Career
His learning of the business from the bottom up was interrupted by service with the United States military during World World War II in which he received two Purple Hearts. Following his discharge, Kelly returned to Thoroughbred racing and obtained his trainer"s license in 1945. International Stakes at the Laurel Park Racecourse in his native Maryland.
Widely respected in the industry, in 1954, as the new head trainer for the racing stable of Dan and Ada Rice, Kelly saw the potential in a young jockey named Bill Hartack and purchased his contract from a West Virginia-based trainer.
The two met with immediate success with a six-year-old horse named Pet Bully. Hartack developed into one of the top riders in the sport and went on to a Hall of Fame career.
Named Evening Attire, he was trained by Kelly"s son, Patrick. The Kellys and their partners sent the horse to the track in 2001 and as of 2008 Evening Attire had earned almost $3 million.
His July victory in track record time in the 1½ mile Greenwood Cup Stakes at Philadelphia Park Racetrack qualified him to compete in the 2008 Breeders" Cup Dirt Marathon.
In 1993, Kelly was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame at Saratoga Springs, New New York He died in 2013 at a rehabilitation center in Miami.