Team sports are back in France, and they are open to the public for events with fewer than 5,000 people. Among these events, there is one that you cannot miss, one which belongs to the heritage of sports: the Barrière Deauville Polo Cup and its famous Gold Cup, which was created by François André – founder of the Barrière Group – in 1950.
The Deauville tournament is one of the most emblematic tournaments of the few international seasons. Thus, the Gold Cup is the only tournament in France and one of the fews in Europe to boast a “hall of fame” that includes the names of all the greatest players of the last six decades.
From Alberto Gracida to the Pieres cousins, Gonzalo Pieres (the father with his brother Alfonso for the legendary Australian team Ellerstone), to the famous Heguy brothers and Adolfo Cambiaso, have all carved their names on this mythical Gold Cup. Just last year, Édouard Carmignac’s team, Talandracas won their sixth titles with two Argentine Open players, Fran Elizalde and Alejandro Muzio. Talandracas won this prestigious event with great players such as Juan-Martin Nero (currently the best back in the world and holder of ten titles in the Argentine Open), Milo Fernandez (four titles), and Nico and Polito Pieres (serial-finalists in Palermo). This year Talandracas will be back with the same players as last year for a seventh title and will try to equal the tournament record achieved in the ‘80s by Alexander Ebeid’s The Falcon with players like the late Gonzalo Heguy and Carlos Gracida or Alfredo Harriott.
This Gold Cup 2020 (August 15 to 30) will of course be the highlight of the season in Deauville. It will be preceded by the Silver Cup (August 11 to 16), the two tournaments constituting the first two lifts of the French Grand Slam, ending with the Chantilly French Open, from September 5 to 20. To date, only one team has achieved this hat-trick: Cibao La Pampa led by Argentina’s Juan Pepa in 2017.
Since 2015, women’s polo has been the main focus at the International Polo Club of Deauville. Once again, the female players will kick off this year with the Ladies Cup; its finals will be played on Saturday August 15, a few hours after the first parade of teams in the streets of Deauville. A second parade will take place on August 29, the day of the Bronze Cup final, which will start on August 17.
Beyond the sport, Polo in Deauville will bring you a really special atmosphere and experience. Here, the public and players meet after the prize-giving ceremony in a large, cozy and friendly space, where they can meet at the bar to “redo the game”! Selfies and good mood are de rigueur. Sometimes polo goes out of the Deauville to La Touques racecourse and returns to the Deauville beach at low tide: an opportunity for the holidaymakers to discover this sport so noble in spirit, but finally so accessible. These formidable little warrior horses with a golden character are actually very approachable. In the morning, we can also see them in lots, walked by their petiseros (their Argentinean grooms), for their condition’s work, with the hooves trampling the waves.