The culmination of the inaugural season of Gladiator Polo will hit its pinnacle Saturday, April 8 at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center’s Equestrian Village site at 13500 South Shore Blvd. in Wellington.
The gates to the “Coliseum” will open at 7 p.m. The two teams that rose to the top, Spartacus (Jason Crowder, Felipe Viana and Tommy Biddle) and Spiculus (Pelon Escapite, Juan Martin Zubia and Sebastian Merlos), will battle it out at 8 p.m. for the new arena polo league’s first championship.
Spartacus’ sponsor, Carol Sollak of Engel & Völkers, is proud of her team. “They have played amazingly,” she said. “I’m very excited about the final.”
Don Graves, vice president of Marshall & Sterling Insurance and director of the Equisport Division, sponsor of Team Spiculus, is equally enthused about Saturday’s final match.
“Gladiator Polo is something we have not seen before,” he said. “Anything that brings the community out to see a horse event, whether it is dressage, hunter-jumper, grand prix jumping or polo, it’s all good.”
After six fierce competitions, $50,000 in prize money is on the line for the victors of the finale of the $250,000 Gladiator Polo series presented by U.S. Polo Assn.
The tournament began with four teams ranked between 23 and 26 goals, making the series among the top arena polo matches in history. Teams Priscus (Facundo Obregon, Nic Roldan and Julio Arellano), sponsored by Richard Schechter and Bainbridge Companies, and Crixus (Matias Magrini, Santi Torres and Mike Azzaro), sponsored by U.S. Trust Bank of America Private Wealth Management, gave it a valiant effort, but fell to their Coliseum competitors.
“We wanted to create a concept that will re-energize polo in this country and ultimately bring new participants, spectators and sponsors into the sport,” said Mark Bellissimo, CEO of the International Polo Club Palm Beach, as well as managing partner of Wellington Equestrian Partners, which also owns the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center.
As the gates open, and the community enters the Coliseum, there will be plenty of family-friendly fun, food and music, including the opportunity to experience the polo and equestrian simulators. For $40, VIP seating and an Argentinian asado dinner are available. After the game is a public after-party at the “Lion’s Den” with music by DJ Maximus, offering drinks, dancing and the opportunity to meet and mingle with the polo players.
“It’s a great night out for the family,” Bellissimo said. “I think it’s going to be an action-packed event. The two best teams are squaring off. I’m confident that it’s going to be a great game. For people who have never seen polo, or want to get an introduction to some really fast-paced, high-energy polo, this is the place to be.”
Gladiator Polo is modeled on arena polo, which is played indoors. The field is a fairly small 300 feet by 150 feet, compared with the 10-acre field that grass polo is played on. As a result of the smaller confines, the game’s pace is faster. The ball is also larger than the hard, plastic ball used for field polo. The teams are smaller as well; rather than four players, there are three. With six 5-minute chukkers, the crowd has an up-close-and-personal polo experience.
On the field, players wear colorful jerseys sponsored and crafted by Horseware Ireland.
Biddle, a legendary arena polo player, is excited for the final showdown.
“For me, Gladiator Polo is the second-best thing to representing my country,” he said. “I am really excited to be part of the first final, because this event is doing great things for the sport of arena polo.”
Arena polo is growing in notoriety as a result of Gladiator Polo.
“We’ve had a lot of interest both here in Wellington, and it seems like this week we’ll go national and potentially global,” Bellissimo said.
The 2017 season took place over seven weeks with four teams. Next year, Bellissimo estimates that the season will last 12 weeks with eight teams. “We’re trying to inspire some new energy into polo, and it seems like that was mission accomplished,” Bellissimo said, inviting the community to the game (admission is free), as well as the after-party (also free).
For advertising and sponsorship requests, contact Tannis Marley at tmarley@equestriansport.com. For Gladiator league, teams and training, contact Gates Gridley at jgridley@equestriansport.com.
For more information, or to purchase asado tickets, visit www.gladiatorpolo.com. Gladiator Polo games are available on demand on the USPA Polo Network at www.uspolo.org.
ABOVE: (Right) Team Spartacus (red) and Team Spiculus (purple) will compete in Saturday’s Gladiator Polo final. Photo by David Lominska
