Barclay Tagg
Encyclopedia
Barclay Tagg is an American thoroughbred
horse trainer
. A 1961 graduate of Pennsylvania State University
with a degree in Animal Husbandry
, he is best known for conditioning Kentucky Derby
, Preakness, and Jockey Club Gold Cup
winner Funny Cide
. Horses in Tagg's stable have included Showing Up
and Nobiz Like Shobiz
. Barclay trains horses year round, spending spring in New York
and winter in Florida
.
Formerly a steeplechase
jockey
, Tagg won his first race in 1972 at Old Liberty Park. He has been a journeyman trainer for many years, and with Funny Cide became the first trainer to win the Kentucky Derby in his first attempt since Cam Gambolati
with Spend a Buck
in 1985.
A - "That's all I do. I don't play golf. I don't go bowling. I don't go to Disneyland. I just take good care of the horses and wait for something good to happen. It took me 30-some years but this lovely thing came along." ---Barclay Tagg on Funny Cide
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
horse trainer
Horse trainer
In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...
. A 1961 graduate of Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
with a degree in Animal Husbandry
Animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.- History :Animal husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....
, he is best known for conditioning Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
, Preakness, and Jockey Club Gold Cup
Jockey Club Gold Cup
The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the...
winner Funny Cide
Funny Cide
Funny Cide is a Thoroughbred race horse who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in 2003. He is the first New York-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby and the first gelding to win since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929.-Bloodlines:...
. Horses in Tagg's stable have included Showing Up
Showing Up
Showing Up is an American thoroughbred race horse. Foaled near Wilmore, Kentucky in 2003 at Peter Taafe's Taafe Farm, he was bred by Nellie M. Cox of Rose Retreat Farm. Showing Up spent the first year of his life on Nellie's Goochland, Virginia farm...
and Nobiz Like Shobiz
Nobiz Like Shobiz
Nobiz Like Shobiz is an American Thoroughbred racehorse, who during his three-year-old season was considered a top contender for the 2007U.S. Triple Crown series of races...
. Barclay trains horses year round, spending spring in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and winter in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Formerly a steeplechase
Steeplechase (horse racing)
The steeplechase is a form of horse racing and derives its name from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside...
jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
, Tagg won his first race in 1972 at Old Liberty Park. He has been a journeyman trainer for many years, and with Funny Cide became the first trainer to win the Kentucky Derby in his first attempt since Cam Gambolati
Cam Gambolati
Cam M. Gambolati is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer best known for winning the 1985 Kentucky Derby with Spend A Buck....
with Spend a Buck
Spend A Buck
Spend A Buck was an American thoroughbred race horse.-Background:Spend A Buck was sired by Buckaroo out of the dam Belle de Jour...
in 1985.
Quotations
Q - "You enabled a New York-bred gelding to transcend the Sport of Kings and infiltrate mainstream America like no other horse in the last 30 years." ---Steve HaskinA - "That's all I do. I don't play golf. I don't go bowling. I don't go to Disneyland. I just take good care of the horses and wait for something good to happen. It took me 30-some years but this lovely thing came along." ---Barclay Tagg on Funny Cide