Page 70 - July 2020

THE LIGHTER SIDE
J. GARVAN KELLY
by John Moorehouse
J. Garvan Kelly has built a reputation as one of the top Quarter Horse breeders in America. Currently, he and his business partner Lloyd Yother have 18 broodmares, a stable of active racehorses, and an embryo breeding program.
That growth was sparked from meager beginnings—to say the least.
“Basically, I built it on the price of a ham sandwich,” quipped Kelly, a native of Ireland who came to the United States in 1958.
Kelly bought his first Quarter Horse in 1980, named Hurry On Now.
“She won a few races and I was hooked,” he said.
Kelly points to two mares who became the foundation of the breeding operation: Sheeza Lil Val and Sky Chicks, noting “both their ensuing daughters and granddaughters still dominate our breeding program.” He pur- chased both as yearlings.
“We only paid $5,000 for her, but she became a great matriarch, actually,” Kelly said of Sheeza Lil Val. “She was small, but she had a tremendous heart and girth.”
The business has continued to grow from there. While Kelly stays primarily on the West Coast these days, his operation is based
out of EIRE Stock Farms in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. EIRE stands for Equine Investment and Racing Enterprises; it also happens to be the Gaelic name for Ireland.
“You can buy a good horse if you have
a keen eye, have patience, and you have an objective. We never spent hardly any money on geldings or studs,” Kelly said, adding, “I always felt that the best place to buy a potentially good broodmare was at a yearling sale. If they look like they’ll be a good broodmare... you might have a good downside value.”
Kelly partnered with Lloyd Yother and Nancy Yearsley for years on race horses. Last year, when Yearsley decided she wanted to withdraw from the business, Yother bought in on Kelly’s mares.
“We enjoy racing, but we enjoy breeding as much, if not more,” he said. “Something we truly enjoy is matching our mares to stallions, trying to find the right conformation to enhance the mare. That’s what we do.
“Lloyd, he takes care of the farm with his partner, Candy. I take care of the breeding, the racing management, the foal registration, and that type of thing.”
Kelly also wanted to make sure to credit his team.
“Dr. Jay Ross, my vet, who is basically up there [at the ranch] every day. My two trainers, Dee Keener in Oklahoma, and Juan Aleman. My farm manager, Curtis Palmer, who recently retired after 23 years. They do all the work. And then of course my partner, Lloyd, and Nancy Yearsley. Those people have contributed seriously to all things I’ve been able to achieve. I’d be remiss in not mentioning them.”
We hope you enjoy learning more about Kelly in the latest installment of our “Lighter Side.”
Q: Where were you born?
A: A small town called Wexford, Ireland— in the southeastern corner. It’s pretty good horse country down there for hunting and steeplechasing. It was an area of Ireland that was very heavy on tillage. I was born in the
middle of farming country. My father was a country school principal. All that part of Ireland originally was Norman. The Vikings were down there. Wexford, that’s an abbreviation of “wide ford.” It’s a mixture of Celtic and Norman
Q: Looking back, any particular achievements or accomplishments that stand out?
A: From the breeding aspect, my first major achievement I think was having Value The Man. He won the Los Alamitos Million in 2005. ... I think his last race we raced him when he was 10 years old. If a horse has some flaws, if you give him enough time to develop, he’ll give it back to you. ... We had some great mares. We took two fillies named Answer
the Dream and Three Green Leaves, both by Tres Seis. I repurchased each of them from the Ruidoso Sale for $6,500 each, and they have produced multiple graded stakes horses of over a million dollars each.
Q: I read where you were a boxer in your younger days. Can you share? A: I was actually in pre-med at the College
of Surgeons in Dublin. I wasn’t particularity enjoying it but I was enjoying all the athletics involved: rugby, Gaelic football. I really took a shine to boxing as an individual sport, which
is maybe why I’m in the horse business, too; it’s very individual. I won the Irish Middleweight Universities championship. I think I was only 18 at the time. I was about 40 pounds less than I am now. Then I came to the United States.
I didn’t want to go further in that category of education. I came over and I went to work for 3M Company in Minnesota—kind of as a valet to the various executives. I boxed in the Golden Gloves up in Minneapolis ... I saw some article in the paper about the collegiate boxing here. The big universities at the time were Michigan State, University of Nevada, and San Jose State. I wrote letters to them and I got offers from Wisconsin, Michigan State, San Jose State, but I always wanted to go to California and San Jose
“You can buy a good horse if you have a keen eye, have patience, and you have an objective. We never spent hardly any money on geldings or studs.”
68 SPEEDHORSE July 2020