Dalika Chasing Another Emotional Victory For Stall In Tom Benson Memorial

In her most recent outing, Dalika provided trainer Al Stall Jr. with an emotional tribute to a most impactful figure in his life, his late father. The multiple stakes-winning mare can give her conditioner another happy tug on the heartstrings this Saturday when she heads up a field-of-13 entered for the $150,000 Tom Benson Memorial Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.

Run at 1 1/16 miles over the Stall-Wilson Turf Course, the Benson, named for the late owner of the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans, is one of eight stakes on the 14-race card that is headlined by the 108th running of the $1 million TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2).

Bal Mar Equine's Dalika (post 3 as the 3-1 favorite on Mike Diliberto's morning line, with Miguel Mena to ride) already scored one sentimental triumph for Stall when she captured the Albert M. Stall Memorial—named for his late father—over the same course and distance on Feb. 13. Given that the Louisiana-born trainer conditions horses for Benson's G M B Stables, a victory by the 5-year-old daughter of Pastorius in Saturday's test would resonate beyond just adding to her career total of six wins from 18 starts.

“We were treating it (the Stall Memorial) like any other race as far as the horse was concerned,” Stall said. “As it got closer and the conditions (soft turf) were looking good for us and then when it happened (the win) it was sort of an explosion of emotions. It was great to have most of my family there. My wife, kids, mother, sisters, all that. It couldn't have really been much better.”

Dalika has notched two of her better career outings over the Stall-Wilson, winning the Blushing K. D. in December to go along with her victory in the Stall Memorial. Holding her top form for consecutive starts has been the albatross for the mare, however, as she has yet to post back-to-back wins in her career.

Sandwiched between her two victories at the New Orleans oval was a fifth-place run in Marie G. Krantz in January. Stall is hoping that the consistency he has seen from Dalika in the mornings will translate into her snapping her roller coaster history.

“If you look at her past performances, it's peaks and valleys and this looks like a valley type race,” Stall said. “We are just hoping that getting a super consistent number of races in her and training every day, this race keeps her at the proper level to win. Even at her age, we are still learning. We just hope we can put two good races together. That's the concern and the hope for this weekend.”

If Dalika has an off-day this weekend, conditions could be right for Pocket Aces Racing's Temple City Terror (post 6 at 8-1 with Joel Rosario) to turn the tables on her nemesis. The Brendan Walsh-trained mare was beaten by Dalika in both the Blushing K. D. and Stall Memorial but owns a win over the course, having prevailed in an optional-claimer going 1 1/16 miles in December.

“She's a model of consistency, she shows up every time,” Walsh said. “She's progressed really well as time goes on. She ran a blinder the last time. Joel (Rosario) actually won on her at Churchill last spring, so that's why we went for him, the fact that he's in town. Florent (Geroux) couldn't ride her back so we went with Joel, so here we are.She has won on firm a couple of times, but she does like a little give in the ground, but the key to her is plenty of pace. She does like to run at that pace at the end. She's got a great kick. She's doing great. I wouldn't count her out.”

Silverton Hill's homebred Pass the Plate (post 8 at 8-1 with Brian Hernandez Jr.) was a fast-closing third in the Stall Memorial for trainer Paul McGee. The 4-year-old daughter of Temple City beat 3-year-olds when she won the local Pago Hop in December and should get a solid pace to rally into Saturday.

An X-factor in the field could be Lothenbach Stables' multiple stakes winner Winter Sunset (post 5 at 20-1 with Marcelino Pedroza), who will be making just her second start since October 2019. The regally-bred daughter of Tapit out of grade 1 winner Winter Memories returned from a year-long layoff in October to finish sixth in a Keeneland allowance. Trained by Wayne Catalano, Winter Sunset has earned two of her three career wins over the Stall-Wilson.

Completing the Benson field from the rail out: MyRacehorse.com's His Glory (20-1 with Adam Beschizza), seventh as the pacesetter in the Stall Memorial for trainer Joe Sharp; Don Alberto Stable's homebred Dominga (post 2 at 8-1 with Florent Geroux), who won the LaCombe Memorial over the course last year but is unraced since August for trainer Brad Cox; The Elkstone Group's Logic N Reason (post 4 at 10-1 with John Velazquez), who enters off a win in a Jan. 2 optional-claimer at Tampa Bay Downs for trainer Christophe Clement; La Nora's Joy Epifora (Arg) (post 7 at 15-1 with James Graham), a troubled fourth in the Stall Memorial for trainer Ignacio Correas; Ismael Thoroughbreds' Russian Mafia (post 9 at 20-1 with Santos Sanjur), who won a local course and distance optional-claimer Jan. 31 for trainer Eduardo Rodriguez; Full of Run Racing's Dreamalildreamofu (post 11 at 10-1 with Colby Hernandez), who romped in an off-the-turf optional-claimer here Jan. 23 for Cox; and Highlander Training Center's and Sharp's uncoupled entry of Catch a Bid (post 12 at 5-1 with Luis Saez), fourth in the Jan. 31 Jersey Lilly at Sam Houston, in her first start of the year and for her new barn, and Summer in Saratoga (post 13 at 10-1 with Irad Ortiz Jr.), unraced since winning a Sept. 10 AOC at Kentucky Downs.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘It Makes You Feel Like You’ve Got A Heartbeat’

Al Stall, Jr. slowly removed his steam-covered glasses and took a moment to compose himself before an interview outside the Fair Grounds winner's circle last Saturday. The veteran Thoroughbred trainer had just saddled the winner of the Albert M. Stall Memorial, a stakes race named for his late father.

“It's funny how things come together,” Stall said, his voice brimming with emotion. “We've given the trophy here for the last few years, patting Billy Mott on the back, Joe Sharp. You know, it was great, both friends of mine…”

The poignant moment overwhelmed Stall, and he dropped his eyes for several moments, wiping away a stray tear before he continued.

“Then we were lucky enough to have a filly to be live in this race, and (the turf) came up soft, which is her thing, and everything went our way,” he said. “We'll take it.”

Reflecting on the interview several days later, Stall said he felt grateful for that unguarded moment.

“It makes you feel like you've got a heartbeat, instead of just going through the motions,” Stall explained. “It was definitely special.”

Stall grew up attending races alongside his father in New Orleans, and the pair traveled all around the country to watch the horses run. As an owner, Stall Sr. won the 1970 Kentucky Oaks with Lady Vi-E, and he served on the Louisiana State Racing Commission for 28 years, including nine years as chairman. 

A member of the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association Hall of Fame and the Fair Grounds Race Course Hall of Fame, Stall Sr. passed away in 2017 at the age of 85.

“He's the person that got not only me, but the rest of my family, as well as Tom Amoss and a few others to go the track, because he was always interested in racing from the time he was in high School in NOLA,” Stall said. “There are win photographs and pictures around the barn from when I was seven years old, and you can almost plot the chronological photos of my life from the late 60's to the present.”

In high school, Stall's love of racing grew as he took a job on the backstretch in the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg, working under his assistant trainer and future Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer Frankie Brothers. Stall kept up with Brothers through his time at Louisiana State University, earning a degree in geology just like his father. 

Though Stall briefly followed his father into the oil industry after graduation, it was at the racetrack that he found his true calling. Stall spent five years as an assistant to Brothers, by then training his own string.

“It was basically a Harvard education,” Stall mused. “At that time we had horses at Louisiana Downs, Fair Grounds, everywhere, and they were all kinds of horses: cheap ones, middle ones, stakes horses, so you saw a lot of everything. (Brothers) was a working machine, so you saw what hard work would produce. If you couldn't learn being around that program, you weren't trying very hard.”

Perhaps the most important lesson he learned from Brothers was patience.

“Just to stay the course,” Stall clarified. “If your horses aren't running that well, if things aren't going that well, don't make wholesale changes; just stick with the program that's got you there. Be a little patient with how things are going.”

By 1991, Stall was ready to go out on his own as a trainer. He started with just one horse at Arlington Park, but built up his stable over the past 30 years and has now won nearly 1,700 races. 

That patience he learned from Brothers has more than paid off over the course of Stall's career, leading to highlights like his 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic win with Blame, defeating the great mare Zenyatta.

“He's the best horse I've ever trained,” Stall said. “Blame made it all the way to the mountaintop. That race, we were paying attention to our horse for the most part, so the Zenyatta phenomenon affected us a little more after the race than leading up to. We had our own little pocket of excitement, so we didn't really notice the quiet crowd.”

Trainer Al Stall, Jr. leads Blame into the winner's circle following the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic

More recently, Stall trainee Tom's d'Etat made headlines at the age of six with a Grade 1 win in the 2019 Clark Handicap, and retired to stud after a solid 2020 campaign with two wins and a third from four starts.

“Tom got us really close, and it's quite fulfilling that those types of horses get to go somewhere nice like WinStar,” Stall said. “You know, he may be retired, but I'm an optimistic type of person. With the type of clients that I have, there's always something good around the corner.”

Trainer Al Stall Jr. with Tom's d'Etat at WinStar Farm.

For example, Stall sent out the talented 3-year-old filly named Carribean Caper to win her debut by eight lengths at the Fair Grounds last Saturday, just a few hours before he saddled Dalika to win the Memorial race. 

The daughter of Speightstown will likely appear next in an allowance race at Keeneland, Stall said; he doesn't like to rush his trainees into big races.

“I like to keep horses around as long as I can; it just makes sense to me,” he explained. “I wouldn't feel comfortable gutting one out trying to make a certain goal. I want to give them a chance to be what they can possibly be, whenever that time can be.”

Perhaps some of Stall's most treasured memories, however, are the races he won with cheaper Louisiana-breds owned by his father and grandfather. Following a win in the 1991 Fair Grounds Sales Futurity with the filly Irish Gray, Stall Sr. talked about his son in the winner's circle.

“He's a good horseman, a better one than I am,” Stall Sr. said. “Since they were old enough to walk, we've had them out here, so this is just following through with what he really has always loved. Even though he's got a degree in geology from LSU, and you can't find a lot of oil out here in the infield, but he hit a little pay dirt today.”

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