Nancy C. Kelly, who wore many hats in the racing industry and was instrumental in raising significant funds for equine research and individuals in need over a 32-year career at The Jockey Club, died Friday in Garden City Park, N.Y., after a lengthy battle with ovarian cancer. She was 71. As the vice president of development for the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and the executive director of The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation, Kelly organized countless fundraising events from golf tournaments and ladies’ luncheons to formal gala dinners, which would raise millions of dollars. She also managed domestic and international racing conferences, including the annual Jockey Club Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing in Saratoga and the Pan Am Conference in New York City. Kelly had worked in the clubhouse relations department of the New York Racing Association before The Jockey Club chairman Odgen Mills “Dinny” Phipps, recruited her to join The Jockey Club staff in 1985. “Nancy had hundreds, if not thousands, of friends throughout the Thoroughbred industry, and she was as universally respected and admired as much as anyone I’ve ever known,” Stuart S. Janney III, the chairman of The Jockey Club, said in a release. “She was the face of The Jockey Club in many ways and no one was ever a better representative of our organization. Our sincere condolences go out to her entire family.” Kelly, a native of New Hyde Park, N.Y., and a resident of Westbury, N.Y., helped create and was a volunteer of several Belmont Park-based organizations to help benefit backstretch workers. After retiring from The Jockey Club in 2017, Kelly was named president of the New York Race Track Chaplaincy. She also was on the board of the Belmont Child Care Association. From then on, she served as the vice president and as a board member. “This is a sad day for anyone who ever knew Nancy and that includes all the racetrack chaplains around the country with whom she worked on a regular basis,” Humberto Chavez, the lead chaplain and executive director of the New York Racetrack Chaplaincy, said in a release. “She was a humanitarian in every sense of the word and took great joy in helping others.” Though Kelly avoided the limelight, she was often honored by organizations and community groups for her service to the industry and nearby communities. Among the honors she received were the Race Track Chaplaincy of America’s Award of Excellence, the Jockeys’ Guild’s Eddie Arcaro Award (presented annually to a person who shows exceptional commitment to jockeys and the organization) and the New York Turf Writers Association’s Red Smith Good Guy Award. Kelly is survived by her sister, Fran Dtugokenski; brother-in-law, Ray Dtugokenski; nieces Lisa Locurto and Michelle Mirabile; and four grand-nieces and two grand-nephews. Kelly’s late husband, Jack Kelly, an Equibase chartcaller and field supervisor, died in November 2010 after a long battle with polycythemia. A wake will be held Monday at 9 a.m. at the Leo F. Kearns Funeral Home, 445 E. Meadow Avenue in East Meadow, N.Y. It will be followed by a Mass at 11 a.m. at St. Brigid Catholic Church, 85 Post Avenue in Westbury, N.Y. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation, the New York Race Track Chaplaincy, or the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.