Al Stall, Jr., the 54 year old born in New Orleans, is a part of a well-known Louisiana racing family. His father was chairman of the Louisiana Racing Commission for many years and the turf course at Fair Grounds is, in part, named for his grandfather. Stall also served as an assistant for Frankie Brothers, another lofty name in Louisiana racing history.
But the Al Stall that is one of the Kings of Keeneland earned his greatest nugget of fame by pulling off the upset of a racing legend. In 2010 Stall won the Breeders’ Cup Classic with champion Blame and defeated the previously undefeated Zenyatta in the process in one of the greatest Breeders’ Cup moments in history.
Exactly 70% of Stall’s Keeneland victories have come in the fall and over a third of those are first layoff runners. His rested runners either come from Saratoga with short layoffs or they come from Fair Grounds where they have been off the track for several months. Class movement will vary with his layoff runners so one cannot focus on class drops or class jumps. Stall will usually hold a runner’s last work 7-8 days prior to race day and the work is more likely to be short as opposed to long. Stall is very consistent on the amount of work his layoff runners have with almost all of them recording 12 or 13 furlongs of work within 30 days of race day.
Stall has also scored several winners using debut runners and the majority of those have been juveniles. He has longer gaps in works with his debut runners but almost always works them from the gate in their last workout before a race.
Stall also does well with his second time starters. All of these winners ran either at Saratoga or Fair Grounds in their first race and then broke their maidens at Keeneland in their second career race. These runners usually work or race 12-13 furlongs in the last 30 days before their second race, and their last work will usually come 4-6 days prior to race day.
Most of Stall’s Keeneland victories come with clients Claiborne Farm or Columbine Stable.
His top riders has been Shaun Bridgmohan, Garrett Gomez and Robby Albarado. However, he has also used Rosie Napravnik, Greta Kuntzweiler, Chris Landeros, Shane Sellers, Julien Leparoux, Freddie Lenclud, Miguel Mena and Brian Hernandez.
Note: This trainer profile is an example of the new feature that will be found in the upcoming edition of “Keeneland Winning Trainer Patterns” by Art Parker. Pre-order today and save off the regular price.
