The rain-induced wait ended with another La Natividad La Dolfina celebration. The Cañuelas side defeated La Hache 18-14 in the 133rd Hurlingham Open final and retained the Ayshire Cup won in 2025 with the same line-up. Rescheduled for Sunday, October 4, the match opened Argentina’s Triple Crown with a display of power from the competition’s only 40-goal team.
The final began evenly. The first chukker finished 1-1, and La Natividad La Dolfina held only a 3-2 advantage after the second. La Hache, featuring brothers Hilario and Carlos María Ulloa alongside Tomás and Benjamín Panelo, showed organisation and speed. During those opening periods they matched the champions’ rhythm and suggested a far tighter contest than the middle stages would eventually produce.
The break came in the third period. Benjamín Panelo levelled at 3-3, but the defending champions answered with a three-goal burst to finish the chukker 6-3. Their superiority expanded in the fourth: a neckshot by Poroto Cambiaso and goals from Bartolomé Castagnola Jr. and Adolfo Cambiaso made it 9-3. Across two periods, the champions established the foundation of victory.
La Hache responded after halftime. Panelo converted a penalty, Hilario Ulloa rediscovered the goal and the difference narrowed to 10-7. Camilo “Jeta” Castagnola then answered from 40 yards to end the fifth chukker at 11-7. Every attempted comeback met a reply; La Natividad La Dolfina’s simple circulation and coordinated defence prevented pressure from developing into equality.
The Cañuelas team entered the final chukker leading 17-12. Panelo and Hilario Ulloa scored to bring La Hache within three, but the champions managed the remaining time. With less than a minute left, Adolfo Cambiaso supplied his nephew Barto Castagnola for the final 18-14 goal. That last family connection summarised a performance built on precision, mutual understanding and efficiency.
Barto Castagnola finished with four goals and received both principal most valuable player awards. Poroto Cambiaso and Jeta Castagnola scored six apiece, while Adolfo added two. At the other end, Hilario Ulloa led the final with seven goals. Defeat did not erase La Hache’s exceptional tournament: the surprise finalists competed bravely against an opponent carrying the maximum possible handicap.
The title also extended Adolfo Cambiaso’s individual history, delivering a record seventeenth Hurlingham triumph. For La Natividad La Dolfina, the 18-14 result is the first step in another Triple Crown campaign in which they will again set the standard. Rain delayed the decision, but it did not change the hierarchy of a team that defended its trophy with authority.
