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Jerry Moss, Co-Owner Of Zenyatta And A Music Industry Legend, Passes

Jerry Moss formed two partnerships with musician Herb Alpert that would have a significant impact on the music and horse racing industries.

Alpert and Moss started A&M Records in Los Angeles in 1962 and recorded some of the era's biggest artists while becoming the music industry's most successful independent label over the next 25 years. Their success earned them entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

It was Alpert who also partnered with Moss on some claiming horses in the late 1970s that brought Moss into Thoroughbred racing, where he achieved success with victories in the Kentucky Derby by Giacomo and the Breeders' Cup Classic with Zenyatta, whose only defeat in a 20-race career came in her final start. The latter brought Moss to another Hall of Fame, the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where he and his then-wife, Ann Holbrook Moss, were on hand for Zenyatta's induction in 2016.

Moss, 88, died peacefully in his home in Bel Air, Calif., on Wednesday. According to an obituary posted online by his family, he was “surrounded by family and friends who loved and cherished him.”

Born May 8, 1935, during the Great Depression in New York City, Jerome Sheldon Moss was raised in the Bronx. He graduated from Brooklyn College as an English major and served in the U.S. Army before beginning his music industry career in the late 1950s as a promoter for Coed Records in New York. After moving to California in 1960, he met Alpert (a trumpet player whose Tijuana Brass band would go on to achieve great success) and the two men each put up $100 to start A&M Records in a garage.

The business grew, thanks to popular albums like Carol King's “Tapestry,” Peter Frampton's “Frampton Comes Live,” and hit singles from a variety of artists from the Captain and Tennille to the Police. Other artists A&M discovered or signed included Joe Cocker, The Carpenters, Janet Jackson, Soundgarden and Styx.

Moss would name Giacomo after Police lead singer Sting's son. Zenyatta was named for the Police's third studio album, “Zenyatta Mondatta.”

Alpert and Moss sold A&M Records to Polygram for a reported $500 million in 1989.

As a horse owner, mostly in partnership with Ann, Jerry Moss campaigned more than 60 stakes winner, including Grade 1 winners Ruhlmann, Gormley, Tiago, and Sardula. The latter filly by Storm Cat won the 1994 Kentucky Oaks, giving the Mosses the first leg of a rare Oaks-Derby double as owners.

Moss served as a commissioner on the California Horse Racing Board for eight years from 2004-12 and was elected as a member of The Jockey Club in 2009. After his marriage with Ann ended in 2017, Moss would remarry the former Tina Morse in 2019, and the couple campaigned horses in the name of Jerome S. Moss and Tina Moss, including Lady T, winner of the Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes in 2022. Lady T. gave the couple their last racetrack victory when she won a Del Mar allowance race on July 27.

Moss was a supporter of Thoroughbred aftercare, making generous donations to, among other organizations, Old Friends Equine in Georgetown, Ky.

Outside of racing, Jerry Moss was a philanthropist committed to a variety of causes. In 2004, he established the Moss Scholars program at UCLA for students interested in art, architecture and music. In 2020, he and Tina donated $25 million to the Music Center in Los Angeles, where the 25,000 square foot Jerry Moss Plaza will be a long-lasting legacy, hosting free outdoor concerts thanks to what was described as the largest gift of its kind. Moss also supported numerous health care initiatives, the Geffen Playhouse, Exceptional Children's Foundation and many other causes.

“We respected him for his accomplishments, but adored him for his kindness,” the family's obituary said. “Jerry was a strong, genuine, intelligent, resilient, and hilariously funny, man. … They truly don't make them like him anymore and we will miss conversations with him about everything under the sun … the twinkle in his eyes as he approached every moment ready for the next adventure.”

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‘You Can’t Make That Up, The Way It Happened’: Orseno’s 2,000th Win Was Worth The Wait

Trainer Joe Orseno entered last Sunday's racing action with 1998 career victories before moving one win away from the 2000-win mark when Eamonn captured the Select Stakes at Monmouth Park. He reached the milestone less than four hours later at Gulfstream Park in dramatic fashion when Lord Eddard Stark rallied from last in a field of nine to eke out a dead-heat victory at 21-1 odds in the Sunday finale.

The veteran trainer, who wasn't present for either of his wins Sunday, watched win No. 2000 on his iPad on his way to South Florida from Lexington, Ky., where his 14-year-old daughter, Aly, competed in the two-week Pony Finals at the Lexington Horse Park.

“We were starting our route back to Florida, so I watched it in the car on my iPad,” Orseno said Wednesday morning. “I thought we got up, I really did. But it took so long, I said, 'OK, I guess he was second.' Then they put up the dead-heat.”

By the time the stewards had posted a dead-heat several minutes after the finish, Lord Eddard Stark had been unsaddled and jockey Edgar Perez had returned to the jockey's room after Shankar, the 4-5 favorite, posed for a traditional win photo.

“I have 2000-win pictures – I might be missing some – and I've never had a horse in the winner's circle without the jockey or a saddle,” Orseno said. “You can't make that up, the way it happened.”

The circumstances surrounding win No. 2000 hardly spoiled the moment for Orseno.

“It's a big accomplishment. There's a feeling of self satisfaction,” Orseno said. “I've been pretty steady. I didn't do it with 150 horses in my barn – the most I've really had was 50. I've just been steady my whole career. I'm pretty proud of the way I did it.”

Orseno's most memorable training achievements came in 2000 while serving as Frank Stronach's private trainer. He saddled Red Bullet for an upset victory over Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Fusaichi Pegasus in the Preakness (G1). He went on to saddle Macho Uno for a victory in the 2000 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and Perfect Sting for a win in the 2000 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1). Macho Uno and Perfect Sting received Eclipse Awards as champions of their respective divisions.

“I was the leading trainer at five different meets. We won a Classic race – we won the Preakness. We won two Breeders' Cup races, 11 Grade 1s. I won five races in one day at Gulfstream. I think there's only two other trainers that have done that – Todd Pletcher and Ralph Nicks,” said Orseno, who visited the Gulfstream winner's circle five times on April 7, 2008. “This game is filled with highs and lows, more lows unfortunately. The wins you have to appreciate. If I run a horse for $10,000, I'm cheering coming down the stretch like it's a Breeders' Cup.”

A member of the Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association's board of directors for the past five years, Orseno is currently serving as President, as well as Chairman of the Backstretch Committee of the FTHA.

A Philadelphia native, Orseno parked cars at a restaurant across the street from Garden State Park during his high school years before venturing into the backstretch. He took out his trainer's license in 1976 and trained primarily in the Mid-Atlantic region before becoming the private trainer for Stronach in 1997.

“I've had a great career, but it's not over yet,” Orseno said. “I'm not at all tired. I don't plan on going anywhere. I wake up in the morning and bounce out of bed. I'm happy in the morning because I'm doing what I love.”

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Todd, Tracy Pletcher Honored With Marylou Whitney Award For Commitment To Backstretch Community

Todd Pletcher has won more than 5,500 races and a record eight Eclipse Awards during his Hall of Fame training career and on Wednesday morning, he added one more honor to his resume.

Pletcher, along with his wife Tracy, received the Marylou Whitney Award from the New York Race Track Chaplaincy for their continuing devotion and support of the backstretch community at the organization's 16th annual fund-raising brunch at the Saratoga National Golf Club in Saratoga Springs, NY.

As is the custom, the Pletchers were presented with a framed racing scene created by equine artist Tom Chapman from the New York Race Track Chaplaincy. In a surprise appearance, Todd Pletcher's mentor, the 87-year-old Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, made the presentation.

“God blessed Todd with extraordinary talent and he has shown class, dignity and integrity throughout his career,” Lukas said. “In addition to their own family, Todd and Tracy have also adopted the backstretch family and they are most deserving of this honor.”

“I can't say enough about what the New York Race Track Chaplaincy organization does for the backstretch community,” Pletcher said. “It provides so much more than spiritual help. I look at it like the mayor's office where everyone goes when they need help.

“On behalf of Tracy and our children, thank you very much for this honor and for your support of the New York Racetrack Chaplaincy.”

The brunch attracted a record crowd of approximately 350 individuals from all segments of the racing industry and included such supporters as Mandy Pope, Jo Ann and Paul Oreffice, and Len Green.

Among those in attendance were: Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY), NYS Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Agriculture and Markets Elizabeth Wolters, trainer Jena Antonucci (the first woman to win a Triple Crown race), and Hall of Famers Javier Castellano, Angel Cordero Jr., Edgar Prado, and Johnny Velazquez.

Liz Bishop, the longtime television news anchor for the CBS affiliate in Albany, once again served as emcee.

Previous honorees have included Andy Serling, Irad Ortiz Jr., Anne Campbell, Edgar Prado, Michael Dubb, Fay and David Donk, Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson, Letty and Kiaran McLaughlin, Lisa and Kenny Troutt, Debbie and Terry Finley and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association.

The New York Race Track Chaplaincy serves the New York backstretch and farming community with children's enrichment, teen mentoring, women's programming, social service, recreational, and educational programming as well as non-denominational religious services.

Additional information about the New York Race Track Chaplaincy is available at rtcany.org.

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For Shannon Kelly, Assisting Backstretch Workers Is A Personal Mission: Difference Makers Presented By Avion Law

Shannon Kelly always felt at home on the backside of racetracks and considered the people in that community to be family. As the granddaughter of Hall of Fame trainer Thomas “T.J.” Kelly, she grew up spending her summers in the barn area at Saratoga. Her uncle, Pat Kelly, and father, Tim, also trained horses. The latter went on to become a racing official at New York Racing Association tracks.

“My grandfather was very close with his staff,” Kelly said, remembering the community meals that the Kelly family often put on for stablehands. “They were part of our family and many of them worked their whole careers for him. That's very telling and close to my heart.

“My family has been very lucky to have successful careers in racing, and my grandfather was lucky to win the races he did and get elected to the Hall of Fame,” she said. “That doesn't happen without the grooms, hotwalkers, nightwatchmen, and foremen – all of those people. There is a whole community that this is their entire livelihood, and it's something that is so special about our sport. Most of the grooms and hotwalkers care deeply for these horses, so that when a horse wins it's just as much a win for them as it is for the owner. It's their whole life. It has to be when you work in horse racing; it's a 24/7, 365 job.”

Kelly had no interest in following the family footsteps into a career as a trainer, but with racing as her whole life, she wanted to be engaged in some way. An internship at The Jockey Club led her to the organization's Safety Net Foundation, where she worked alongside Nancy Kelly (no relation) for several years before the latter retired in 2018. Shannon Kelly is now the executive director of The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation, overseeing the nearly $500,000 provided annually to those in need throughout the industry and across the United States.

The mission of the Safety Net Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable trust, is to provide “on a confidential basis, financial relief and assistance to needy members of the Thoroughbred industry and their families.”

Kelly admits that the foundation historically had been New York and Kentucky centric, where The Jockey Club offices were located. It also did its good work quietly and behind the scenes, except for its fundraising efforts through events like “Fashionable Fillies,” which has expanded from New York into several other states.

Since taking the helm, Kelly has been a road warrior, meeting with chaplains, horsemen's organizations and racetrack executives around the country.

“It was my goal to try and be more present in places where we didn't have offices,” she said. “We can't truly address the need unless I can see it and get to know the boots on the ground, the chaplains and others who are there.

“We need to be more present so that people who are in a financial position to support our efforts know what we are doing. They want to know. They want to see where the work is going. We're a national organization trying to get the help to as many people in as many racing jurisdictions as we can. So the goal is to get in front of as many people as we can.”

Kelly learned in her travels to racetracks across the country that the need for assistance is there, and that it won't go away without a concerted effort to address issues she raised during a compelling talk at the 2022 Jockey Club Round Table in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

“Quite regularly we receive calls for help with filling a food pantry for the backstretch workers,” she to an audience of wealthy horse owners, breeders and racing executives. “This assistance does not come in the form of a few cans of soup. We are allocating tens of thousands of dollars for food pantries. What does that tell us? That tells us that our workforce on our own backstretches are unable to satisfy this basic human need. The people who feed our precious equine athletes cannot feed themselves.”

Kelly walks a fine line between being critical of an industry for its employment practices and needing the help and support of that same industry for the foundation to fulfill its mission.

“I don't want to say necessarily that the problem is wages, but what we are seeing now,” Kelly said, “is that many in the community are having a tough time just getting by, and not because of physical injury or sickness. It's just a general financial need. The Safety Net's mission is more for that emergency, someone who has lost income from being sick or injured or has fallen on hard times and may need help for a couple of months. That's where most of our assistance lands, more and more of it involving insurance or medical bills, which are outrageous.”

Kelly points to circuits that have medical or dental services available for backstretch workers. In the case of NYRA tracks, day care facilities are also provided. She would like to see more jurisdictions adopt similar programs providing benefits to backstretch workers.

“Where do you begin? Who does it start with?” she said. “Everyone needs to be aware, no matter what your role is in the industry, that there is this need. The first step is acknowledging that we might have an issue we need to address. There are a lot of people doing good things, so maybe we can start with getting everyone involved in 'human services' roles in a room together and addressing where the problems are and who can fix them.”

Addressing these problems on an industry-wide basis is not just a professional aspiration for Kelly. It's personal.

“I've seen these people my whole life, I've grown up around them, and they meant everything to my family and the success we've had,” she said. “I feel it's only right that I dedicate my career to trying to make their lives better, or at least knowing they have someone to call. We might not be able to do everything, but we can connect them to people we know and help them in the immediate moment as much as we can.”

Through her dedication to helping those horse industry workers seeking assistance and for amplifying the backstretch issues that need to be addressed, Shannon Kelly is a difference maker. If you would like to make a difference, please consider a donation to The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation.

Difference Makers is presented by Richard Pearson's Avion Law, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based firm which primarily represents owners in the private aviation sector. Avion Law has a “giving back” program supporting awareness campaigns and donating to charitable organizations in and outside of horse racing. For more information on Avion Law, click here.

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