Tales Of The Past: The legacy of the Kellys
Cover photo: Albion Park's first phase with a half mile track and south-east facing stands (Source: State Library Queensland)
By Ross Stanley
The Kellys have come a long way since Tipperay - five generations of the clan have worked in racing.
Ireland’s Great Famine peaked between 1845 and 1852. The catastrophe that was triggered by blight infections in the potato crops generated a massive exodus to places such as North America and Australia.
Prospects were also extremely grave in the 1880s because of poor harvests and the agrarian upheaval in what was termed the Land War.
The colony of Queensland offered free passage to Irish folk whose occupations would advance its development.
THE FIRST GENERATION
Four such immigrants from the Emerald Isle figured in the foundation of a Down Under branch that has been an asset to horse racing in an extraordinary way.
Edward Kelly, the pathfinder, was welcomed into the world officially at Cashel in Tipperary by his parents John and Catherine (nee Dwyer) Kelly in 1862.
Their residence was nearby at Castlelake in limestone country that had a long tradition of dairy farming and horse breeding. Unsurprisingly, Edward’s immigration papers indicated that he was a farm labourer.
Later, the Cashel district became the home of the equine creme de la creme. In 1951, the legendary trainer Vincent O’Brien bought the large farm known as Ballydoyle. The super star Nijinsky was one of six Epsom Derby heroes that his stables accommodated. Furthermore, Coolmore Stud’s world headquarters is a showpiece at Fethard.
Edward Kelly also spent time in Cork. The Tivoli Docks was probably the 20-year-old’s departure point when he headed to Plymouth to board the barque Stracathro for his voyage to Moreton Bay on May 25, 1882.
The sailing vessel reached its destination on September 3, 1882. This was almost two years after another Edward Kelly, better known as Ned, was hung in Melbourne. Coincidentally, his father John was born in 1820 at Clonbrogan near Moyglas, a mere eight miles east of Cashel. At age 21, he was convicted for stealing two pigs and dispatched to Hobart.
The second arrival, in September 1883 on the Roma, was Catherine Riordan (March 17, 1858- December 6, 1929). She hailed from Killarney in County Kerry. Edward and Catherine were married at Brisbane’s St Stephens Cathedral on April 26, 1884.
The third newcomer, in late September 1884 on the Quetta, was John (Jack) Shea (18 July 1867-7 March 1911), a native of Cloughjordan in northern Tipperary.
Edward Kelly’s younger sister Mary (1863-1907) rounded out the quartet when she reached Queensland on the mail steamer Merkara in February 1889. John and Mary were also wed in St Stephen's Cathedral.
The Kellys and the Sheas were in close contact. Both males worked at the Breakfast Creek Sports Ground, the precinct that evolved into the Albion Park racecourse. Shea served as caretaker, handicapper and starter and when he left in 1910 to fulfil roles at Eagle Farm, Edward replaced him as The Creek’s caretaker. John Shea died suddenly on the verandah of the Ranger’s Lodge at Ascot after a 14-month stint.
Edward, Catherine and their family lived in Gaythorne (now Crosby) Road. Later on, their son Jim and his son Ed lived a handful of houses away in the same street.
The Queensland Racing Calendar (November 1969) stated that, “Kelly ran his cows alongside Albion Park. He was a breeder of game fowls and Mrs Kelly was noted as a maker of tasteful rosella jam.”
The Telegraph (August 31, 1889) reported that the inaugural meeting of the Brisbane Sports, Trotting and Pony Racing Club drew almost 3,000 spectators. The early 1890s rolled out a wide range of events at the Sports Ground. The list included Rugby Union, lacrosse, Australian football, cycling, athletics under lights, a balloon ascent with a parachute jump by Miss Gladys Van Tessel, massive picnics, concerts and gun club contests. In 1892, an international tug of war competition was staged in front of a crowd of 8,000.
On the downside, the 1893 Brisbane Flood and the Australian Depression in the 1890s were horrendous challenges.
Queensland Racing Calendar (November 1969) noted that, “after working at Albion Park for some years, Mr Kelly was appointed caretaker with the taking over of the Course by the Creek, by John Wren in 1910. The tales about Mr Kelly and John Wren were unlimited; some true and some manufactured; but, it is a fact that it took some time for Mr Wren to believe that his new caretaker’s name was really ‘Ned’.”
By the way, both “Neds” had long beards.
SECOND GENERATION
Edward, who was a member of the Hibernian Australian Catholic Benefit Society, drew his last breath on November 20, 1919. Catherine passed away in 1929. Four sons, namely Jack (1889-1958), Stephen (1894-1969), Thomas (1898-1964) and James (1900-1958) followed in their father’s footsteps. The siblings were all tradesmen and so serviced the construction side. On the other hand, they had various raceday duties.
Their non-racing brother Edward Joseph Kelly was the Secretary of the Transport Union.
Jim did not go straight into the racing arena. He was a train driver and also served for some years with the building firm S.S. Carrick.
Then, after plenty of experience as an assistant, he made his debut as a starter at Albion Park in 1938. Kelly was given a month’s trial but was immediately confirmed after his first day of the audition.
The following tribute was published in The Queensland Racing Calendar (December 1958):
“Jim’s Kelly’s name was a household word in the racing world. He was the official starter at the metropolitan tracks at Eagle Farm, Doomben, Albion Park and Ipswich.
“Mr Kelly was the construction manager for the Brisbane Amateur Turf Club. The many buildings erected on the Doomben and Albion Park racecourses in recent years were under the supervision of Mr Kelly.
“Mr Kelly’s starting abilities gained the respect of the jockeys who rode under him and his reputation as a starter was Australia-wide.
“Jim took a keen interest in the apprentices; gave them fatherly advice and never missed any of their functions. He started at the sports and all charity shows where any of the boys took part.
Kelly designed fine photo finish towers at Doomben and Albion Park. On a personal note, he had a great friendship with trainer Charlie Sellwood and was the godfather to his jockey son Neville.
Kelly left the three barrier stalls nearest the rails empty for the start of the 26-horse field in the 1951 Doomben £10,000. The strategy of creating the extra space on the inside to prevent some crowding at the jump is now common practice. In his day, it made the papers.
The convention applicable to misbehaving horses was to banish them to the outside of the line- up. Jim was scrupulous in his decision-making. Jockeys of offenders were known to support him in cases where connections made a formal complaint.
Jim, who had the eventual pleasure of dispatching candidates from the modern mobile stalls in his last decade, favoured the single strand over the multi-strand model in the preceding era.
Keith Noud (August 23, 1948, The Telegraph) commented on improvements that had been made to Doomben’s course proper: “Between the seven furlongs and half-mile posts,1,000 yards of turf were removed and replaced after 2,777 yards of filling had been inserted. The result has been a rise as high as one foot in 65 feet between the inside and outside of the course. The "Surveyor" for the job was metropolitan starter Mr. Jim Kelly.”
After Jim’s passing, Steve took over the starting role at BATC courses and also filled the gap with the apprentices.
A fatal collapse during a track inspection at Albion Park’s harness circuit in November 1969, sadly ended his almost 40 years in racecourse management.
In 1923, he had been the first of the Kellys to be on the payroll at Doomben. He was on the staff at the new track’s opening day in 1933 and became a barrier attendant in 1938.
Steve was the one who fixed a problem with a rail direction in Doomben’s straight six course in 1941, just before its wartime closure.
BATC Chairman Dr Clive Uhr and Steve had travelled together to study racing in all Australian capitals and key New Zealand regimes.
Bachelors Jack and Tom, who resided together at Albion Park, were both caretakers at that course.
THIRD GENERATION
Ed Kelly was born in February 1931. As a nipper, he would slip under the Albion Park St Leger grandstand and pick up money that dropped through small gaps in the floor.
When he completed his indentures as a carpenter in 1960, the habit among builders was to sack their graduates. Fortunately, a job opportunity came up with the BATC.
He was the understudy to judge Dudley Jenkins before his promotion to the position as head BATC judge in 1968.He retired from that aspect at age 65 in July 2004.
He was succeeded by his long-term deputy Ivan Schultz with Ed's son Jason, a member of the ground staff, backfilling the post as assistant judge. Jason now trains guard dogs.
His final phase with the Doomben scene was between 2007 and 2009 as Warren Williams’ assistant track manager.
Along the way, an owner objected to a decision Kelly made in an Albion Park trotting race. After being suspended, QTC identity Phil Sullivan was his legal representative for his appeal. They won the case; Ed was reinstated but resigned soon after. The man who personified integrity was simply determined to clear his name.
Ed was across the eras of the black and white developed print and the modern digital system with its instant colour image. The latter technology enables judges to split down to under 2 millimetres.
Ed learnt all the colours jockeys were wearing and the names of mounts like a racecaller does. The now 86-year-old lives in north-west Brisbane, naturally still follows matters of the turf and is an astute student of his family’s history.
Kelly fondly recalled the annual pilgrimage his kinfolk made with their wives on a non-race day when the gardens were in full bloom for the 10,000 and Cup festival. The group lunched at Steve’s Ranger’s residence which was just inside Doomben’s Main Gates.
FOURTH GENERATION
Ed’s son Kim added a new dimension and continued the Kellys’ enthusiasm for the industry.
He was always destined for an occupation in the thoroughbred domain and was chomping at the bit with impatience. His preference was to finish his secondary education at the end of Year 10 at Mount Maria Marist College at Mitchelton. Wise heads prevailed and he did complete the final two years. During his school holidays, he got jobs with the BATC.
Soon after, Kim really did start on the ground floor level, toiling away in the raceday horse stalls. He progressed to the Satchel Room, an interstate betting ring on the first floor in the public stand at Doomben. There he wrote fluctuations on a white board and later had microphone tasks. He had a rudimentary interest in stewarding.
In November 1984, he worked in the handicapping section at Eagle Farm before Chief Steward Paul Byrne gave him a chance part-time. Because his services were required at Eagle Farm as timekeeper in the judge’s box, he could only cover Doomben programs. The following year, under the captaincy of Ray Murrihy, he was employed full time as a cadet.
Kim was involved in country and city meetings and had terms as head of panels at the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast and the entire Central West Region with its base at Barcaldine.
From December 1995 to July 1999, Kelly was a Sydney-based steward and was promoted to the spot of Deputy Chairman for the Australian Jockey Club’s stipes in July 1999. Three years later, he was Hong Kong bound. After seven years as a steward he assumed the Chair - a position he held for 14 years.
Kim has held numerous other involvements with themes such as anti-illegal betting and related financial crime, anti-gene doping model rules, international harmonisation, the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities and presiding over the International Stewards Conference.
On returning to Brisbane in July 2023, Kelly did some consultancy work with Racing NSW stewards before performing the role of Acting Assistant Commissioner for the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission (QRIC).
In February 2025, Kelly organised a major conference at Doomben for all relevant QRIC personnel across the state in all codes. The body’s strategic plan was a central focus.
In his capacity as Racing Minister, Tim Mander announced Kim Kelly’s formal appointment as Deputy Commissioner of QRIC on March 22, 2025.
“Governing, adjudicating and policing the integrity of the racing industry comes with its share of pressure and scrutiny so we need a steady hand. The best leaders possess a deep knowledge of the rules and the ability to make clear and decisive decisions and Mr Kelly has these attributes in abundance,” Mr Mander said.
Kelly undertook a series of riding lessons so he would have some semblance of an idea about horse behaviours under saddle.
Kim explains that he still revels in the theatre of the racetrack and sustains his fascination with the animal. When asked how he relaxes, his answer is that he continues to explore horse racing.
THE FIFTH GENERATION
Kim and Donna Kelly’s daughters, Lori and Georgia, had a limited taste of the thoroughbred realm as children growing up in Hong Kong. Because under-18s were not permitted by the jockey club to enjoy a full raceday outing like their Australian counterparts, they had to settle for watching barrier trials at Happy Valley.
Lori is now a lawyer. Georgia is about to graduate from the Queensland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Communication, majoring in Digital Media. She developed an attraction to that field during her school life at Ormiston College.
Georgia, after completing an internship with the Brisbane Racing Club, is now on the club’s staff at Eagle Farm with a focus on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
“I do live work at the track on racedays. The atmosphere is great. I can now see why my father loves it,” Georgia said.
Georgia has opened a novel chapter for the family. She is not only its first female professional in the sport but her engagement in the creative side breaks new ground.
THE WRAP UP
It is safe to say that the Kellys have uniquely participated with longevity, versatility and skill. There have been many other racing dynasties but they were confined to far fewer fields.
Jockey, trainers and breeders come quickly to mind.
The Kellys’ activities began back at the end of the 19th century.
Each generation has helped prepare its young brigade for a positive hard-working future.
Note: This is the final of around 150 Tales of the Past. Gratitude is expressed to those who were helpful and supportive during the journey.
