Speed and the Right Company

by Dan Liebman   
   When young phenom Billy Hamilton tagged up from third and scored on an extremely shallow fly ball to right-center Apr. 9, baseball fans could not quit talking about his blazing speed. 
    In the same game, Hamilton also had a triple in which he went home to third in 10.5 seconds, prompting Cincinnati Enquirer columnist John Erardi to go so far as to claim Hamilton’s performance against the St. Louis Cardinals one of the 20 greatest single-game offensive days in Reds history. 
    So often we are biased toward hitting and pitching in baseball, but there is no substitute for speed and what its presence on the base paths and in the field–Hamilton plays centerfield–can do for a player, or a team. 
    Interestingly, or perhaps ironically, Hamilton’s performance came the day after an event that had caused this writer to be thinking about speed, the death of Dr. Charles Fager. 
    I never met Dr. Fager (the man), but his namesake perhaps had more speed than any horse we have ever seen. 
I also never met Dr. Fager (the horse), being single-digits in age during his three years on the track. 
I have, however, seen the films of Dr. Fager (the horse) and I have shared more than a few drinks with former Sports Illustrated writer Bill Nack during evenings when the conversation invariably turned to his enthralling stories about the horse. 
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Fager (the man), a noted neurosurgeon, saved the life of John Nerud, who headed Tartan Farm in Florida and also trained many of its great horses. 
    As a way of thanking Dr. Fager (the man), Nerud named a member of the Tartan foal crop of 1964 for him. The colt, by Rough’n Tumble–Aspidistra, by Better Self, officially became Dr. Fager (the horse). 
    Nerud was legendary for being mum about his runners and having them work slowly, so it is no surprise Dr. Fager was nearly 11-1 in his juvenile debut at Aqueduct, when he aired by seven lengths. The colt was favored in all but one of his subsequent 21 starts, though he can be forgiven for being 9-5 against fellow future Hall of Famers Damascus and Buckpasser in the Woodward. 
    After winning his first four starts by a combined 27 3/4 lengths, many believed Dr. Fager to be “only” a sprinter. But they would be proven wrong. 
    Few are the memorable quotes from horse trainers, but Nerud uttered one of the best ever about Dr. Fager. Asked if Dr. Fager could get a mile, Nerud said, “In the right company.” 
    Those four words, that simple sentence, are the essence of training Thoroughbreds. Finding the right company for a horse is the name of the game. 
   It helps, of course, to have a horse as talented as Dr. Fager. 
    He would win 18 of 22 starts from two to four and in 1968 be named Horse of the Year, champion sprinter, champion grass horse and champion handicap horse. He was also champion sprinter the prior year. 
   Along the way he also bankrolled a million bucks when that was a lot of money in purse earnings. Only three horses finished in front of Dr. Fager, the aforementioned two superstars and 2-year-old champion Successor. 
Dr. Fager won seven of eight starts at four, and the final three races of his career were simply spectacular. 
In one of the greatest performances ever, he set a world record for a mile in the Washington Park H. at Arlington Park, going the distance in 1:32 1/5 while carrying 134 pounds. (Najran ran a mile at Belmont in 2003 in 1:32.24. He was carrying 113 pounds.) 
    Less than three weeks later, Dr. Fager made his only start on turf, winning the 11-furlong United Nations H. at Atlantic City by a neck in a race in which he was challenged on the lead the entire way. 
    He was assigned 139 pounds for the Vosburgh at Aqueduct seven weeks later and ran the seven furlongs in 1:20 1/5, besting the track record by a full second. 
   His half-sister Ta Wee (by Intentionally), incidentally, won the Vosburgh the following year over males and was champion sprinter in 1969 and 1970. 
    Speed is also a highly desirable trait in a stallion and Dr. Fager sired 35 stakes winners from 255 foals, a solid 14%. They included champions Dr. Patches and Dearly Precious and Canadian Horse of the Year L’Alezane. 
His daughters produced 96 stakes winners from 885 foals, about 11 percent. There were numerous notable runners from his daughters but this writer being an eternal fan of Breeders Cup Classic and Kentucky Derby (both gr. I) winner Unbridled will note his sire, Fappiano, was produced from the Dr. Fager mare Killaloe. 
    Dr. Fager (the man) was 90 when he died. He was a young man, compared to Nerud, who celebrated birthday number 101 in February. 
    Like Dr. Fager (the horse), Nerud was no sprinter. 
   And, he was always placed in the right company.