Dr. Fager (April 6, 1964 – August 5, 1976) was an American thoroughbred racehorse who had what many consider one of the greatest single racing seasons by any horse in the history of the sport. In 1968 at the age of four, he became the only horse to ever hold four American titles in one year when he was named the Horse of the Year, champion handicap horse, champion sprinter, and co-champion grass horse. In his most famous performance, Dr. Fager set a world record of 1: for a mile in the Washington Park Handicap while carrying 134 pounds.
Dr. Fager was also a major winner at ages two and three. At two, he won four of five starts including the Cowdin Stakes. Various health issues kept him out of the Triple Crown races at age three but he still won seven stakes races while setting track records in the New Hampshire Sweepstakes and Rockingham Special. He was named the champion sprinter of 1967 after defeating older horses in the Vosburgh Handicap. He also finished third behind Damascus and Buckpasser in the "race of the decade", the Woodward Stakes.
Upon retirement to stud in Florida, he became an important sire and broodmare sire, and led the North American sire list in 1977. He died young due to a colic attack at the age of twelve.
Dr. Fager was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1971. On the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century, he was ranked #6.
Background Dr. Fager was a homebred for Tartan Stable, owned by William L. McKnight (chairman of the board of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co.) and managed by Hall of Famer John Nerud. Nerud, who owned 25% of Dr. Fager and was his trainer, developed Tartan Stable from "literally nothing" into a prominent racing stable. Dr. Fager was from the first crop of Tartan Farm's Rough'n Tumble, a good racehorse with soundness problems and dubious breeding. Thanks in part to Dr. Fager, Rough'n Tumble developed into a leading regional sire in Florida, preserving the now-rare sire line of Plaudit, the Kentucky Derby winner of 1898. Dr. Fager's dam Aspidistra earned only two wins during her racing career and could have been claimed for only $6,500 in her last start. As a broodmare though, she produced 10 winners, including two Hall of Famers: Dr. Fager and his younger half-sister Ta Wee.
Dr. Fager was a bay horse who stood high. Known for his fluid stride, he had a troublesome right knee and clubbed forefeet that required constant care. He was named for the Boston neurosurgeon, Dr. Charles Anthony Fager, who saved Nerud's life with two operations after Nerud suffered a serious fall from a horse.
Racing career Dr. Fager made 22 starts, winning 18 times with two second-place finishes and one show. The only time he was out of the money was as a result of a disqualification in the Jersey Derby, in which he finished first. Only three horses ever finished in front of Dr. Fager: Champion juvenile male Successor, Horse of the Year Damascus, and Horse of the Year Buckpasser. His headstrong nature was considered his only weakness as a racehorse. "He was very easy to train, a very willing and smart horse," said Nerud. "He also was very sensitive. He didn't want you to raise your voice to him, and he didn't want anyone whipping him. If something didn't suit Dr. Fager, he would let you know immediately."
1966: Two-year-old season Dr. Fager raced five times at age two, winning four of them and finishing second in the other. He won his first start at Aqueduct on July 15, 1966 by seven lengths, then won an allowance race at Saratoga in August by eight lengths. He was then entered the World's Playground Stakes at Atlantic City on September 10. After breaking slowly, Dr. Fager rushed up through the pack and moved to the lead. He was kept under a snug hold down the backstretch, then responded to a challenge from Glengarry around the far turn and pulled away down the stretch, eventually winning by twelve lengths.
In his next start in the Cowdin Stakes on October 5, he faced much more challenging competition including stakes winners Diplomat Way, Forgotten Way, In Reality and eventual champion two-year-old Successor. He was made the 5-2 morning-line favorite but by post time, his odds has shortened to 4-5. Dr. Fager got left at the start and was then rushed to get back in touch with the field. On the turn, he had to be checked hard when he nearly clipped heels with the leaders. Down the stretch, he tried to bear out then "gawked at crowd" for the final sixteenth of a mile. Despite all this, he still won by three-quarters of a length over In Reality with Successor in third.
Dr. Fager suffered his first defeat in the Champagne Stakes on October 15. He led from the start but was passed in the stretch by Successor, who went on to win by a length in a time of 1:35, just one-fifth of a second off the stakes record held by Count Fleet. His jockey Bill Shoemaker said, "I thought Dr. Fager was the winner at the head of the stretch, but I guess the pace was too much, and he got tired at the end." A Hall of Fame jockey, Shoemaker would state that Dr. Fager was too headstrong for him to control.
1967: Three-year-old season Dr. Fager's return to the racetrack at age three was delayed due to a virus. He made his first start of the year in the Gotham Stakes on April 15, where he faced off for the first time with Damascus, who had previously won the Bay Shore Stakes. Both horses went off at odds of 6-5, with slightly more bet on Damascus in the win pool. Damascus rated just behind the early pace-setter with Dr. Fager close behind in third. In the turn, Damascus moved to the lead but Dr. Fager closed ground steadily, hitting the lead at the top of the stretch. He ultimately won by half a length in a time of 1: for the mile.
Despite the win, Nerud surprised many by announcing the colt would not run in the Kentucky Derby on May 6, instead entering Dr. Fager in the Withers Stakes on May 13. Dr. Fager responded with a brilliant six length win, completing the mile in a stakes record 1:. At the time, it was the fastest mile ever run by a three-year-old in New York state.
With the Preakness Stakes being held only one week after the Withers, Nerud decided to bypass that race and entered the colt in the Jersey Derby on May 30 instead. Dr. Fager finished first by lengths but was subsequently disqualified to fourth place for crossing in front of the field going into the first turn. It was a controversial decision, prompted perhaps by the reputation of jockey, Manuel Ycaza, who was substituting for his regular jockey Braulio Baeza. Dr. Fager's time for miles was 1:48 flat, which would have been a stakes record.
Dr. Fager returned in the Arlington Classic on June 24. Despite racing over a sloppy track for the first time and breaking poorly, Dr. Fager won with ease by ten lengths. "He has an awful lot of early speed," said Baeza, "and he's willing to run at any time in a race. He's willing to run from start to finish."
On July 25, Dr. Fager won the Rockingham Special by four lengths, completing the distance of miles in a time of 1:, lowering the Rockingham Park track record by a full second. His next scheduled start was the Travers Stakes on August 19 but he suffered a recurrence of the virus that had sidelined him at the beginning of the year and missed the race.
Dr. Fager made his next start on September 2 at Rockingham Park in the New Hampshire Sweepstakes Classic, then the world's richest horse race for three-year-olds. In his first start at miles, Dr. Fager set the early pace but was passed by In Reality with a half mile to go. Dr. Fager fought back and went on to win by lengths. His time of 1: was a new track record.
Dr. Fager's win made him a potential horse of the year candidate, but first he would have to beat Buckpasser, the defending horse of the year, and Damascus, whose three-year-old campaign included wins in the Preakness, Belmont and Travers Stakes. The three horses finally met in the Woodward Stakes at Aqueduct on September 30, with Buckpasser going off as the favorite. The field also included two "rabbits", Hedevar and Great Power, who were entered to set a fast pace in the hopes of tiring out Dr. Fager in order to set up the race for their stablemates, Damascus and Buckpasser respectively. The race played out as expected, with Dr. Fager going to the early lead while pressed by Hedevar with Great Power in third. Dr. Fager set very fast opening fractions of : for the first quarter-mile and : for the half. After three-quarters of a mile, Dr. Fager started to draw away from the rabbits, who would finish fifth and sixth respectively. On the far turn however, Buckpasser and Damascus started to close ground. Damascus swept by Dr. Fager to win by ten lengths while setting a track record for miles. Buckpasser and Dr. Fager dueled down the stretch for second, with Buckpasser prevailing by half a length.
The race, which proved decisive in the Horse of the Year voting, was subsequently dubbed the "race of the decade" and was voted the #39 position in Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments, a review of North American racing in the 20th century compiled by The Blood-Horse.
On October 21, Dr. Fager won the Hawthorne Gold Cup by lengths. The rider of the second-place finisher claimed foul, saying that Dr. Fager had interfered with his horse in the far turn. The stewards reviewed the tape but could find no evidence of contact so the result stood. Baeza said, "I don't know what (the other jockey) is talking about. Dr. Fager was going just like I wanted him to. I thought he could do anything I called on him for at any time in the race. He never was in trouble at any time."
Dr. Fager finished the year as the heavy 1–5 favorite in the Vosburgh Stakes on November 7, run that year at Aqueduct, despite carrying the top weight of 128 pounds and conceding from 6 to 19 pounds to older horses. He raced in fifth during the early part of the race then moved to the lead in the stretch, eventually winning by four lengths. His time of 1: was just off the stakes record set by Bold Ruler at Belmont Park. Although this was his only start of the year at a distance of less than a mile, Dr. Fager was named the champion sprinter of 1967.
1968: Four-year-old season In 2014, the Daily Racing Form called Dr. Fager's four-year-old campaign a "season for the ages", a sentiment echo by many sportswriters. Never carrying less than 130 pounds, Dr. Fager won seven of eight starts, set a world record for the mile and broke the American record for seven furlongs.
Dr. Fager had a long layoff and then returned to training in the spring. By late April, he was training so well that he set a track record for five furlongs of : during a between-the-races workout at Aqueduct. He made his first start of 1968 in the Roseben Handicap at Aqueduct on May 4, winning by three lengths while carrying 130 pounds. He came within a fifth of a second of the track record for seven furlongs despite running under a tight hold. "I tried to hold him a little bit at the start," said jockey John Rotz, substituting for Baeza. "I just couldn't take him back. I just sat there."
He was then entered in the Californian Stakes at Hollywood Park on May 18, where Nerud had anticipated receiving a break in the weight the horse would have to carry. After arriving in California however, it was determined that under the allowance conditions of the race, Dr. Fager would once again have to carry 130 pounds. Reunited with Braulio Baeza, he overtook the early leader on the final turn and drew off to win by three lengths over champion filly Gamely.