Media Advisory: Passing of Jack Kelly

September 20, 2010                                                                                        Contact: Bob Curran Jr. (212) 521-5326

 

ADVISORY

 

            Jack Kelly, an Equibase chartcaller and field supervisor since 1998 and a longtime fixture on the Thoroughbred racing scene, died early Monday at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City after a long illness.

            He was 61 years old.

            Kelly, a native of Philadelphia and a graduate of Cal State/Hayward, was introduced to racing at a young age and was handicapping races by the time he was a teenager. He called charts at the Fresno Fair races in the early 1980’s for the racing publication SportsEye. By 1982, he was calling charts on the Southern California circuit and in 1984 he joined the Daily Racing Form staff on the East Coast.

            Over the next 14 or 15 years, he covered racing at a number of tracks in the mid-Atlantic area for Daily Racing Form as either a columnist or chart caller.

            When the licensing agreement between Daily Racing Form and Equibase was signed in 1998, Equibase hired him as a field supervisor.

            In that role, he supervised the field staff throughout the East Coast and also helped manage chartcalling for major races, including Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup events. More recently, he called charts on the NYRA circuit.

            Kelly once estimated that he had worked at 44 different racetracks through the years and had probably called over 50,000 races.

            Kelly is survived by his wife, Nancy, three sisters and a brother.  Nancy is the vice president of development for Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and executive director of The Jockey Club Foundation.

            Funeral arrangements are pending.

            In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Jockey Club Foundation, 40 E. 52^nd Street, New York, NY 10022.

-30-