IN my recent article Amazing Uruguay  I described how a group of friends accompanied Lach MacKinnon to visit his cattle projects in southern Uruguay, but the trip had a second purpose which was to watch a mare bred by his father play in the Argentine Open polo finals in late November and early December.

The result was a fairytale ending to our trip culminating in the mare proving herself to be one of the best polo ponies in the world today.

I know very little about polo but what I can state for certain is that watching 10 goal players mounted on the best horses in the world in the Open final is so spectacular that if I had not seen the incredible skills of horse and rider with my own eyes I would not have believed it possible.

John and Janie MacKinnon breed Angus cattle and polo ponies on their farm “Wickford” west of Launceston in Tasmania.

The making of a top polo pony is an incredibly complex, expensive and time-consuming processes with an exceptional dose of luck required to have even a remote chance of a world class outcome.

The ponies produced at Wickford are developed, trained and played under the astute management of Aiden and Sara Nunn at their base near Toowoomba.

“Wickford Santa Anna” was bred from a retired New Zealand thoroughbred mare and “Wickford Santa Fe” a polo bred stallion in 2009.

Polo ponies only start playing seriously at around six years of age. The young mare played polo in Australia for about six years and while she was well regarded, she only managed to win one Pony Prize and was generally considered as “handy” but not exceptional due to her small stature of only 14.2 hands.

During 2022 the mare was by chance ridden by the international polo professional Jake Daniels who was very impressed.

John and Lach were confident that the mare had untapped potential so they decided to send her to England with Jim Gilmore, where she went into his UK program.

Using his global contacts, Jim set up a meeting in the UK with Argentine Lolo Castagnola, a retired 10 goal player and the manager of the La Natividad team.

Jim suggested that this mare would suit Jeta, Lolo’s son who, at 19 years old, had just become the youngest 10 goal player in the history of the game.

Jeta rode the horse and the two immediately clicked and have been inseparable ever since.

The unique magic of this combination results in the pair being able to create amazing feats of skill and athleticism on the polo field that neither of them can achieve with a different combination of rider and horse.

As John MacKinnon puts it “ it is a match made in heaven between Jeta and Santa Anna which lets the little mare shine”.

The semi-finals were played out during the last weeks of November with the final played on Sunday December 3 at the Palermo stadium in Buenos Aires.

Our group was fortunate enough to visit the La Natividad home base just outside Buenos Aires two days before the final where Lach and his daughter Kitty were able to reconnect with the mare and meet Lolo and his wife Camila.

See the photo below where Lolo is asking Lach if there are any more similar genetics that might be coming from Tasmania in the near future.

The genetics of polo ponies are sourced from all over the globe with new bloodlines created using every technology available from natural mating, to AI, embryo transfer and more recently the extensive use of cloning.

By contrast, the genetic makeup of the top players is incredibly concentrated.

In the photo below the lady on the left is Camila, the wife of Lolo. Two of their three sons, Barto and Jeta are both 10 goal players in the La Natividad team.

The opposing team in the final was La Dolfina led by Adolfo Cambiaso (10 goals) who is regarded as the greatest player of the current era. Adolfo is the brother of Camila, wife of Lolo.

Also in the La Dolfina team is 18 year old Adolfo Jr. (Poroto) Cambiaso, son of Adolfo, also a 10 goal player. Adolfo Sr. and Poroto made history in 2022 as the first father-son duo to play in and win the prestigious Argentine Open together.

So Lolo and Adolfo are brothers in-law while Jeta, Barto and Poroto are first cousins.

There are currently ten 10 goal players in the world, nine of them played in the final on Sunday the 3^rd.

These close relatives constitute four of the 10 while the majority of the remaining 6 are Argentine nationals.

Camila and Lolo Castagnola on the left with Lach MacKinnon speaking and Angus Adnam on the right.

During our visit to the La Natividad polo complex I took the photo below of the white board in Jeta’s stable listing the 14 horses that he would ride in the final at Palermo.

As you can see Santa Anna is the number one horse. She was set to play in the 1st, 5^th and 8^th chukkas. Most games have only 4 to 6 chukkas but the Open extends to a grueling 8 rounds.

Photo from Jeta’s stable. He is so attached to this mare that he sleeps above the stable and comes down several times a night to check on her.

Kitty MacKinnon who often rode the mare in Tasmania in her younger days with 14 year old Santa Anna immediately after the final at Palermo. The 14.2 hand mare is in magnificent condition and at the peak of her game.

To complete the fairy tale, La Natividad won the Argentine open final 13 goals to 10.

Our amazing trip around Argentina and Uruguay was made possible with the wonderful support of tour company “El Gaucho Agri-tours” run by German and Jo Llorens. German@elgaucho.ar     Instagram :  Elgaucho.ar

Photo of trophy presentation to the La Natividad team from Jeta Castagnola’s Instagram. Barto Castagnola (10) left, Pablo Mac Donough (10), Jeta Castagnola (10) holding the winners cup and Facundo Pieres (9) on the right.

Photo from Jeta’s Instagram. Jeta riding Santa Anna (at an earlier tournament).  Note the Wickford freeze brand on the near shoulder – 3 horizontal lines forming a triangle shape.