Dr. Fager

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. He is the only horse to ever held four titles in one year, 1968, when he was named the Horse of the Year, champion handicap horse, champion sprinter, and co-champion grass horse.

Background

A bay colt by Rough'n Tumble,^[1] Dr. Fager was bred by his owner, the Tartan Stable of William L. McKnight (chairman of the board of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co.). His half-sister is another Hall of Famer, Ta Wee. Trained by Hall of Famer John Nerud, he was named for the Boston neurosurgeon, Dr. Charles Fager, who saved Nerud's life with two operations after Nerud suffered a serious fall from a horse.^[2]

Racing career

Dr. Fager raced 22 times, winning 18 races, with two places and one show. His only out-of-the-money finish 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.

Dr. Fager set the world record at 1 mile on any surface: 1:32 1/5, achieved on August 24, 1968 when he ran in the Washington Park Handicap at Arlington Park under 134 pounds.^[3][4] The record still stands for dirt-surface racing. The list of stakes and handicaps he won includes the Gotham Stakes, the Withers Stakes, the Jersey Derby, the AP Classic, the Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap, the Vosburgh Stakes, the Roseben, the Californian Stakes, the Suburban Handicap, the Whitney Handicap, and the United Nations Handicap.^[5] Dr. Fager's career is recorded in "Champions: The Lives, Times, and Past Performances of the 20th Century's Greatest Thoroughbreds" by the editors and writers of the Daily Racing Form.

At the end of 1968, Dr. Fager swept the Horse of the Year awards, topping the polls organised by the Thoroughbred Racing Association,^[6] the Daily Racing Form^[7] and the Turf and Sport Digest.^[8]

Dr. Fager was known for his duels with Damascus at Aqueduct Racetrack. Damascus's connections took to entering a "rabbit" to engage Dr. Fager in a speed duel, knowing that Dr. Fager could not be rated by his jockey. In four meetings between the two Hall of Famers, Damascus took two races (both times using the "rabbit" strategy) and Dr. Fager took two.

Assessment, honors and awards

In The Blood-Horse magazine's list of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Dr. Fager ranks sixth. In 1971, three years after he left the track, he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York.^[9]

Stud career

Dr. Fager went to stud at his owner's Tartan Farm near Ocala, Florida, where he stood for eight years before his death at age 12 on August 5, 1976. Named leading sire in 1977, Dr. Fager sired 1975 American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly Dearly Precious, 1978 co-champion sprinter Dr. Patches, Tree of Knowledge, and L'Alezane. Death was attributed to a colon obstruction. He was buried at Tartan Farm, now known as Winding Oaks Farm.

References

• Good article on the Good Doctor
• The Ultimate Horse Dictionary