Argentine 10-goaler Miguel Astrada arrives in Aspen
Having a 10-goal polo player in the Aspen Valley isn’t anything that the area hasn’t experienced before. Back in 1890 Harvey Lyle, American 10-goaler Foxhall Keene, Walter B. Devereux, his brother Horace K. Devereux and James Henry and their sons brought polo to Colorado at Glenwood Springs. The Glenwood Polo and Racing Association staged its first game that year, but it’s a whole new ball game today.
Arriving at the Aspen Valley Polo Club on Thursday will be Argentine 10-goaler Miguel Novillo Astrada. One of only seven polo players in the world rated at the ultimate 10-goal rating, Astrada was a member of Melissa Ganzi’s Flight Options team during the 20-goal and 26-goal competition at the International Polo Club in Wellington, Florida last winter.
Astounding as it might be, the Aspen Valley Polo Club, the organizers of the 2013 Piaget World Snow Polo Cup on Wagner Park in downtown Aspen, kicked off last December’s snow polo tournament with two more 10-goalers n brothers Facundo and Gonzalito Pieres, who participated in the annual event.
Gonzalito Pieres has been a member of Marc Ganzi’s Audi polo team for five years, having led the team to wins in the United States Open Championship, the USPA Piaget Gold Cup and the C. V. Whitney Cup, three trophies considered to be the pinnacle of achievement in the world of polo in this country. Facundo was also a member of the Audi team that won the US Open in 2009.
Astrada is expected to be competing in club tournaments and events throughout the balance of the summer.