Casablanca wins Maroon Bells Cup at St. Regis World Snow Polo Championship

ASPEN, Colorado, December 21, 2024 – Before a packed house, Casablanca won the Maroon Bells Cup Thursday at Rio Grande Park. Casablanca (Miles Rich, Pierre Henri Ngoumou, Grant Ganzi) defeated Petrossian (Becky Schmeits, Kevin Schmeits, Sugar Erskine), 3-1. Rich, the most improved player of the season and product of The Polo School at Wellington-based Grand Champions Polo Club, was Most Valuable Player. Rich scored all three goals in the final to add to his four goals in the semifinals.

The Maroon Bells Cup was one of four tournaments in the Regis World Snow Polo Championship lineup.

In the main event, The Agency (Grant Ganzi, Jason Crowder, Pierre Henri Ngoumou) defeated St. Regis (Tony Calle, Nacho Figueras, Alejandro Novillo Astrada), 9-7, for the coveted trophy. Ganzi was MVP. Aquamarine, a 7-year-old dark bay mare played by Rich and owned and bred by Santa Rita Polo Farm, was Best Playing Pony.

The newly-created tournament for lower-level players was competitive from the opening bowl-in. Rich scored the opening goal for a 1-0 lead. At the 1:48 mark, Becky Schmeits scored to tie the game. Late in the first chukker, Ganzi connected with Rich for his second goal and 2-1 lead. Rich scored his third goal with 37 seconds left.

In other Thursday championship finals:

Edmiston (Teo Calle, Nic Roldan, Sugar Erskine) defeated Aspen Valley Polo Club (Sarah Siegel-Magness, Jesse Bray, Geronimo Obregon), 10-8. Highlands, a 12-year-old Bay gelding, played by Obregon and owned and bred by Santa Rita Polo Farm, was Best Playing Pony.

Aspen Valley Polo Club controlled the first three chukkers of the game with slim leads of 3-2, 5-4, and 8-7. Edmiston came alive in the fourth and final chukker. Roldan connected with Calle for a goal early in the chukker to tie the game 8-8. With 1:23 left, Roldan converted an open goal penalty-two for Edmiston’s first lead of the game, 9-8. Calle scored an insurance goal with 51 seconds left.

Obregon, playing on snow for the first time, scored a team-high four goals. Bray added three, and Aspen Valley Polo Club was awarded a penalty one. For Edmiston, Roldan scored a game-high seven goals, including three penalty conversions. Calle had two, and Erskine added one.

Hennessy Paradis (Taggart Mills, Jason Crowder, James Byrd) downed Arhaus (Britt Burtz, Vinny Sangaline, Nacho Figueras), 4-3.

Mills led Hennessy Paradis with two goals, and Crowder added one. The team had a one-goal handicap. Sangaline scored all three of his team’s goals. Beyonce, a 12-year-old dark bay mare, played by Burtz and owned by Santa Rita Polo Farm, was Best Playing Pony.

The two evenly-matched teams played to a 3-3 tie in regulation and tied again 2-2 after a shootout. The game was decided on a long ball shot converted by Crowder against Figueras. Veteran umpire Gaston Dorignac also received an award for his tireless work and devotion to the game.