Lechuza Caracas

Lechuza Caracas is a Venezuelan polo club owned by the Venezuelan Victor Vargas, owner of Banco Occidental de Descuento.[1] Lechuza reached the final of the 2009 CV Whitney Cup. Lechuza also "reached the U.S. Open final in 2003, according to the North American Polo League Web site. The team twice won C.V. Whitney Cup, competed in the finals of the 2002 Gold Cup, and in 2007, finished runner-up in the U.S. Gold Cup and won the English Gold Cup."[2]

Around 2015, Vargas had moved the headquarters of his club from England to Spain. When asked why, he explained the decision was simple: the rain. "We've played for five weeks here in Spain and had no rain."[3]

In April 2009 21 Lechuza ponies died of a selenium overdose when a mineral supplement similar to Biodyl was wrongly mixed by a Florida pharmacy.[4][5]

  1. ^ Florida Sun-Sentinel, 21 April 2009, Victor Vargas is multimillionaire owner of tragedy-stricken polo team
  2. ^ Palm Beach Post, 20 April 2009, Business leader cries as horses die in his arms
  3. ^ Davis, Gareth (1 September 2015). "Sotogrande Polo 2015: Adolfo Cambiaso and Dubai thrill in European season finale against Lechuza Caracas". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  4. ^ Horse & Hound, 29 April 2009, Selenium named as likely cause of Lechuza polo pony deaths Archived 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ The Times, 25 April 2009, US Open polo pony deaths are blamed on drug blunder[dead link‍]