Stall and staff working with heavy hearts after death of hotwalker Edward Moss

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Al Stall Jr. has a lot on his plate these days. The death of longtime employee Edward Moss had the trainer and his staff reeling while they were getting everything reassembled this week in Barn 45 at Churchill Downs following a busy summer at Saratoga.

Moss, 62, was found dead in his Churchill dorm room after not reporting for work early Monday. No foul play is suspected, said Stall.

“Edward had worked as a hotwalker for me since the mid-90s,” he said. “He grew up in the St. Bernard housing project in New Orleans, which is no pleasure cruise, and the racetrack was the right place for him. He was a good guy, grandfathered into everything. The whole backside is grieving. Between here and Fair Grounds and Saratoga, he was very well known to everybody.”

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While Stall attended to those sad details, he also was firming up plans for some of his better horses, including the newly minted Grade 1 winner Dalika. The 6-year-old mare will run next Saturday in the Grade 3 Ladies Turf at Kentucky Downs in her first start since her breakthrough upset of the Grade 1 Beverly D. on Aug. 13 at Churchill.

“Getting a Grade 1 was the reason we kept her in training this year,” said Stall. “We were in the right place at the right time.”

The presence of a Grade 1 winner in the one-mile Ladies Turf will bump the purse from $750,000 to $1 million. The Ladies Sprint and Franklin-Simpson, each worth $600,000, will be run on the same card as the Ladies Turf, and each also will have its purse raised to $1 million if a Grade 1 winner runs.

Not that the purse hike in the Ladies Turf do Stall or the Bal Mar Equine of owner Paul Varga any huge favors. As a German-bred, Dalika is ineligible for any of the $450,000 in Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund bonuses and will be competing for the equivalent of a $550,000 purse.

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Stall runs In Good Spirits in the 6 1/2-furlong Ladies Sprint, and as a Kentucky-bred she is eligible for the full purse.

The Ladies Sprint is expected to get Campanelle, the Wesley Ward standout who won a Group 1 in France in August 2020 as a 2-year-old. If so, the purse will raised to $1 million, which is fine with Stall.

“Maybe she’ll be doing In Good Spirits a favor,” said an amused Stall.

The Grade 2 Kentucky Turf Cup and Grade 2 Turf Sprint, both also on next Saturday’s card, already are $1 million races. Both are Win and You’re In events toward the Nov. 4-5 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland.

Arklow is foremost among the 3-year-olds and up expected when entries for the Turf Cup are drawn Monday. The 8-year-old horse, an earner of more than $3 million, will be making a remarkable fifth straight start in the 1 1/2-mile race, having won in 2018 and 2020 and finishing second in the 2019 and 2021 renewals. Arklow is trained by Brad Cox.