conditions. If we are able to achieve our aim, there will be more chances, otherwise there will be less. I mean, the final result doesn’t matter that much to me; what I really want is for everything to go the way we planned, that’s what we want to do. We look forward to winning; we are very well aware that we will play against a remarkable team. Dubai plays really well, they are unbeaten, they have won very difficult games, and they have a lot of confidence. To defeat such a team, we have to do everything very well on the field.

BRITISH OPEN POLO CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE COWDRAY GOLD CUP – FINAL – SUNDAY, JULY 17

3pm: Dubai vs. Park Place

Dubai: Rashid Albwardy 1, Matt Perry 5 , Camilo Castagnola 9, Jerónimo del Carril 7. Total: 22.

Park Place: Joshua Hyde 1, Louis Hine 4, Facundo Pieres 10, Francisco Elizalde 8. Total: 23.

ROAD TO THE FINAL

DUBAI

17-13 vs. Murus Sanctus

12-10 vs. Scone

17-14 vs. Park Place

12-10 vs. Twelve Oaks

14-11 vs. UAE (quarter final)

12-11 vs. Scone (semifinal)

PARK PLACE

10-11 vs. Talandracas

12-7 vs. Twelve Oaks

14-17 vs. Dubai

13-6 vs. Monterosso

15-11 vs. Marqués de Riscal(quarter final)

13-10 vs. Talandracas (semifinal)

DUBAI vs. PARK PLACE, WINNERS 

RASHID ALBWARDI (Winner in 2010, 2014 & 2019 with Dubai)

FRANCISCO ELIZALDE (Winner in 2012 with Cortium)

MATT PERRY (Winner in 2013 with Zacara)

FACUNDO PIERES (Winner in 2009 with La Bamba de Areco; 2012 with Zacara; 2015, 2016 & 2017 with King Power)

CAMILO CASTAGNOLA (Winner in 2019 with Dubai)

LOUIS HINE (Winner in 2021 with Thai Polo)

Both JERONIMO DEL CARRIL and JOSHUA HYDE will be playing their first ever British Open final.

British Open Polo Championship for the Cowdray Gold Cup – Fixture & Teams