Deauville: the pinnacle of the French season
© R&B Presse/P.Renauldon
A benchmark tournament on the polo planet, Deauville is accustomed to welcoming some of the world’s best players for the Lucien Barrière Gold Cup. The guarantee of a great show.
It’s been going on for over half a century: all the big names in world polo come to Deauville for the Lucien Barrière Polo Cup. The Coupe d’Or is one of the trophies that these great players are determined to win. This year, four names stand out from an already exceptional field: two former Argentine Champions and 10-handicap players, Lucas Monteverde and Milo Fernandez, one of the most gifted players of the rising generation, Hilario Ulloa, currently a 9-handicap player, but a potential 10, and Pancho Bensadon, an 8-handicap player who, for the last 3 years, has qualified his Allegria team in Palermo for the Argentine Open.
In Deauville, Pancho will play alongside Hilario Ulloa in the Royal Barrière team, while Milo Fernandez Araujo will help Lucas Monteverde and Talandracas retain the Coupe d’Or. Alongside these two “big guns”, three other strong teams will be putting up a vigorous fight, starting – and this is a first – with a team made up entirely of professional players, sponsored by an Indian patron.
Polo de Deauville, the team so dear to its player president, Alexandre Sztarkman, will be looking to repeat the feat of last year, when the team, led by handicap 7 Dario Musso, managed to reach the final for the first time in its history after eliminating In The Wings and Bautista Heguy.
Spirit of polo
Beyond the sporting aspect and the language undoubtedly aimed at specialists, polo in Deauville is a privileged and aesthetic moment that the public can share (free of charge on weekdays). It’s a fascinating spectacle, and the atmosphere in this seaside resort is punctuated by horses: racing horses, of course, as meetings are held at the two racecourses in August, but also polo horses. The “caravan” is set up for a month at the heart of the Touques racecourse, bringing with it an Argentinean atmosphere and a completely different approach to horses. Those who get up early will be surprised, as they stroll along the beach, by the batch training of the athletes who will play in the afternoon: a single petisero (the groom) can thus walk up to eight horses with his two hands alone for an energetic “jog”. A spectacle in itself. Other touches of Argentina brighten up the Normandy summer: traditional outfits with gigantic boina (berets: many Argentines, like Pancho Bensadon who only leaves his for his helmet, are descendants of Basques), asado (sheep barbecue) improvised or not, the inevitable maté and that raucous Spaniard so unacademic but so glued to the polo shirt. The players will parade through the streets of Deauville on August 5.
© R&B Presse/P.Renauldon
Polo for all
With the aim of bringing this fascinating sport to as many people as possible, Deauville Polo welcomes the public free of charge EVERY AFTERNOON on weekdays (admission charged at weekends): a village where you can discover Argentine products or meet up for a drink at the polo bar. All matches are commented on with expertise, competence and humor by a speaker who knows how to make polo perfectly understandable. Certain events are scheduled on certain days (see www.polodedeauville.com)… In August, Deauville is the place to discover polo, and nowhere else.
Intense polo
In short, the show is on and around the cancha (polo field), and this Lucien Barrière Polo Cup is a not-to-be-missed event in the life of Deauville, whether you know polo or not.
The entire month of August is punctuated by two or three daily matches, as the prestigious Coupe d’Or is preceded by the Coupe d’Argent (Talandracas and Lucas Monteverde will be competing) and the 1st Beauty Cup (women’s matches with Argentina’s No.1, Lia Salvo), and accompanied by the Coupe de Bronze with teams of a lesser level, but showcasing young French professionals.
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