Billy Kelly was small, lightly made and as plain as a horse could be, but his heart and his talent were both much bigger than his body. By the end of his 2-year-old season, he had already proved to be a remarkably consistent and classy performer and had even taken the measure of his elders in two all-aged races. Only a narrow loss to the speedy Eternal in a match race at Laurel kept him from being unanimously hailed as the season's juvenile champion; as it was, he ended up sharing the honors with his rival, whom he had beaten in a previous race. At three and beyond, Billy Kelly was overshadowed by his flashier stablemate Sir Barton but was widely considered one of the best sprinters of his time.
Out of the money just six times in his career, Billy Kelly might have had a still better (and longer) record had he not been the victim of a cruel act of race fixing. After Billy Kelly had won his first six starts as a 5-year-old, someone pushed a sponge deep into one of the gelding's nostrils, an act calculated to interfere with the horse's ability to breathe. Billy Kelly finished unplaced and in obvious distress in three straight races before the sponge was discovered and removed. The episode may have done permanent damage to Billy Kelly's lungs and heart; although he won three straight races after removal of the sponge, he bled heavily in his next outing and only flashed his old form once afterward when a hard-trying second to the great Exterminator in the 1922 Harford Handicap. After a brief stint of use as a hunter and an unsuccessful comeback to racing, Billy Kelly was pensioned in 1923 and died in 1926.
Race record
69 starts, 39 wins, 17 seconds, 7 thirds, US$99,782
1918:
1919:
1920:
1921:
1922:
Honors
Assessments
Ranked third among American 3-year-old males of 1919 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
A small, angular bay gelding, Billy Kelly was described by a contemporary as looking like “a lean mule.” Scrawny in appearance, he was as tough, game and durable as any horseman could wish and had clean, sound legs. He was also an exceptional weight carrier. A painting in the collection of the National Museum of Racing suggests that he may have been slightly over at the knee. He had an amiable disposition that made him a stable pet.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Billy Kelly was bred by Jerome Respess. He was sold as a yearling to trainer William Perkins for US$1,500 (according to Tom Hall in The Blood-Horse of August 1, 2015, for US$250 in cash and US$1,250 in paper). Perkins, in turn, sold a half interest to W. F. Polson. After two stakes wins at the 1918 Saratoga meeting, Commander J. K. L. Ross bought Billy Kelly for US$27,500. Following his sale, Billy Kelly was trained by H. G. “Hard Guy” Bedwell. Billy Kelly was found dead in his stall at Ross' Canadian farm in the summer of 1926; autopsy revealed an enlarged heart. The gelding was was buried in a field overlooking the St. Lawrence River.
Pedigree notes
Billy Kelly is inbred 4x5 to two-time English champion sire King Tom and 5x4 to King Tom's son Phaeton. His dam Glena produced nothing else of any significance. She was produced from the Faustus mare Fautress, whose dam Can Dance (by the Lexington horse War Dance) also produced New Dance (by Newcourt), dam of stakes winners Caper Sauce (by Morpheus) and Pepper Sauce (by Inferno).
Fun facts
Photo credit
Photographer unknown. From the private collection of Dale Wyatt; used by permission.
Last updated: November 11, 2020
Out of the money just six times in his career, Billy Kelly might have had a still better (and longer) record had he not been the victim of a cruel act of race fixing. After Billy Kelly had won his first six starts as a 5-year-old, someone pushed a sponge deep into one of the gelding's nostrils, an act calculated to interfere with the horse's ability to breathe. Billy Kelly finished unplaced and in obvious distress in three straight races before the sponge was discovered and removed. The episode may have done permanent damage to Billy Kelly's lungs and heart; although he won three straight races after removal of the sponge, he bled heavily in his next outing and only flashed his old form once afterward when a hard-trying second to the great Exterminator in the 1922 Harford Handicap. After a brief stint of use as a hunter and an unsuccessful comeback to racing, Billy Kelly was pensioned in 1923 and died in 1926.
Race record
69 starts, 39 wins, 17 seconds, 7 thirds, US$99,782
1918:
- Won Bashford Manor Stakes (USA, 4.5FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Annapolis Handicap (USA, 6FD, Laurel)
- Won Eastern Shore Handicap (USA, 6FD, Havre de Grace)
- Won Flash Stakes (USA, 5.5FD, Saratoga)
- Won Sanford Stakes (USA, 6FD, Saratoga)
- Won United States Hotel Stakes (USA, 6FD, Saratoga)
- Won Grab Bag Handicap (USA, 6FD, Saratoga)
- Won Idle Hour Stakes (USA, 4.5FD, Lexington)
- Won Columbus Handicap (USA, 6FD, Laurel)
- 2nd Albany Handicap (USA, 6FD, Saratoga)
- 2nd McLean Memorial Cup (USA, Laurel; a match race with Eternal)
1919:
- Won Capital Handicap (USA, 6FD, Laurel)
- Won Harford Handicap (USA, 5.5FD, Havre de Grace)
- Won Philadelphia Handicap (USA, 6FD, Havre de Grace)
- Won Toboggan Handicap (USA, 6FD, Belmont)
- Won Pimlico Fall Serial Weight-For-Age #1 (USA, 6FD, Pimlico)
- Won Highweight Handicap (USA, Havre de Grace)
- Won Susquehanna Handicap (USA, 6FD, Havre de Grace; new track record 1:11-1/5)
- 2nd Kentucky Derby (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- 2nd Potomac Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Havre de Grace)
- 2nd Laurel Handicap (USA, 8FD, Laurel)
- 2nd Pimlico Fall Serial Weight-For-Age #3 (USA, 9FD, Pimlico)
- 2nd Autumn Highweight Handicap (USA, 6FD, Belmont)
- 3rd Pimlico Fall Serial Weight-For-Age #2 (USA, 8FD, Pimlico)
1920:
- Won Belair Handicap (USA, 6FD, Havre de Grace)
- Won Harford Handicap (USA, 6FD, Havre de Grace)
- Won Pimlico Fall Serial Weight-For-Age #1 (USA, 6FD, Pimlico)
- Won Pimlico Fall Serial Weight-For-Age #3 (USA, 9FD, Pimlico)
- 2nd Paumonok Handicap (USA, 6FD, Jamaica)
- 2nd Pimlico Fall Serial Weight-For-Age #2 (USA, 8FD, Pimlico)
- 3rd Philadelphia Handicap (USA, 6FD, Havre de Grace)
1921:
- Won Capital Handicap (USA, 6FD, Laurel)
- Won Harford Handicap (USA, 6FD, Havre de Grace; equaled track record 1:11-1/5)
- Won Connaught Cup (CAN, Blue Bonnets)
- Won King George Stakes
- Won Aero Handicap
- Won Govan Handicap
- 3rd Laurel Handicap (USA, 8FD, Laurel)
1922:
- 2nd Harford Handicap (USA, 6FD, Havre de Grace)
Honors
- National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (2015)
- American co-champion 2-year-old male (1918)
Assessments
Ranked third among American 3-year-old males of 1919 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
A small, angular bay gelding, Billy Kelly was described by a contemporary as looking like “a lean mule.” Scrawny in appearance, he was as tough, game and durable as any horseman could wish and had clean, sound legs. He was also an exceptional weight carrier. A painting in the collection of the National Museum of Racing suggests that he may have been slightly over at the knee. He had an amiable disposition that made him a stable pet.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Billy Kelly was bred by Jerome Respess. He was sold as a yearling to trainer William Perkins for US$1,500 (according to Tom Hall in The Blood-Horse of August 1, 2015, for US$250 in cash and US$1,250 in paper). Perkins, in turn, sold a half interest to W. F. Polson. After two stakes wins at the 1918 Saratoga meeting, Commander J. K. L. Ross bought Billy Kelly for US$27,500. Following his sale, Billy Kelly was trained by H. G. “Hard Guy” Bedwell. Billy Kelly was found dead in his stall at Ross' Canadian farm in the summer of 1926; autopsy revealed an enlarged heart. The gelding was was buried in a field overlooking the St. Lawrence River.
Pedigree notes
Billy Kelly is inbred 4x5 to two-time English champion sire King Tom and 5x4 to King Tom's son Phaeton. His dam Glena produced nothing else of any significance. She was produced from the Faustus mare Fautress, whose dam Can Dance (by the Lexington horse War Dance) also produced New Dance (by Newcourt), dam of stakes winners Caper Sauce (by Morpheus) and Pepper Sauce (by Inferno).
Fun facts
- Billy Kelly was named after a sports editor for a newspaper in Buffalo, New York.
- Billy Kelly's lifetime companion was a nameless tabby cat, which slept in the gelding's stall nightly until the horse's death.
- Billy Kelly won four times as a 2-year-old with 130 pounds or more up, including the 1918 Grab Bag Handicap under 135 pounds. In that race, Billy Kelly conceded 13 to 35 pounds to his rivals and won comfortably from the speedy Sweep On, winner of the Grand Union Hotel Stakes that season.
- Earl Sande's loss aboard Billy Kelly in the gelding's match race with Eternal was commonly ascribed to Sande's having allowed Andy Schuttinger on Eternal to grab the early lead (though in fairness to Sande, Billy Kelly had come out of his last previous race with a gash below his left hind ankle and still had an open wound at the time of the McLean Memorial). Sande's performance in this high-pressure situation may have influenced Commander Ross to take Sande off Sir Barton for the latter horse's race with Man o' War in the Kenilworth Gold Cup in 1920. While the decision permanently damaged Ross' relations with Sande, it probably made no difference in the outcome of the race as Sir Barton was well beaten by the younger champion after seizing the initial lead.
- Billy Kelly's second-place finish in the 1919 Kentucky Derby enabled Commander Ross to land a US$50,000 “horse-and-horse” bet with notorious gambler Arnold Rothstein regarding the relative merits of Billy Kelly and Eternal. Eternal, also in the Kentucky Derby field, ran 10th.
- Aside from making 19 starts in 1919, Billy Kelly was also called on to serve as a work horse for Sir Barton, who disliked morning workouts and would only exert himself if he had other horses running with him to give him the semblance of a race. Billy Kelly was one of the few horses both talented enough and durable enough to serve the purpose, as Sir Barton needed a great deal of work to stay fit and burned out several other stablemates.
Photo credit
Photographer unknown. From the private collection of Dale Wyatt; used by permission.
Last updated: November 11, 2020