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► — Paul Kelley Knew Easy Spur Would Make Classic Grade Horsemans Horseman Had Faith in Colt Even When Octopus Was Doing So Well By Staff Correspondent CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisiville, Ky., May 1. — Paul Kelley s faith in Easy Spur has never wavered. Even as Easy Spur was sidelined during the early part of the winter, and his stablemate Octopus was winning stakes at Tropical Park and Hialeah Kelley maintained stoutly that he had a better three-year-old in the barn. And thus when Easy Spur ran off a string of three consecutive stakes victories at Gulf-stream Park this spring, the Crowfoot gelding was adding to the reputation of a highly respected "horsemans horseman," who Saturday will saddle his first starter in the Kentucky Derby. Tho slender, be-spectacled, 56 -year-old Kelley, from Creston, Iowa, is known and esteemed by his professional colleagues throughout the country, for his broad experience, knowledge, understanding and skill with a race horse. He has been close to the sport for over 30 years, made a i name for himself when he owned and , trained his own stock. When you work for yourself, you either make a go of it or you starve, and Kelley, despite his lean appearance, has always lived as well or better than his neighbors on the race track. Never Troubled With Indecision A friendly man who speaks softly and-easily, Kelley is quite firm in the operation of his stable and is never troubled by indecision. He knows what to do, has confidence in his experience, and is not the sort who deludes himself with false hopes about horses in a game largely built on hopes. Hes a master at bringing a horse up to a race and his delicate touch enables him to get the most out of his I stock without killing them off needlessly in the mornings. The gentlemanly Kelley, who is too busy attending to his own affairs to comment on those of others, was one of 13 children, grew up on a farm in Iowa, where he handled work horses, and rode briefly in his youth. "I was around the old Salt Lake City track in the mid-1920s," he recalls, "and I decided to take a shot at riding. I wasnt a small boy, weighed about 126 pounds then, which was all right for galloping horses in the mornings. I began reducing and got down to 103, but it was killing me to make the weight and I could only take it for about three months." "I giiess I first got interested in racing," Kelley continues, "when my dad was in the Creston hospital. His room overlooked the Fair Grounds, I saw what was going on, and went over there one day. I remember standing around watching Benny Creech shoeing a horse when Ben Jones rolled up in a new car without a top on it. Id never seen a car like that before and I was very much impressed. B. A. was quite a high roller in those days." Kelley began training horses around 1927 at the Old Tijuana track in Mexico, competing against Jones, Creech and other greats of the profession. He went to work for Jim Norris, the master of Spring Hill Farm, in the fall of 1955, upon the retirement of the veteran John Partridge. In the interim, he had horses for several other owners on occasion, but for the most part raced his own stock, and with considerable success. In 1948, for instance, Kelley bought a three-year-old by Gallant Fox, from Jim Fitzsimmons for 2,500. The colt was named Gangway, and several months after the sale, Kelley sent him out to win the 0,000 LaSalle Handicap at Washington Continued on Page 50 D I i ! I I Kelley Never Wavered In His Faith in Easy Spur Horsemans Horseman Said All Along He Was Octopus Superior Continued from Page 14 D Park. In subsequent seasons, Gangway went on to earn abou 00,000, and among his most notable victories was a triumph over Sunglow, sire of Sword Dancer, in the 1951 running of the McLennan Handicap at Hialeah. In the summer of 1939, Kelley worked on a cheap horse named Gridiron in Chicago, and the mighty Challedon was forced to go all out to beat him inches in a stake. Stud Poker won almost 00,000 undei Kelleys guidance and a horse called Float Away notched over 50 victories in his capable hands. There have been other good ones; there will be more after Easy Spur. Kelley has a way with a horse and is a man who knows and loves his job.
