Juan Carlos Harriott, Jr.

Argentina’s Juan Carlos Harriott, Jr., is considered by many to be the best to ever play the game. He achieved his 10-goal rating in 1961 and held it until his retirement in 1980 at the age of 44. HIs ability to anticipate the direction of play was unmatched; his striking ability was superb and his equitation flawless.

His iconic record includes victories in 20 Argentine Opens (including 10 in a row), 15 Hurlingham Club Opens and eight Tortugas Opens, and four Cup of the Americas as captain of the Argentine team. In 1980, Time magazine referred to him as “the Pelé of polo” and Gonzalo Tanoira once said of him, “Juancarlitos’ superiority is such that it defies all comparisons, because he truly played at a level much above any of his contemporaries.”

Invited to the United States to play in the ‘60s and ‘70s by polo “revivalists,” Harriott’s contribution to American polo stems, in no small way, from those appearances here. He introduced a style of play that had not been seen since the heyday of polo preceding WWII and inspired a new benchmark for playing excellence in an upcoming generation of aspiring polo players, many of whom are now in the polo Hall of Fame.