Originally known as the U.S. Handicap, the C.V. Whitney Cup was established in 1979 and first competed for on handicap and played in conjunction with the U.S. Open Polo Championship. Debuting at Retama Polo Center in San Antonio, Texas, it was won the first two years by Tulsa.
Nine years later, in 1988, the tournament was renamed for C.V. (Cornelius Vanderbilt “Sonny”) Whitney, an avid polo player and three-time winner of the U.S. Open (1928, 1937, 1938) and son of 10-goal Hall of Famer Harry Payne Whitney. Inducted into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in 2022, Whitney left a lasting mark in polo. Rising to a 6-goal handicap during his playing career that spanned the "golden era" of polo, Whitney was a formidable factor in all major USPA tournaments. After his playing days, Whitney raised outstanding racehorses, with 15 that competed in the Kentucky Derby. In its inaugural years in 1988 and 1989, Mr. Whitney was on hand in Lexington, Kentucky, to make the first presentations of the C.V. Whitney Cup. The winner those first two years was awarded to the Ft. Lauderdale team of Jack Oxley, Joey Casey, Ernesto Trotz and Bart Evans.
Now played as a stand-alone tournament, the C.V. Whitney Cup is the first in a series of three prestigious 22-goal tournaments hosted by the National Polo Center - Wellington (NPC) in Wellington, Florida, followed by the USPA Gold Cup and the U.S. Open Polo Championship. Notable contemporary C.V. Whitney Cup winners include Valiente (2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2023, 2024), Lechuza Caracas (1999, 2002, 2011), White Birch (1995, 1996, 2000, 2001 and 2005) and Park Place (2021, 2022).
