Gracida family legacy lives on in Mexico’s FIP World Championship team
Sunday’s high stakes showdown between the USA and Mexico to decide which nation qualifies for the XIII FIP World Polo Championship will be loud and proud. Passionate partisan supporters are set to raise the bar on spectator participation at the National Polo Center with Mexico cheered on by a whole family of the Gracida lineage to counter the USA’s home crowd advantage.
Mexico’s line up represents the continuation of a family legacy with Carlos ‘Carlitos’ Gracida Jr. and Mariano ‘Nano’ Gracida – both sons of the late, legendary Carlos Gracida – and their cousins, and sons of Roberto González, Alejandro and Andrés González Keil.
“Mexico has a long tradition of polo and polo players,” said their uncle and coach, iconic polo player Memo Gracida. “We’re blessed with my family being the premier players of Mexico in the last four decades.”
Gracida Street in the heart of Wellington horse country, situated behind the Wellington International showgrounds, reminds polo fans of the former location of La Herradura. Brothers Carlos and Memo were based out of this polo facility for many a winter season in Florida and epitomized high goal polo from the late 70s through the 80s and 90s.
During that time Memo clocked up 14 US Open victories – amassing many other trophies – and reflected his description from the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame as ‘The quintessential number three, a superlative horseman, he was a five-star field general: ever prepared, always inspiring his players’ best. He could deliver heroics, but team polo was his winning formula.’ Carlos held a 10-goal handicap for 15 years and was unique in first winning the American, Argentine and British Open Championships in the same year – a feat he accomplished three times.
Mexico’s World Cup players have big shoes to fill – not least due to their ancestors’ domination of the sport on the international stage leading to wide recognition in their home country. “This is very big for Mexico,” Memo said. “We love sports and traditionally or historically Mexico has never been very strong in sports. We follow soccer, we follow boxing, we’re very good, and diving is good and polo. Polo is one of the sports that we have excelled in. Mexico identifies very much with Mexican polo, thanks to the rest of the family, my uncles, my cousins – my nephews now. It’s a nice feeling.”
Pitched at 14-goal level the FIP Polo World Championship is designed to encourage the maximum participation of polo-playing countries. To level the playing field further, horses are pooled and assigned to teams through a selection system, aimed to balance the horsepower. It is no easy task and the role of Horse Master falls to Felipe Viana for this tournament – he filled the quota of horses from 11 different sources.
“Horses are the most important part of the game, of any tournament, especially in this one,” said Memo. “You always feel that the other team is better mounted than you are, but we have to work with what we have and get the most out of them. That’s when horsemanship, planning, strategy – all those play a part.”
Guatemala was the third team vying for a slot in the World Cup from these Zone A playoffs – a 10 goal team on handicap they struggled to compete and lost 15-5.5 to Mexico in the first qualifying game, and a punishing 19-3.5 against the USA. While not too competitive, both matches served a purpose in giving teams a chance to play their newly-allocated horses for the first time competitively. “They rode the horses beautifully the other day, I was very happy,” said Memo. “It’s difficult to gauge playing against Guatemala, which is only a ten goal team. But nevertheless, they played them well, they used them well, they treated them well. If you give a good thing to the horses, the horses always give you good things back.”
The Camacho Cup – an international trophy played between Mexico and the USA – dates back to 1941 and is peppered with Gracida names throughout its history. Giving back is important for Memo, who takes on the coaching role, with a degree of nostalgia alongside a nod to the future. “It’s very important that we have Gracidas again in the national team,” he said. “And that the Gracida family continue being the leaders in polo in Mexico.”
For Memo, this World Cup qualifier sees the baton passed to a new generation. “This is their time,” he said. “These are my memories, but these are their actions, so this would be a great thing for them to achieve. They have a good chance. I feel very positive. And we’re going to try our very best to get Mexico into the World Cup.”
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