Larry Kelly Remembers Father's Influence Working with Gunnevera

As a member of Team Gunnevera, former trainer Larry Kelly has relished the opportunity this week to reminisce about his late father, Hall of Fame conditioner T. J. Kelly, who grew up in Pikesville, Md, nearby Pimlico.

As a kid, Kelly, who died at the age of 93 in 2013, would scale the fence to gain access to the Pimlico backstretch, accompanied by his brother, Eddie. Soon enough, someone took notice and gave each of the teenagers a lead shank with a horse on the other end. The rest is history as both T. J. and Eddie went on to long and distinguished training careers.

“The quickest way to the Maryland Country Club, where my dad was a caddy, was to jump the fence at Pimlico,” Kelly said. “He and my uncle were put to work as hotwalkers. Their father died young and they had to support the family.”

The 59-year-old Kelly, who makes his home in Deerfield Beach, Fla., started his own horse transport business after the conclusion of his training career in 2000. During the course of the last few years, he has transported many horses conditioned by the South Florida-based Antonio Sano, Gunnevera’s trainer. When the colt was a 2-year-old and journeyed to New York for the Saratoga Special (G2) last August, Kelly was at the wheel.

“Just a half a day on the road, I could tell he was a special horse,” Kelly said Tuesday morning as he watched Gunnevera, who would win the Saratoga Special, train. “He was confident and had a good look in his eyes.”

Ever since the Saratoga sojourn, Kelly has acted as a stable representative for Sano when Gunnevera is on the road. It’s a role that Kelly says he has played in the past for other trainers when their horses race out of town.

“It’s been talked about that I’m a consultant, but I don’t think it is as much as that as being familiar with the different tracks, which, in some cases, trainers might not be. Track surfaces, vets, places to stay — everything that is included in a move — I help with,” Kelly said.

Kelly’s father saddled six Preakness starters, with his best finish coming with the runner-up in 1961, Globemaster.

“I was here in 1980 when Colonel Moran was third for Pop,” Kelly said. “I think about that a lot. Even though he ran in Pop’s name, I had him in New York with me that winter when Pop had Plugged Nickle in Florida. It’s great to remember those times.”

Source: Maryland Jockey Club