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 his most famous performance, Dr. Fager set a world record of 1:32+1⁄5 for a mile in the Washington Park Handicap while carrying 134 pounds.
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.
Dr. Fager was from the first crop of Tartan Farm's Rough'n Tumble, a good racehorse with soundness problems and dubious breeding.
As a broodmare though, she produced 10 winners, including two Hall of Famers: Dr. Fager and his younger half-sister Ta Wee.
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.
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.
[15] Despite the win, Nerud surprised many by announcing the colt would not run in the Kentucky Derby on May 6,[15] instead entering Dr. Fager in the Withers Stakes on May 13.
[16] 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.
Despite racing over a sloppy track for the first time and breaking poorly, Dr. Fager won with ease by ten lengths.
[19] 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.
[20] 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.
[27] 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.
"[30] 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.
[31] 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.
[34] Going off as the 4-5 favorite, Dr. Fager went to the early lead and set sensible fractions, in part because Damascus's "rabbit" Hedevar had been scratched from the race.
Baeza carefully nursed Dr. Fager's speed, then allowed him to draw away in the stretch to win by two lengths with Damascus back in third.
[35] Nerud next planned to run Dr. Fager in the Haskell Handicap at Monmouth Park on July 13, but withdrew when the horse was assigned 134 pounds.
[38] Dr. Fager made his next start in the Whitney Stakes on August 3, where he received "only" 132 pounds under the allowance conditions of the race.
Dr. Fager went to the early lead and set sensible fractions, completing the half mile in :47+1⁄5 (two seconds slower than the pace in the Brooklyn.)
When asked by a local television crew to describe the colt, Nerud responded, "I guess he'd be like a golfer who scored 62 every time he played.
Nerud doubted though that Dr. Fager could match the existing world record of 1:32+3⁄5 set at Arlington Park in 1966 by Buckpasser while carrying 125 pounds.
During a fast opening quarter mile of 22+2⁄5 seconds, Baeza rated him in sixth place while keeping him out of traffic problems on the outside of the pack.
In deep stretch, Advocator looked the likely winner but Dr. Fager fought back and prevailed by a neck in the final stride.
[53] (Furlongs) (lengths) In The Blood-Horse magazine's list of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Dr. Fager ranks sixth.
[54] 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.
[55] Steve Haskin wrote a book on Dr. Fager for the Thoroughbred Legends series published by Eclipse Press in 2000.
[8] 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.
[56] Dr. Fager retired to stud at Tartan Farm in 1969 near Ocala, Florida, where he stood for eight years before his death at age 12 on August 5, 1976.