Bendabout Rallies Past Lechuza Caracas 14-8 to Advance to Semifinals of Stanford Financial Group U.S. Open Championship at International Polo Club Palm Beach

Wellington, FL – April 17, 2005 - Fifth-seeded Bendabout, the 2003 champion, scored the last eight goals of the game, four by Tommy Biddle, to rally past No. 4 Lechuza Caracas 14-8 in the quarterfinals of the Stanford Financial Group U.S. Open Polo Championship Sunday at International Polo Club Palm Beach.

In other Stanford Financial Group U.S. Open action, 8-goaler Julio Arellano scored with one second remaining to lift No. 1 seed Skeeterville over Las Monjitas 10-9; 10-goaler Mike Azzaro scored 30 seconds into overtime to spark No. 6-seeded Catamount over No. 3 Old Pueblo 16-15 and four-time finalist White Birch, seeded No. 2, topped No. 7 Loro Piana 12-9.

Action in the Stanford Financial Group U.S. Open continues with the semifinals on Wednesday as it will be for family bragging rights when Skeeterville (5-0) plays Bendabout (4-1) at noon. Skeeterville patron Skeeter Johnston and Bendabout patron Gillian Johnston are brother and sister. White Birch (4-1) plays Catamount (4-1) at 3 p.m. followed by a concert by country newcomer Billy Currington. General admission tickets for both games and the concert are $20.

“We hope we’re peaking,” said Biddle, “it’s a long tournament.”

Sebastian Merlos converted a 60-yard penalty shot 40 seconds into the fifth chukker to give Lechuza Caracas an 8-6 advantage.

But Bendabout turned on the afterburners with five goals, three by Biddle and two by Johnston, in the final three minutes to take an 11-8 lead heading into the final chukker. Bendabout continued the onslaught as Alejandro Novillo Astrada scored on a near-side just 32 seconds into the sixth chukker to put them ahead 12-8.

Sebastian Merlos finished with seven goals and Pite Merlos added one goals for Lechuza Caracas, which reached the semifinals last season and the final in 2003.

“It was two different games,” said Sebastian Merlos. “I felt we controlled the game through the first four chukkers with more horsepower. They killed us in the last half of the fifth chukker and the sixth chukker. “I think we had a winning team. We had a tough bracket. Every team is in the quarterfinals because they’re good, not because they’re lucky. It’s one of those days.”

Alejandro Novillo Astrada, who finished with three goals, talked about the team’s patience. “We had a plan and we stuck to it,” he said. “We didn’t try to change it. We were patient.”

“We were playing their game,” said Biddle. “We were too patient, letting them (Pite and Sebastian Merlos) play close. We spread those two out, we were hitting, hitting and letting Gillian run onto the ball.”

Arellano took a pass from Owen Rinehart, dribbled three times and scored on a near-side shot to lift Skeeterville into the semifinals. Arellano finished with a team-high seven goals, including four in the final chukker as Skeeterville rallied from a 7-5 deficit.

Patron Skeeter Johnston is one victory away from reaching the U.S. Open final for the third time, but must defeat his sister, Gillian, to do so. Skeeter reached the U. S. Open final in 2000 and in 1988 while Gillian won the U.S. Open in 2002.

Ten-goaler Javier Novillo Astrada led No. 8-seeded Las Monjitas (2-3) with five goals and Jeff Blake added four goals.

Ten-goaler Mariano Aguerre scored three consecutive goals in the fifth chukker to help White Birch take a controlled 11-6 lead. Aguerre finished with a team-high six goals while Lucas Criado added three goals. Del Walton, substituting for patron Peter Brant, scored two goals. Milo Araujo led Loro Piana, in its first U.S. Open, with four goals.

Catamount jumped out to a 4-0 in the first chukker and held on to advance to the semifinals for the second consecutive year. Azzaro, who has won the U.S. Open title five times, led the winners with nine goals. Carlos Gracida, who has won the U.S. Open nine time, added four goals while patron Scott Devon chipped in with three goals.

Nine-goaler Matias Magrini and 8-goaler Jeff Hall led Old Pueblo with seven goals each.

A record-tying 15 teams that entered the 26-goal Stanford Financial Group U.S. Open Championship, the most prestigious polo tournament in North America, has been whittled to four.

Historically, the U.S. Open has always been the grand prize of polo in North America. It is one of only four tournaments played at the 26-goal echelon, the highest-rated tournament in the United States. The first U.S. Open title game was played in 1904 at Van Cortland Park in New York City where the Wanderers defeated the Freebooters 4 ½-3, the lowest scoring final in the history of the tournament.

General admission tickets are $15 and reserved terrace seating tickets are $40 and and available at the gate on the day of the match. For ticket information, please call International Polo Club Palm Beach at (561) 204-5687 or visit the website at www.internationalpoloclub.com.

International Polo Club Palm Beach is located at 3667 120th Avenue South, between Pierson Road and Lake Worth Road in Wellington.