here’s part of a interview with Mr. Nerud by J.leembach
"Dr. Fager’s dam, Aspidistra, only won two cheap races, but her knees were broke and she was meant to be much faster. I love inbreeding to great broodmares and great female families. Aspidistra was from a strong King Ranch family.
"I bred Fappiano, by Mr. Prospector out of a great Dr. Fager mare, and Fappiano looked like Dr. Fager, not Mr. Prospector. Fappiano’s son, Unbridled, won the Kentucky Derby, and Unbridled was inbred 4x4 to Aspidistra. Fappiano’s other top son, Quiet American, was also out of a Dr. Fager mare, so he was 3x2 to Dr. Fager, and his son Real Quiet almost won the Triple Crown a few years ago…
“So we had some great bloodlines come out of Tartan Farm. We also bred Dr. Fager’s champion sister, Ta Wee, along with Codex, Roy, Clabber Girl, and Cozzene… Cozzene won the Breeders’ Cup Mile on the grass, and he probably could have won the mile-and-a-half Turf Classic that year.”
“Was Dr. Fager just so naturally fast that he would have done well in any barn?” I asked.
Nerud shook his head slowly. "He had two clubbed feet, and we packed them every day with either cotton or mud. Otherwise he was a very intelligent and easy-going horse who learned his lessons quickly. I think it’s fair to say that a great horse usually overcomes his trainer…He was a good eater and sleeper, and liked to sleep lying down. He also liked to show off, and he knew he was special.
"He was kind of multi-colored, depending on the light. Sometimes light bay, sometimes brown, sometimes almost gold. He was a chameleon. And he was a throw-back to Spur–five generations back on the topline of his pedigree. I once met an old hot-walker who told me he’d walked Spur and that Dr. Fager was the perfect image of Spur. You just never know what ancestor a horse will take after, and sometimes it won’t be any one, but a blend of them all.
“Do you know the story of how Dr. Fager got his name?” Nerud asked.
“I think I do, but refresh my memory.”
"It must have been back in 1965. I took a fall chasing a runaway horse and for the next couple of weeks I kept having fainting spells. My wife, Charlotte, took me to the Lahey Clinic in Boston that specialized in brain injuries. Doctor Charles Fager did an emergency surgery to remove a blood clot from my brain, and he later told Charlotte that I had about a half hour to live when we arrived…
Nerud glances into the next room where his wife is patiently knitting in front of the large TV screen–which is tuned to the Aqueduct simulcast network.
“Excuse me, I have a horse running in the 6th Race today and I want to see how we’re coming…” The 5th Race had just finished and when the tote-board appeared for the 6th, Nerud’s horse, Democrat, was the early 9-5 favorite.
"I have eight horses in training now, with Mike Hushion and Jimmy Jerkens. Both learned from Allen Jerkens.
“You know how Democrat got his name?” Nerud asked, sliding the program in front of me. "Look at his breeding: A.P. Jet out of Comedy of Errors–what else could I name him? I’m a registered Republican, but I don’t vote the straight party line. People are like horses–you have to judge each one as an individual.
“Herd animals like horses usually have a very strong pecking-order,” I offer, “so that each individual knows exactly where he stands on the ladder. I wonder if perhaps Dr. Fager didn’t resist being rated or restrained by his jockey because he was so fast he knew instinctively he belonged in front, and he listened to his own instincts rather than the human values of obedience and patience that the media expected of him…”
Nerud raised his eyebrows. “That’s an interesting question… I never talked much about rating him with his jockey, Baeza. I usually let him ride his own race. I do know one thing: Dr. Fager never ran has fastest race. He’s the only horse I ever had who could really run.”
“What about his son, Dr. Patches, who was Sprint Champion?” I asked.
“Dr. Patches was a half-an-hour slower than Dr. Fager.”
“A lot of veteran trainers seem to think that the racing surfaces today are harder and faster than in your day, causing a lot of the leg injuries we see today. If that’s the case, I wonder how fast Dr. Fager would have gone on today’s tracks?”
Nerud smiled mischievously and added, “You know what the cause of most unsoundness is these days? Commercial breeding. Breeders are trying to sell the most expensive yearlings they can, so they choose a stallion with the most market appeal, not because he was the best mate for their mare…”
