Jon Kelly, Del Mar board member, dies at 84

Jon Kelly, a prominent horse owner with business interests in broadcasting, banking, and real estate, died Saturday of cancer, Del Mar announced.

Kelly had turned 84 on Friday. Kelly was in hospice care at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., not far from Del Mar racetrack.

A native of California, Kelly was a member of the Board of Directors at Del Mar since 2008. Kelly had a background as the owner of television stations in Sacramento and Seattle, a bank in Sacramento and real estate holdings in northern California.

In racing, Kelly and his wife Sarah campaigned such runners as Borrego, who won the Pacific Classic at Del Mar and the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park in 2005. The Kellys owned Borrego in a partnership.

The Kellys owned Vacare, a millionaire who won six stakes; Red Vine, a stakes winner at Monmouth Park who was second in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct in 2015; Lady at Peace, a multiple stakes winner in 1999 and 2000; and Cayenne Pepper, a stakes winner in Ireland in 2019.

In Saturday’s first race at Del Mar, Caisson, owned by the Kellys, finished fourth in his debut in a one-mile maiden race on turf.

Kelly is survived by his wife, Sarah, six children and grandchildren.

The family has requested donations in Kelly’s name be made to the Gregson Foundation, which provides services for the families of backstretch workers in California, or the Center for Equine Health at the UC-Davis school for veterinary medicine.

No funeral services are planned.