KELLY BREEN ISSUE 23 REVISED v2_Jerkins feature.qxd 31/01/2012 13:52 Page 2
KELLY BREEN
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KELLY BREEN In the world of horseracing, being on the smaller side is as common as bacon and eggs. The racetrack is dominated by men and women of a shorter stature, and it was that awareness that hit a young Kelly Breen when his father took him to Monmouth Park Racetrack in New Jersey. “I was always the smallest kid in my class. I loved sports: I was in all-star little league baseball –played second base – and I was on the all-star travel soccer team. When I was fourteen, I wrestled at 90 pounds. I don’t like losing…whether it’s video games or sports, I always try to find a way to win. When I was young I saw the gambling at the track and then seeing small athletes, the jockeys, I thought, ‘Hey, this could be for me.’” WORDS: AmAnDA ROxbOROugh PhOTOS: hORSEPhOTOS.COm, AmAnDA ROxbOROugh
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ith the seed planted, his determined nature took flight and it was to the surprise and admiration of his parents Jackie and Milvi Breen that they had to shuttle their youngest of four children to a farm every day before and after school to muck out stalls. “Before I went to high school, my dad would drop me off and then he had to drive an hour into Manhattan to go to work, then my mom would pick me up at school and drive me back to the barn so I could gallop one horse. They did that for me,” says Breen with emotional respect for two people he cares for deeply, and as a father now he can truly absorb the impact of their loving commitment to their family. “I’ve been working seven days a week since I was 13 and I’m sure I ruined many of my parents’ weekends.” He jokes, “My dad would say, ‘The kid’s 14 and every Sunday morning he’s up before me saying, Pop let’s go.’” Those early patterns became a lifestyle for Breen, who started galloping horses at the track. He had a long and very successful
working relationship with trainer Ben Perkins Sr. as his assistant and was the exercise rider of many of the barn stars, such as Appealing Skier, Forest Wildcat, and Confide. “I worked for Ben and went to a lot of two-year-olds-intraining sales. I paid attention and I learned a lot. Ben is still a part of my life now. If he never retired in 1999, part of me says I wouldn’t be where I am now because I probably would still be working for him,” says Breen. There was a detour on Breen’s path where he wondered if the racing world was really his
“Things have been going so well for us, the Halls and our stable. We’ve won graded races and had some of the best moments you could ask for in this business”
destiny. In 1990 he questioned his choice of career. “I did a lot of soul searching after I finished riding. I had to make a decision if I could make enough money doing what I was doing, and my father and brothers are steamfitters in the city. I started an apprenticeship at the Local 638 Steamfitters in New Jersey. You have to go to class every Wednesday to learn the trade. I worked in the World Trade Center putting in air conditioners on the 85th floor, and at Coney Island I installed a whole heating system at the station there. It was neat; you see it all from beginning to end. I probably worked a total of five months at it and I didn’t dislike it but it wasn’t winning races; it was just a job. It’s tough to get winning out of your system,” says Breen. With the retirement of Perkins, Breen took the leap to go out on his own. Life has moments that test us, and his timing wasn’t without challenges. “My daughter was born end of 1999. I had just bought a townhouse. I had no clients starting out, only a couple of horses for my dad and I at Philadelphia Park. I had lots of bills and I know people were thinking, ‘Who’s Kelly Breen?’ For Christmas that year my wife bought me an ad in the
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