Aspen Valley Polo Club Three-Peats Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships In Front Of Record Crowd; Melissa Ganzi Named MVP
Barrett Jackson's Aspen Valley Polo Club celebrate historical Three-Peat.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., November 15, 2016---Aspen Valley Polo Club made history winning its third consecutive title at the recent seventh Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships at WestWorld's Wells Fargo Private Bank Field.
No team has won the coveted Molina Cup three times until the team of Melissa Ganzi, Mike Azzaro and Ashley Busch defeated Bentley Scottsdale Monte Carlo Polo Team (Rommy Gianni, Tito Gaudenzi, Juancito Bollini), 11-8, on Saturday. Monte Carlo was making its Scottsdale debut.
Florida Circuit Governor Melissa Ganzi was named MVP. Ganzi scored four goals from the field and converted three penalty shots. Azzaro, a Hall of Famer and former 10-goaler, and Busch, brand ambassador for U.S. Polo Assn. and wife of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch, each had two goals.
In 2016, the Aspen Valley Polo Club team of Ganzi, Nic Roldan and Juancito Bollini defended its title with a 7-5 victory over Palm Beach Polo and in 2015, Roldan, Ganzi and Juan Bollini knocked off two-time reigning champion Clogau Wales, 9-5, for its first title.
In other games over the two-day event, Stella Artois St. Moritz team of Melissa Ganzi, Gaudenzi and Juan Bollini defeated the Bentley Scottsdale Clogau Wales team of Marc Ganzi, Ricky Cooper and Pete Webb, 7-6, in the Sunday featured game.
Among this year's attractions was Sunday's Battle of the Sexes: The Sunny Hale Memorial that honored the all-time greatest woman's polo player, pioneer, author and first woman to win the U.S. Open in a male-dominated sport. Hale died at age 48 in February and will be inducted into the Polo Hall of Fame on Feb. 16, 2018 in Lake Worth, Fla. The ladies representing Talking Stick Resort & Casino edged the Scottsdale Maserati men's team, 6-5.
In other weekend games, Evans Furs Polo Azteca defeated Northwestern Mutual's Santa Barbara, 8-5; Talking Stick Resort & Casino's Arizona Polo Club defeated Molina Fine Jewelers Seattle Polo Club, 7-3; and Soho Scottsdale defeated Stick & Ball in the Women's Sunset Match.
The world's greatest polo party event, which was expanded to two days since there was no Arizona Cardinals game scheduled on Sunday, broke several records including all-time attendance marks and remains the most attended polo event in North America. Among records were:
* Record attendance of 13,129 over two days.
* Sold out tents and tickets including the Molina Fine Jewelers VIP Tent, Barrett Jackson Champagne & Jazz Lounge, Sideline Parking, Premier Sideline Parking and Elite Sideline Parking.
* Seventy percent increase in ticketing and food and beverage revenue.
* Record number of vendors.
The popular event brought polo to the masses while providing a social backdrop for equestrian enthusiasts. The sport of polo was the centerpiece of extravaganza.
Several debut events were successful including the "Fried & Fizzy," pop-up restaurant featuring the culinary combination of fried chicken and champagne; performances by the Southwest Shakespeare Company, Phoenix Opera, hip-hop artist Ali Tomineek and Red Bull skydivers. The popular returning events included the Canine Couture Dog Fashion Show, world's longest Catwalk Fashion Show, and previews of the 2018 Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show and Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction.
On Saturday, seven DJ's and bands were playing at the same time throughout the venue and various tents. World Arm Wrestling champion Travis Bagent was a fan favorite taking on all challengers including Daytona 500 champion Kurt Busch. Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson and Busch threw in the first ball for each of the featured matches.
Event founder and Scottsdale public relations executive Jason Rose continues to raise the event’s bar every year since he started it in 2011.
"It could not have happened without the blue-chip roster of sponsors, partners and guests that make it all possible," Rose said. "We are grateful and appreciative. And, we are very fortunate to be in their very good company."
The event will return on the same weekend in 2018, according to Rose. His goal "is to become the biggest polo event in the world, one day surpassing the crowds even in Buenos Aires."
The biggest polo event in the United States is one of the most extravagant outdoor sports spectacles in not only Arizona but the United States and has helped increase polo's exposure and popularity.
Aspen Valley Polo Club is one of the nation’s fastest growing polo clubs and annually hosts the Dec. 14-17 World Snow Polo Championship in addition to a full summer polo schedule featuring some of the world’s top players. The club is coming off its most successful 10-week summer polo season.
Aspen Valley Polo Club is one of the busiest and nation’s fastest growing USPA-sanctioned clubs with a membership increase of 75 percent since the 2015 season.
With the Ganzi family spearheading the resurrection of polo, the sport has increased in popularity in Aspen and surrounding cities with the club’s offerings of various weekly tournaments, Gladiator Arena Polo, Kids Polo and The Polo School at the club owned by Marc and Melissa Ganzi since 2014, in addition to practice sessions for teams competing in weekend tournaments.