About this time a year ago, Barclay Tagg kicked around in the minds of racing fans simply as a solid conditioner of older grass horses. A nice guy to tab in a $50,000 claimer on the green at Saratoga, but hardly in the mold of a Bob Baffert or D. Wayne Lukas when it came to punching the time clock at the Triple Crown factory.

Then, along came that pesky Funny Cide. And with him, a reputation was blown to smithereens.

Tagg shed the label of respected trainer who had never won a major -- a Triple Crown or Breeders' Cup race. In a sports era where greatness is measured by championship moments, he rose to the top of his profession on an ideal first Saturday in May. He did what all of his contemporaries dared to do. And he did it when least expected.

The 2004 season could provide another opportunity for racing's best trainers to never win a major. Baffert and Lukas enter the New Year with more question marks than quality wins among their sophomores-to-be. Recent Derby-winning trainers like John Ward and Neil Drysdale rarely push the button on a prospect unless all the cards fall just right. And, while Bobby Frankel earned his first classic victory in 2003 with Empire Maker's Belmont, Frankel's current crown hopefuls begin their campaigns with far less pomp and circumstance.

Who, then, should we be looking out for in 2004?

Start at the top with Todd Pletcher. Hard to believe he's never won a Breeders' Cup or Triple Crown race. While he dominated the freshman ranks last year on the east coast, most of those win-early babies lack a serious distance pedigree. Even so, Pletcher rates the most likely breakout contender in '04 based on his record-setting runs at Belmont and Saratoga a year ago, as well as his program's emphasis on the classics. The same can be said for another former D. Wayne Lukas protégé, Mark Hennig, who also has a quality group of three-year-olds for this season.

Out west, put a ring around the duo of Doug O'Neill and Jeff Mullins. Both horsemen do amazing things with relatively unfashionable stock. Top owners have taken notice and now that the bloodstock has improved, they'll be more than just fixtures atop the Santa Anita and Hollywood standings. Both have sampled major sophomore racing and are ready to kick through the door. Remember, Frankel, too, was once considered a great claiming trainer and nothing more.

Scott Lake fits into the same bill on the east coast. The guy wins everywhere he goes. He takes $50,000 claimers and makes them graded stakes winners. While he's not necessarily on the Triple Crown program with younger horses, 2004 could very well be his breakout year in the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships. He's knocked at the door with Thunderello and Shake You Down in the past two Sprint renewals.

In Florida, big seasons are expected from Kiaran McLauglin and Dale Romans. The former stamped himself among New York's best this past year on a day-to-day basis, while the latter dominated the daily racing lineup in Kentucky. McLaughlin will operate a full public stable for the first time in 2004 and that could be a difference maker. Romans continues to accumulate quality stock and sits on the brink of a breakthrough.

Two dominant regional trainers have been inching closer to national stardom in Steve Asmussen and Tom Amoss. The pride of New Orleans, this duo dominates the game at Fair Grounds and struts plenty of stuff when arriving at Keeneland, Churchill and Saratoga. Both are just one big horse away from being "the next…" in their profession. Since the Louisiana Derby and Arkansas Derby are now offering more lucrative bonus plans for Derby contenders, top owners would be wise to stock these guys with high-priced sophomores and see what they can do with elite horseflesh. The same can be said about young Cole Norman at Oaklawn.

Two guys who fit the Barclay Tagg mold are Patrick Biancone and Christophe Clement, horsemen who have staked their claim as fabulous grass trainers. The Frenchmen have toppled some of the world's best races on the turf, but have yet to make an impact on America's most visible stages. Both got their feet wet on the Triple Crown trail in 2003 and would be no surprise to put it all together this time around.

If Tagg can score his first major in his 32nd year of training, why not guys like Allen Jerkens, Ralph Ziadie and Jerry Hollendorfer?

Jerkens is in his 54th year of training and was inducted into the Hall Of Fame before Lukas and Baffert ever saddled a Thoroughbred winner. I was there in 1994 when Sky Beauty ran so poorly in the Breeders' Cup Distaff that he vowed he'd never run another horse at Churchill Downs. Maybe "The Chief" won't pursue the roses, but don't discount a run at the Preakness or Belmont if he's got the goods. He actually sent horses to California for last year's Breeders' Cup, a sign that maybe the big prizes are more important to Jerkens as he rides into the twilight of his career.

Ziadie's resume includes more than 35 years experience in the game, and he had Trust N Luck on the threshold of the Triple Crown events in 2003. His management of Silver Wagon's two-year-old campaign was stellar this past year and would be no surprise if he were heard from in May. A quarter century and nearly 4,000 wins later, Hollendorfer still dominates Northern California like no other. His hard-luck stories leading up to recent Derbies aside, there's no doubt he can walk one over ready for the big-time. All he needs is a little luck and a lot of horse.

Who knows? Maybe it will be business as usual in 2004. When the Baffert-Lukas exacta comes back for $1,400 in the Derby, we'll wonder why we even considered looking deeper.

But, for a few months, anyway, there are plenty of guys willing to share the dream Barclay Tagg realized one fateful first Saturday in May.