Guards Polo Club, in the heart of Windsor Great Park, is set to host one of the most anticipated days of its season this Wednesday, 10 June: the semi-finals of the Cartier Queen's Cup, the English club's flagship tournament, which this year brought together nineteen teams of up to 22 goals. Following the quarter-finals played over the weekend, the four sides that will fight for a place in Sunday's final are La Dolfina Marqués de Riscal, Aureus, Balanz Capital and Dubai.
The first semi-final, to be played at midday, will put the Kerry Packer Trophy on the line and pit La Dolfina Marqués de Riscal against Aureus. The team of patron Alejandro Aznar — with Simón Prado, Félix Esain and Poroto Cambiaso — arrives after a 14-11 win over Kazak on a cold day of rain and wind. With 10-goaler Poroto Cambiaso as their trump card, the side will be looking to avenge what happened in 2025, when they fell in the tournament's final against Park Place.
Standing in their way will be Aureus, who reached the semi-finals in dramatic fashion: they beat Gaston 9-8 in extra chukker, with a golden goal from Mark Tomlinson following a fine assist from Jake Coventry. The team is completed by Argentines Diego Cavanagh and Teodoro Lacau, and they will be aiming to pull off a major upset and book their place in next Sunday's grand final.
The second semi-final, at 4 p.m. and for the Hubert Perrodo Trophy, promises another great contest: Balanz Capital against Dubai, a clash whose big draw will be the duel between the Castagnola brothers, Camilo and Bartolomé, who won this very tournament playing together back in 2020. But that is now in the past. Jeta will defend the colours of Balanz Capital and Barto those of Dubai, in a family head-to-head that rarely comes around at this stage of this competition.
Balanz Capital, of patron Claudio Porcel, arrives on a high after defeating Ferne Park 13-8 and having also claimed the Trippett's Challenge at the start of the English high-goal season. The pairing of Camilo Castagnola and 18-year-old Lorenzo Chavanne was decisive: they combined experience and talent to neutralise a rival that featured Facundo Pieres — a four-time Queen's Cup champion — and Jonathan Rothermere, playing in place of his son Vere Harmsworth.
On the other side, Dubai — no strangers to winning this title, though they have not done so since 2016 — come in after a commanding 13-6 victory over Akasha. In a match with just four fouls, Tariq Albwardy's side — with Santos Merlos, Antonio Heguy and Bartolomé "Barto" Castagnola — controlled proceedings thanks to the eight goals by Barto, who emerged as the standout figure of the afternoon. Akasha tried to close the gap but could not convert their chances.
Beyond the sporting outcome, the Queen’s Cup semi-finals day is one of the great social and sporting occasions of the English calendar. Both matches can be followed live and free of charge via Guards TV and Polocam. The winners will meet on Sunday 14 June in the final, the climax of a tournament created in 1960 in honour of Queen Elizabeth II and now presided over by King Charles III, the current president of the club that his father, Prince Philip, founded in 1955.
