robert tucker
Bob Tucker, the owner and operator of Stonegate Standardbred Farm in Glen Gardner, New Jersey, was involved with the sport of harness racing for over five decades. He was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1926 and raised in Rockville Center, Long Island, only twelve miles from the celebrated Roosevelt Raceway. Tucker’s father owned Standardbred horses, and by the age of four, Tucker entered the horse world through horse shows and riding camps. In 1935 he moved to a farm in Morristown, New Jersey with his family, where they owned horses, cows, pigs, chickens and canaries. As a teenager he worked on a dairy farm and began to realize his desire to own a farm.
After attending high school at the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, Tucker took a brief sojourn from college to serve in the Navy Air Corps during World War II, and afterwards pursued his bachelor’s degree at Wesleyan University. In 1951 he graduated from Brown University with a master’s degree in economics. Tucker began his business career at Banker’s Trust Company on Wall Street and in 1954 joined Beneficial Corporation of Peapack, New Jersey, as the assistant to the president. By 1969 Tucker had worked his way to the position of chief financial officer and in 1977 became a member of the office of the president.
In 1960 Tucker decided to fulfill his childhood dream by purchasing a farm, and set his sights on one located on the outskirts of Glen Gardner, New Jersey. In 1965 he purchased the 115-acre farm and named it Stonegate Farm. Under Tucker’s guidance the farm grew steadily, with 350 acres of the farm becoming part of New Jersey’s Agriculture Development Committee’s Farm Preservation Program.
Tucker and Stonegate bred and raced many top performers over the years, with horses trained by friend Ed Lohmeyer for more than 45 years. One of their first top horses together was the pacer Landslide p,3,1:54.1 ($162,835). Among their stakes winners are Indulge Me p,2,1:52 ($675,165), trotting mare Classic Lane 4,1:52 ($715,470) and pacing filly Ideal Nuggets p,2,1:50.4 ($392,152). Tucker also bred Breeders Crown finalist and 2014 Messenger Stakes winner All Bets Off p,7,1:48 ($3,097,707).
Tucker attracted many prominent stallions to his farm, including Cam Fella p,4,1:53.1 ($2,041,367), with winners of over $106 million, Dream Away p,3,1:50 ($1,342,071), with winners of over $39 million, Albert Albert p,3,1:52.1 ($1,237,070), with winners of over $86 million and Pacific Fella p,5,1:48.2z ($1,064,631) with winners of over $21 million.
Tucker also developed a number of successful racing fillies and a strong band of broodmares, including Headline Hanover p,4,1:54.1f ($524,357), dam of winners of $792,542; Summer Child p,2,1:54.2 ($493,609), dam of winners of $1,570,935; and Western Azure p,4,1:51 ($484,444) dam of winners of $439,657.
Bob Tucker served on the New Jersey Sire Stakes board during the mid-1980s and in 1985 was appointed head of the board by Governor Thomas Kean. He has acted on the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association board of directors and as a member of the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture.
Tucker has served on the board of directors at Drew University, The Peddie School and Morristown Hospital. Since 1997 he has acted as director and chairman of the canine committee for The Seeing Eye Inc. of Morristown, New Jersey, the oldest existing guide dog school in the world. He served as director and president of the CTW Foundation Inc. (formerly the Beneficial Foundation, Inc.) and as trustee, treasurer and assistant secretary for The Hodson Trust. Tucker was elected to the board of trustees of the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame in 2010, contributing his strong leadership abilities to the institution. He became a Museum trustee emeritus in 2014.
Bob Tucker passed away on October 23, 2016 in New Jersey. He was 90.