The Cambiaso Lab in Argentina
- Dec 1
- 3 min read
This is not in his beloved Cañuelas—home to the legendary La Dolfina team—nor in the Pilar area of Buenos Aires, the world's polo capital. We are talking about one of the less-promoted destinations in the imposing Argentine Republic: Villa Mercedes. This is Adolfo Cambiaso’s operational headquarters and the nerve center for the genetic development of elite polo horses worldwide.
Polo and animal biotechnology coexist in Villa Mercedes, a town of 140,000 inhabitants in San Luis province. Getting there can be an odyssey. There are no direct flights from Buenos Aires; the only option is a flight of just under two hours from the Argentine capital to the provincial capital, San Luis, followed by a roughly 100-kilometer journey to Villa Mercedes. Alternatively, it’s about a nine-hour drive from Buenos Aires, covering approximately 701 kilometers by road.
For six years, the La Dulce estate has been home to one of the world's most advanced equine genetic improvement programs: La Dolfina Polo Genetics. This is a strategic enclave for breeding high-performance horses for the global polo industry.
The establishment of La Dolfina Polo Genetics in Villa Mercedes in 2019 was no coincidence. It was a technical and productive choice. Adolfo Cambiaso himself, the top figure in international polo and founding partner of the project, highlighted this during a recent tour: “Everything related to La Dolfina’s breeding, all the products from the organization, are made right here in Villa Mercedes. Our goal is to produce the best possible horses.”
For the polo elite, genetics is a treasure. Cambiaso pointed out that the natural and sanitary conditions in San Luis are decisive: “The sandy soil allows horses to grow spectacularly. They don't suffer from the cold or heat, which makes it a perfect site.”
This combination of biotechnology, environment, investment, and specialized labor has positioned Villa Mercedes as a national benchmark in equine reproduction—a productive hub that transcends the sport itself.
A few days ago, the top political official of San Luis province, Governor Claudio Poggi, toured the facilities with Cambiaso and other La Dolfina authorities. They were accompanied by the Vice President of the Argentine Association of Polo Horse Breeders, Santiago Ballester; the Commercial Director of La Dolfina Cría and La Dolfina Polo Genetics, Uruguayan Alejo Taranco; the General Manager, Marcos Villasboa Lanusse; and the Manager of the Embryo Transfer Center, Félix Baigorria, among other technicians, veterinarians, microbiologists, and staff.
The visit began with an institutional presentation on the evolution of the project and its impact on the production of elite sport horses. The conclusion was clear: Villa Mercedes has become one of the main hubs for the genetic development of Argentine polo.
The center currently works with more than 25 selected stallions and applies cutting-edge reproductive techniques: embryo transfer, ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), shipment of refrigerated and frozen semen, advanced ultrasound monitoring, and high-precision health protocols.
This technological framework allows for the preservation, multiplication, and global projection of unique bloodlines. Offspring born and raised in Villa Mercedes now compete in Palermo, the United States, England, and other major international tournaments.
The establishment includes stallion pens—crucial for the sporting and genetic importance of each equine specimen—alongside a large number of donor and recipient mares at different stages of the reproductive cycle. In addition, there is a high-tech laboratory where the technical team, led by microbiologist Valeria Marino, manages the equine embryo process through collection, evaluation, classification, and subsequent transfer.
Cambiaso summarized the spirit of the center: science applied to sport, with a level of professionalism that places Villa Mercedes on par with the world’s leading equine reproduction hubs.
With this cutting-edge productive development and equine genetics as one of its strategic sectors, the master of the La Dolfina Polo Team has turned Villa Mercedes into a key territory for breeding high-performance polo horses. It integrates science, sport, and production within a single ecosystem that is already making its voice heard.
