Polo Season Ends Sunday with Annual Chamber of Commerce Tournament

It is often referred to as the ‘Sport of Kings,’ the most ancient of games with a stick and ball that dates back to Persia more than 2,500 years ago. We know it as polo, and although the modern version is attributed to the British, it can be traced to Manipur, India, where it was called Pulu (ball). The only polo field left in Los Angeles is at Will Rogers State Historic Park. ‘Winston Churchill once said that a polo handicap is your passport to the world,’ said Felice Densa, general manager and executive director of the Will Rogers Polo Club, where the Hector Sustaita Memorial Tournament was held for the seventh time last weekend. ‘Everyone brings their own horses. They’re very expensive and extremely well-trained.’ Tournament play began back in May and last weekend’s event was named after the prominent heart surgeon who suffered a fatal heart attack while playing polo at Will Rogers in 2002. Most of his family, including his widow Clara and daughter Marina, attended. Densa, who began playing here in the early 1980s, retired two years ago. She has managed the Club for the past six years. Prior to that she served as its game coordinator. Started in 1953 by the legendary C.D. LeBlanc, Will Rogers is the 13th oldest polo club in the United States and hosts charity matches, fundraisers and private functions. It received 501(c)(3) classification last year. Polo matches consist of four to six chukkers (quarters), each seven-and-a- half minutes long. Regulation fields are 300 yards long by 160 yards wide (Will Rogers is slightly shorter and narrower) and have goal posts at either end, through which the ball must be hit (either on the ground or in the air) to score a goal. ‘A guy told me that polo is the most fun you can have with your clothes on’and he was right,’ said Lesa Slaughter, who played in Sunday morning’s practice match. ‘In this sport, women can play alongside men because the horse is the big equalizer. It’s not necessarily brute force. Part of it is horsemanship, part of it is the horse. A slow person on a fast horse can still win.’ Slaughter, who lives in Woodland Hills, used to be a Hunter jumper but has been playing polo for over eight years, ever since graduating from law school. ‘Once I tried it I was hooked,’ she said. ‘It’s fast, exhilarating, and the best thing is that you are part of a team. The positions are interchangeable and constantly overlapping.’ Teams consist of four players, designated by numbers. No. 1 is an offensive player, No. 2 is the offensive midfielder, No. 3 is the pivot (both offense and defense, typically the highest-rated player) and No. 4 is the defensive back. Each player is expected to mark his or her numerical opposite. So a No. 1 guards the other team’s No. 1, a No. 2 guards the other team’s No. 2 and so forth. One of Will Rogers’ best resident pros is Ernie Darquea, who not only plays but manages many of the players’ horses, which are transported by trailer from the San Fernando Valley or Moorpark to Will Rogers for games. Horses, like people, need years of practice. ‘You can start them at three years old getting used to the mallet and riding in traffic,’ said Darquea, who lives in Lake View Terrace. ‘Horses don’t like other horses coming at them. They don’t like bumping into each other. They’re used to a certain pecking order in a herd, and it can take a few years for them to get over those instincts.’ Training consists of trotting a horse for half an hour every day and riding it once or twice a week. Horses are replaced after every chukker, although some have enough stamina to last two. Darquea likened the rules of polo to those of driving: ‘The idea is to prevent collisions. Whoever has the right of way has the advantage and right of way is determined by the line of the ball. You can’t cut another rider off or come at them head-on or else it’s a foul.’ Players’ equipment includes helmets, gloves, leg guards, goggles (optional) and, of course, mallets, which range in length from 49 to 54 inches depending on a horse’s height. Like their riders, horses wear protective gear during games’mainly bandages or boots and tendon guards to protect their legs. Manes are shaved and tails are tied or ‘braided’ so mallets won’t get caught in them when swung. ‘It usually takes five to 10 minutes to get a horse ready,’ Darquea said while using tape to braid 12-year-old Dexter, an Argentine thoroughbred he bred and raised himself. Serving as referee for Sunday’s final was Will Rogers’ own Ardeshir Radpour, former captain of the USC men’s polo team and head coach since 2000. Before that, he spent five years in the uniform of Tommy Trojan, galloping Traveler (the team mascot) up and down the sidelines after every USC touchdown. Radpour played in Sunday’s consolation game, leading Malibu to victory over Beverly Hills. Atop the clubhouse roof calling the play-by-play action for all three matches, as he has for 15 years now, was sports announcer Al Epstein, who confessed he had next to no knowledge of the sport prior to landing the gig at Will Rogers: ‘I had a Ralph Lauren shirt in my closet’that’s about all I knew. When I showed up, I didn’t have a roster. I didn’t have anything. I just started describing the action, and I guess they liked me because I was hired.’ Epstein is also the official timekeeper (he keeps a digital clock next to the microphone) and scorekeeper, hanging hand-painted wooden tiles on a makeshift scoreboard whenever a goal is scored. Will Rogers Polo Club President Andrew Bossum rode for Beverly Hills in the consolation game and showed why he is a rated player. He has been playing at Will Rogers since 1992 and has ridden horses since the age of 4. ‘Our main objective is to raise money for charities, so I help organize that and try to attract players here,’ said Bossum, who lives in Bette Davis’ old house in Burbank, near the L.A. Equestrian Center. ‘It’s been a lot of fun, and the best part is, I still get to play.’ Hard at work in the saddling area below the field last Sunday was Manny Ramos, who watered down the horses to keep them cool on a hot afternoon. One of the mounts under his care was Bossum’s 10-year-old mare Mistress, who won several awards as best polo pony this summer at Will Rogers. The championship match pitted Darquea’s green-clad Santa Monica four against blue-attired Palisades, captained by another of Will Rogers’ highest-rated pros, Domingo Questel. Momentum swung back and fourth until Darquea scored in the waning seconds to tie the score. After Darquea and Questel traded goals in the shootout, Chuck Stanislawski made the decisive penalty shot from 40 yards out to win the game for Santa Monica. The 2009 season concludes this Sunday with the 17th annual Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce tournament. The consolation match starts at 10 a.m., followed by the championship match at noon. It is free to the public (except for a $12 parking fee) and Densa expects a good turnout. ‘Watching up close, you really appreciate the beauty and athleticism of the horses,’ she said. ‘They learn just like we do and the more they do it the better they get at stopping, starting, accelerating and turning. It’s a very exciting sport to watch and an even more exciting sport to play.’

When Music Director/Conductor Tom Neenan plans a new season of concerts for the Chamber Music Orchestra at St. Matthew’s, there are many considerations beyond choosing from the wealth of music written for chamber orchestras. Were that the only consideration, Neenan would be facing an embarrassment of riches. But he has to keep an eye on the budget, listen to his audiences’ preferences and provide continuing challenges for his musicians. The 2009-10 season, which opens with music by Mozart, Haydn and Honegger on Friday, October 9, exhibits Neenan’s masterful creativity in producing a series that meets these myriad requirements. ‘In May or June, I sit down with my concert master Yi-Huan Zhao and our contractor Patricia Massey, who is also principal clarinetist, to talk about the season coming up,’ Neenan says. ‘We consider personnel and music we may want to substitute for what I have planned.’ The orchestra, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, is made up of professional musicians, many of whom have been together for 20 years. Neenan formed the orchestra in 1984 with his wife, Robin, who is the principal cellist, and composer/musician Maria Newman. ‘Part of it is pure budgeting. I have to figure out how many concerts we can afford with the full orchestra that feature most of the players. We typically have an opening piece, a concerto and a longer piece. ‘This year it was obvious to us that we would have a couple of full orchestra concerts but more programs that feature smaller ensembles.’ Neenan felt encouraged with this idea after having a conversation with St. Matthew’s Music Guild President Fred Doering. ‘We talked about doing music with choir, organ or small brass and string groups,’ Neenan says. Three programs from this year’s series will offer ensembles featuring a range of music, from Beethoven’s ‘Serenade for String Trio’ to Judith Weir’s 1984 ‘The Bagpiper’s Trio.’ Following the tradition of including guest artists and ensembles, the Catgut Trio will perform with violinist Zhao in February, and the Concord Ensemble returns in April for a program of polychoral masterpieces by Monteverdi and Gabrieli, plus music by Stravinsky and P’rt. Unlike past years, this season will lack a commissioned work, reflecting the uncertain economy. But Neenan enjoys the trust that both the players and audience have in him. ‘The orchestra expects me to give them music that is interesting to play rather than the same old music. I have developed a trust with the members of the orchestra that they’ll delve into it and embrace it and perform it really well even if it’s new and requires more work.’ Neenan is particularly pleased with the concert scheduled for March 26, co-sponsored by Villa Aurora. The program is built around music using 13 musicians rather than the full 35-member chamber orchestra and features three composers: Hanns Eisler, Aaron Copland and Arnold Schoenberg.   Eisler, a German ‘migr’, was the first of Schoenberg’s disciples, whose music became more popular in style with influences from jazz and cabaret. His collaborations with Bertolt Brecht included music for the playwright’s works as well as protest songs. After fleeing Germany in 1933, Eisler sought refuge in the United States, moving to Los Angeles, where he composed several Hollywood film scores. The Eisler’s piece will be a collection of several brief cantatas for solo voice and chamber ensemble. They include pieces about subjects as varied as white bread, the Sputnik, and impressions upon seeing a religious painting. It uses 13 players, which matches the instrumentation Copland used in the original ‘Applachian Spring,’ and Schoenberg’s ‘Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn,’ also arranged for a small ensemble The Holiday concert on December 4 will bring a joyous crescendo to the year’s end, featuring brass and string ensembles from the orchestra, the Choir of St. Matthew’s Parish and organist Roger Daggy playing solo music by Mozart, Schubert and Liszt. A special evening with pianist Andrew von Oeyen in recital is planned for November 13. Von Oeyen, who grew up in Malibu, first performed at St. Matthew’s when he was just 15. Since then he has established a reputation as a soloist and chamber musician. During the 2009-10 season, he will tour Japan with the Berliner Symphoniker Orchestra and violinist Sarah Chang. His program at St. Matthew’s will feature Mozart, Schubert and Liszt. Looking over his career with the chamber orchestra, Neenan is proud of the growth in both subscriptions and the budget, and the orchestra’s standing in the community. ‘People in L.A. know about us,’ he says. ‘Our reputation for interesting programs is well known; I get frequent requests from composers to debut their work.’ Even with a 30-percent drop in subscription income, Neenan says the community rallied and contributed to a special fundraiser allowing for the 2008-09 season to include eight programs, ‘with a little bit of editing.’ This year’s series will comprise seven concerts. ‘A lot of people have been supporting this orchestra from the beginning,’ Neenan says. ‘I tell our audience how impressed I am with them because they come. Last June, we premiered Tarik O’ Regan’s ‘The Eyes of the Stars,’ based on the poem of the same name by Anglo-Irish poet Edward Thomas. Although it was new to the audience, they loved it because they have developed a level of trust with me and the orchestra.’ o o o The Music at St. Matthew’s season begins on October 9 at 8 p.m. at St. Matthew’s, 1031 Bienvenida. Four long-time principal wind players (Phil Feather, oboe; Patricia Massey, clarinet; David Sarachene, bassoon; and Teag Reeves, horn) will be featured in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Winds. Swiss composer Arthur Honegger’s Pastorale d”t’ and Haydn’s valedictory Symphony No. 104 (‘London’) will also be presented. For series information, call 310-573-7787, ext. 127 or visit stmatthews.com/musicguild. Individual tickets are $35 at the door.

Dr. Jerry Turney, plant pathologist for L. A. County, will address members and guests of the Palisades Garden Club on Monday, October 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Woman’s Club, 901 Haverford Ave. With the continuing problem of Citrus disease, Turney will discuss the history and current status of the major citrus diseases in the state, Other blights he has studied include the oleander leaf scorch, which is caused by the glassy-winged sharpshooter, and is fatal. He may even talk about the causes of the disappointing tomato crop this hit locally and nationwide. The fungus started in nurseries in the South, where the plants were sprouted before being shipped and sold at nurseries across the country.   Turney received his B. S. degree in botany from Cal Poly and his Ph.D. in plant pathology from the UC Riverside. He has served as the curator of the camellia gardens at the Huntington Library and Botanic Gardens, a research horticulturist at the Los Angeles County Arboretum, and is currently the plant pathologist for the Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures for the County of Los Angeles.   In addition, Turney was formerly a licensed landscape contractor, and is currently a licensed agricultural pest control advisor and an ISA certified arborist. His primary fields of expertise are plant pathology, mycology and arboriculture. Born in Redlands, Turney currently lives in South Pasadena. His leisure time interests include basketball, fly fishing, canoeing and backpacking.

Attorney Steve Mindel is a managing partner at Fienberg, Mindel, Brandt & Klein. He mentors USC law school graduates, sits on the advisory board for a family law legal clinic, is a past co-president of University Synagogue, has earned his black belt in Tae Kwon Do and has refereed for AYSO Region 69. But to his Pacific Palisades neighbors, he is known as the king of the kitchen, the ‘Grenola loop’ chef. (The streets off Las Cases south of Sunset constitute the loop.) Every year his family hosts five to six large dinner parties and Mindel does the cooking. Mindel, with the help of wife Nancy and sons Sam, 16, and Jake 13, has just published his first book, ‘Cooking for Our Friends.’ He will sign and talk about his book at Village Books on October 4. He also promises to bring some of the appetizers he discusses in his book from 4 to 6 p.m. ‘About 10 years ago, Sam and I decided that we should have a family cookbook and document all our family recipes so we wouldn’t lose them,’ said Mindel, who started storing the dinner menus and recipes from different parties, which ranged from 30 to 300 people. At those events, Mindel masterminded and cooked everything from appetizers and salads to main courses and desserts. As Mindel pondered what to do for his 50th birthday, Sam suggested putting together a cookbook that could be given to guests at the party. Mindel agreed and pulled the family in. His sons took photos and arranged them on the page and his wife served as copy editor. ‘The cookbook was a good idea because it drew us even closer to each other by having us recall all of the joyous times we have had in the kitchen together,’ Jake said. ‘I took some of the photographs, helped make the food look appetizing for the photographs and assisted in the cooking. The difficult part was putting the finishing touches on the book.’ The first half of the book lists the party and the menu, and on the opposing page, photos of the event are shown, including holidays such as Thanksgiving, Passover, Hanukkah, New Year’s and Fourth of July. There are also celebratory dinners for his law firm, the University Synagogue Pillar Dinner, and a fundraiser for John Kerry, where Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sampled Mindel’s barbecued tri-tip roast, penne rigate with a pesto sauce, barbecued sausage and grilled vegetables. For that party Mindel, planned and cooked for 300 people, and, for his sons’ bar mitzvahs, he cooked for 200. The second part of the book contains the recipes along with photos of what the food should look like as its being prepared. ‘It’s how guys cook,’ Mindel said. ‘It’s more like a shop manual, with lots of pictures and few words, because that’s how we do it. Here’s the meat, here’s what it looks like after it’s browned.’ The section also provides tips such as having barbecued ribs sit in the refrigerator overnight, covered with a dry rub, before cooking and how to reheat food before serving it. Mindel guesses he has been cooking since he was seven or eight, following an accident in which his mother fractured her back. ‘She was the executive chef, I was the sous chef,’ said Mindel, who grew up in Fowler, California. Mindel continued cooking until he left home at 18 to attend UCLA. In college and during law school, he loved to cook for friends and neighbors.   Mindel is already planning his second book about the nitty-gritty of cooking for a big party, including how to figure preparation time, the quantities to order and prepare, and how much staff you’ll need. ‘My ultimate goal is to self-publish three cookbooks and then take it to a publisher for a wider distribution,’ Mindel said.