Jerry Moss (Benoit Photo)
Del Mar Stable Notes by Jim Charvat
DEL MAR, Calif.— He was a music mogul and the owner of a champion racehorse. Jerry Moss passed away Wednesday at the age of 88 at his home in Bel Air, California. His wife, Tina, told the Associated Press he died of natural causes.
Moss was the ‘M’ in A&M Records, a company he founded with the great trumpeter Herb Alpert in the 1960’s. They brought us the Police, the Carpenters, Janet Jackson, Joe Cocker and Cat Stevens. One of the top records of all-time, Carole King’s “Tapestry,” and the chart-topping album “Frampton Comes Alive” were both released by A&M Records.
He was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.
The year before, Moss bought a yearling filly and named her Zenyatta, after one of the Police albums. She would become one of the most successful racehorses of all time, winning 19 races in a row before losing her final race, the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic, to the colt Blame.
“Everyone felt that she was their girl,” Moss would say of Zenyatta’s popularity in an interview with TVG, “and she wasn’t going to disappoint them. And she never did.”
Mike Smith was Zenyatta’s regular rider.
“Every moment that you were blessed to spend with him was a fond moment,” Smith says of Moss. “He was a special human being, on and off the track. The industry lost a great owner, especially California racing.”
Smith says Moss was always patient with his horses.
“He gave John (trainer John Shirreffs) free rein on when it was time,” Smith remembers. “Heck, she didn’t run until her 4-year-old year. He gave John all of the time that he needed.
“He was that way during the run that we had,” Smith continued. “You never felt any added pressure. ‘Let’s have fun. Let’s let the people enjoy her. Win, lose or draw. Let’s go out and have a good time’ and that’s the way it always was. You felt good when you rode for him. He gave you confidence and that makes your job a whole lot easier.”
Moss raced Zenyatta in partnership with his first wife, Ann. They first brought her to Del Mar in 2008 when she won the G1 Clement Hirsch. They brought her back for the Hirsch again in 2009 and 2010 and, of course, she won them both.
But Zenyatta was not the only horse Moss raced. He had over 60 stakes winners during his 40 years in racing including the 1989 Santa Anita Handicap winner, Ruhlmann, as well as Sardula, winner of the 1994 Kentucky Oaks. He also won a coveted Kentucky Derby in 2005 with Giacomo, who went off at odds of 50-1 under rider Smith.
He also served as a member of the California Horse Racing Board for eight years.
Moss is survived by his wife and three children.
