In the 131st Campeonato Argentino Abierto, La Natividad and La Hache Cría y Polo are pursuing very different goals. La Natividad’s decisive 22-6 victory on Friday clearly highlighted the handicap gap between the two teams.
The Castagnola brothers, with their team La Natividad, come to Palermo after winning the Hurlingham and dominating La Aguada (19-11) in their opening match. Their ambition is clear: to lift the trophy on December 7. Meanwhile, La Hache Cría, after a remarkable comeback in the first round against Indios Chapaleufú — overcoming a 1-8 deficit to secure a 12-10 victory — holds a modest hope of reaching the final in Palermo. However, their main objective is more realistic: securing a spot among the eight teams that will qualify directly for the 2025 Open.
In this format with ten teams and a leaderboard based on accumulated points, some teams are fighting for the title, while others are focused on avoiding the bottom two spots to stay in the elite. For La Natividad, facing La Hache Cría y Polo is not a major challenge on their way to the final, and La Hache Cría y Polo doesn’t see La Natividad as a serious obstacle in their mission to stay in the G8. Still, La Hache’s players hold out hope of defeating them. “Maybe La Natividad isn’t our direct rival, but we’re in the same tournament, and you always dream of beating them,” said their captain, Joaquín Pittaluga, after the match, which was fast-paced with few fouls. “In the end, it felt like it went on forever… And I want to congratulate them because they’re a great team,” added the back, who scored two penalty goals.
A ten-team Open brings together competitors with differing levels, stretching the handicap gap to the point of breaking parity, at least numerically. This creates matches like this one, where the balance is minimal or even nonexistent. We’ve already seen matches like this in the current edition, and it won’t be the last. The highest-rated team —40 goals in this case— knows it can win without exerting itself too much, while the lower-rated team realizes that attempting a feat against a rival with different goals could come at a high cost, especially in terms of horses, when later they must face an opponent that shares the same objective of remaining in the elite.
Facundo Llosa from La Aguada summed it up well after their loss to La Natividad last Sunday: “We use these games to improve, to find rhythm for ourselves and the horses, because the games we really need to win are the last two (referring to La Hache Cría y Polo and Indios Chapaleufú).” La Hache Cría y Polo has already secured one of these “finals” by beating Indios Chapaleufú. Now, they still have to face La Aguada and the challenging team of Hilario Ulloa, the other Hache.