Earlier in the day Akasha had won the Cartier Trophy, played as the subsidiary final. They beat Jean Paul Luksic’s Gaston Polo Team 10-9. However they had to take this game to extra time, seven chukkas and a golden goal from Pablo MacDonough, to win this impressive silverware. Akasha’s number four, Santiago Laborde, who had been outstanding all match, was named as Cartier’s Most Valuable Player.
Image credit: Art of Polo
The Teams:
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Second Match
Balanz Capital are the 2026 winners of the Cartier Queen’s Cup. They delivered a remarkable display of high-goal excellence to win this coveted 22-goal trophy at Guards Polo Club. Having had to take their semi-final game against Dubai to an extra seventh chukka, the final was a more straightforward affair for them.
Aureus’s Mark Tomlinson scored the first goal of the game, picking up a perfect pass from Teodoro Lacau. Lorenzo Chavanne, who finished the game as the tournament’s top scorer with an impressive 50 goals, fired through the equaliser. With Lacau converting a Penalty Three and Jeta Castagnola finding the flags with some the lovely play, the first chukka ended 2-2.
Goals from Chavanne and Ned Hine gave Balanz Capital a narrow one-goal lead (5-4) at the end of the second. Diego Cavanagh and Tomlinson both scored to keep Aureus in contention and it looked like it was going to be another tight game. Balanz Capital had other ideas. Claudio Porcel’s team scored five goals in the third chukka – off the sticks of Castagnola and Chavanne – to give them a clear 10-5 lead at the half-time break. Cavanagh converted a 30-yard penalty in this chukka but Aureus struggled to contain the brilliance of the Chavanne/Castagnola partnership. This has been impressive all tournament, but in this final they seemed particularly in tune.
Aureus was superb in defence in the fourth, stopping the Balanz Capital attack. After the onslaught in the third, the blue team could only register one goal. But they were back on form in the fifth, another Castagnola/Chavanne goal fest. Four further goals for Balanz Capital to only one off the stick of Lacau gave Porcel’s team an impressive 15-6 lead going into to sixth. Aureus had been outstanding throughout the tournament and won their semi-final against the highly-fancied La Dolfina/Marques de Riscal with a wonderful golden goal. However, they struggled to replicate that form in this final, while Balanz Capital just seemed to go from strength to strength. In fact they closed this competition with the highest number of goals scored across the tournament – 98.
Cartier has supported this tournament since 2012 and so the Club was delighted to welcome Agathe Delpont, Managing Director of Cartier UK & Ireland, to present the prizes. This included the Cartier Most Valuable Player prize to Jeta Castagnola. He also received the Cartier Best Playing Pony prize for Machitos Mamushka, a 12-year-old chestnut mare.
Image credit: Art of Polo
The Teams:
Score Progression:
Game Statistics:
Stats provided by https://poloreport.com/