Considering an investment in thoroughbred racing partnerships? Our team is backed by a team of trainers with their own proven track records in the racing industry. This select stable of talented trainers only adds to the excitement of our partnership ventures in horse racing ownership. We know how to buy a winner and they know how to train a winner.
Barclay Tagg
Barclay Tagg (who trains with Robin Smullen) taught riding and showed horses throughout his teenage years, and graduated from Penn State University in 1961 with a degree in animal husbandry. Tagg was managing a farm in Pennsylvania by 1963 and started riding jumpers three years later. Initially, Tagg rode steeplechasers and was an assistant to Hall of Fame steeplechase trainer Jonathan Sheppard.
Tagg began training thoroughbreds in the early 1970s, somewhat disappointed with his career in jumping. ''I did it more for fun. I never had any really good horses. It was a struggle,'' Tagg said of his career as a steeplechase rider. Tagg took out a training license in December 1971.
Since he took out his trainer's license, he's always been more comfortable tending to the needs and wants of horses than fussing over owners and cultivating rich clients. 'Barclay is not a schmoozy kind of guy,' says Jack Knowlton, Sackatoga's managing partner. 'He trains horses.'
Tagg, who primarily trains on the Northeast circuit, notched his first win as a trainer with Tudor's Fancy at Liberty Bell Park in January 1972. Other horses trained by Tagg include Crab Grass, a multiple stakes winner who won the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship Series in 1999; Royal Mountain Inn, winner of the 1994 Man o' War Stakes (G1); and five-time graded stakes winner Miss Josh, who captured the 1991 Gamely Handicap (G1) and Matchmaker Stakes (G2). In 2002, Tagg trained 32 winners and the earners of $1,162,212. Big wins in 2002 included the Sleepy Hollow Stakes and Bertram F. Bongard Stakes, both at Belmont Park with the famous gelding, Funny Cide. In 2003, Tagg celebrated Funny Cide's wins at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. He also won the 2003 Alabama with the filly Island Fashion.
Tagg applies a seven-days-a-week single-mindedness to his horses. 'That's all I do,' he says. '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.' Tagg defies easy explanation. He can be shy, guarded, abrasive and charming, all in the span of a few minutes. There are times when Tagg is seemingly gripped by pessimism, so aware of all that can go wrong with delicate Thoroughbreds. 'You've just got to keep buying them and talking people into buying them,' he says. 'You keep apologizing when they can't run. You call up when they break their legs or get sick and die. You go through all that just hoping something good will happen.' Back to trainers main page
Robin Smullen
It took a broken heart at the tender age of 19 to lead Robin Smullen, assistant trainer for Barclay Tagg, into the world of thoroughbred horse training. Having grown up in Oxford, PA on a 160 acre farm with her parents and 3 brothers, Robin was born into a world filled with horses. Her parents were experienced riders and trainers of show horses. Robin could ride before she could walk, was tacking her own ponies by the age of 2, and was competing Shetland ponies by the age of 4. At the age of 8, Robin had achieved recognition as the 5th leading junior (18 and younger) rider in the nation. She became known for her ability to handle difficult horses, riding ponies that other girls couldn't ride, and breaking horses that couldn't be broken.
At 19, Robin was working with Barnabas, her prize-winning jumper and "best friend". Barnabas suffered an aneurysm with Smullen aboard. Robin relayed to a reporter what happened next: 'Crestfallen, she began to walk away. His whinnying kept drawing her back. "I sat down," she says, choking back tears, "and he put his head in my lap and died."' Robin could not get out of bed or go to work for 4 days. On the 5th day, she says she "got up to go back to work, but couldn't bear to go back to the barn to care for the horses". She told her mom to sell her remaining 4 showhorses, and focused all her energy on a career training racehorses.
Robin began to work for John R.S. Fisher, galloping for him for 5 years. She then got her assistant trainer license with Dolly Bostwick, worked for her for a few years, and then went to work galloping for Burt Firestone for a year. Determined to become trainer herself, Robin began to train for clients at Charles Town, and stayed for about 4 years, then went to Delaware Park for a year. Similar to what happened in her childhood, Robin became know for her ability to "do well with bad horses". Having grown up around horses, Robin had an innate talent for getting her horses "happy", and says that happy is, "the best way to get them to the race". Robin's training philosophy was refined during these years training on her own, when she saw the direct results of her own hard work to get a horse fit and happy. Robin says that, "happy horses run better. You have to be fit, fitness is number one. Fitness and unhappy doesn't get you anywhere. Fit and happy is when a horse wins."
After 5 years of work as a lead trainer, Robin went back to work for Dr. Fisher from 1992 until 1997. In 1996, she met Barclay Tagg, and a year later, began working for him. She has been his assistant trainer since 1998. "We went to dinner," Tagg says, "and she never left." They share a passion for horses. Robin says that, "horses are a way of life. They are overpowering no matter who you are or how much you weigh. It's a matter of trying to compromise and figure out how to get them to do their best. Figure out what makes that horse the happiest, and do the best you can. A happy horse is a successful horse."
Robin, with Barclay, has worked on several of the Parting Glass Racing horses. They trained Mikethemoondog and Hidden Curves until fall 2004, and just saw both in Ocala. Robin says Mike was, "sure in good spirits, full of himself". She also saw "little Hidden Curves" who she says "looks really good and gained weight". Robin also commented on her dapples, or big circles, on her coat, saying they indicate "her insides are smiling because she's so healthy".
Robin and Barclay are currently training Parade Out Front and Christina's Melody. Robin comments that Parade, "is nice to ride and has come a long way since he's been with us." Christina's Melody is, "doing great! She has a very long stride, is a very sweet horse to be around, is very lovey all the time, never nasty, never pins her ears, and just has a great attitude. I love to ride her."
Parting Glass Racing is lucky to have Robin on our team. A dedicated horseperson, Robin lives for training. As she told a reporter a few years ago, "When you really love what you are doing, you don't need a vacation." Many thanks to Robin for her hard work and dedication with the PGR horses. Back to trainers main page
Tom Bush
Born in Indianapolis, IN, Tom Bush enjoyed a 2005 record with 210 starts, 40 1st place finishes, and earnings of more than $2 million. Tom won the 1986 Bernard Barcuch at Saratoga with Exclusive Partner. His introduction to racing was through a family connection. My uncle Bill was best friends with Frank Myers, also raised in Indianapolis. In fact, they were each best men at each other's weddings. Myers was the son of a trotting trainer and he remains one of the best horsemen I've ever met. Frank and his wife, Lois, owned Someday Farm in Ocala, and I went to work for them. Tom also worked for Steve and Allen Jerkins, Angel Penna, and Richard Mandella before going out on his own. Back to trainers main page
Bruce Levine
Bruce developed his passion for horses by going to Belmont throughout his childhood. After graduating from college with a degree in business, Bruce began a 3 year apprenticeship, then became a licensed trainer. A licensed trainer for 24 years, Bruce has trained nearly 50 stakes winners, won over 500 races, won over $11 million in purses, and trained two NY-bred champions. He has been ranked in the top ten trainers in both Aqueduct and Saratoga meets in the past ten years, and has won two stakes races just in the past week. Bruce has trained many special horses over the years, but one of his favorites is Coyote Lakes, who won the Gallant Fox three years in a row. This feat has never been accomplished before or since. After a brief retirement, Coyote Lakes is actually back in training with Bruce as a 10 year old. Back to trainers main page
Bill Sanborn
Bill is the General
Manager for Wimbledon Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, and is one of Parting
Glass Racing's finest resources for working with young PGR horses prior
to racing training.
A native of New Jersey, Bill had a
great-great uncle who was a blacksmith and a grandmother who owned
riding horses. As he told Bloodhorse Reporter Deirdre Biles, 'She (my
grandmother) would tell me stories about horses that got me interested.
I also did a lot of riding when I was a kid.' Bill attended RIT for a
short while, but his interest in horses led him to an apprenticeship as a blacksmith, then stints
at several farms in New Jersey and Maryland. Bill moved to Kentucky
over 25 years ago to be the assistant manager at Betz Farm. In the late
1980s, Bill managed Windhaven Farm, and in 1994 founded his own Sanborn
Chase farm in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Bill closed Sanborn Chase in the
summer of 2005 when he became General Manager of Wimbledon Farm.
Wimbledon Farm encompasses over 1,000 acres of gently rolling bluegrass
in Fayette County near Overbrook Farm. It is owned and operated by
Hilary J. Boone, Jr. and George Hoskins, and is primarily a boarding
operation. There has been a great deal of excitement at the farm lately ~
Barbaro, winner of the 2006 Kentucky Derby,
was foaled and raised at Bill's Sanborn Chase Farm. Preakness Stakes (Gr. I) 2006 winner Bernardini
was foaled at Wimbledon when his dam, Cara Rafaela, was boarded there
by her owner, Sheikh Mohammed. Today, Wimbledon is home to a total of 60
mares.
Bill has also foaled, raised, or broken Slew City Slew,
multiple graded winner Runaway Dancer, Coax Me Chad, Coaxing Matt,
Spellbound, Synastry, Oriental, Shesastonecoldfox, Fly To Me, and Judge
T.C.
Bill and Tom Gallo have been successfully working together
for almost 25 years. According to Tom, 'When you call Bill, you feel
secure knowing he's right there ~ handling
the horses, adjusting the bridles, and standing next to the
veterinarians. He's the ultimate horsemen's horseman.' Back to
trainers main page
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