Fager Has High Hopes for Surging Tide

Jeff Fager, longtime executive producer of the news program 60 Minutes, first got bitten by the racing bug as a 10-year-old when the legendary John Nerud named a horse after his father, the neurosurgeon who saved his life. The equine Dr. Fager, 1968 Horse of the Year, went on to a storied racing career and the younger Fager was hooked. Fager now has an exciting racing prospect of his own in Surging Tide (Medaglia d'Oro), who was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' after her effortless 6 1/2-length debut win at Belmont Park Friday.

“We are so excited about her,” Fager said Sunday afternoon. “She had trained well and she is a great-looking horse. We were nervous, as you always are, but she came to run and she ran beautifully. [Trainer] Charlie Baker has been excited about her since the day he got her.”

Bloodstock agent Dan Hayden, a partner in Fager Stable, purchased Surging Tide for $310,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

“Dan Hayden is just a brilliant horseman,” Fager said. “When he saw her, he really loved her. He thought she was a really well-balanced filly. And something that John Nerud had taught him, which was that when you are picking a filly, look for femininity. He saw that. She didn't have a big walk, but he felt she had a gentle nature and was just a very imposing filly. All of those combined and we got on the phone right away and he said, 'I think this is one we should really go for, Jeff.'”

Fager Stable had to stretch to acquire the filly, who is a daughter of MGISP Alienation (Rock Hard Ten).

“It was a little high, but that year was crazy,” Fager said of the filly's price tag. “The prices are starting to get crazy, so we try to find a balance–maybe we will spend a little more on fewer horses. But she was too good to resist. And Dan was so excited about her.”

Surging Tide is one of six horses currently in training for Fager Stable. In addition to Baker, the operation has the privately acquired Shalailah (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}), a maiden winner at Dundalk last October, in training with Chad Brown. Kiaran McLaughlin trains Into the Breach (Creative Cause), a half-brother to Cairo Prince, who returned from 11 months on the sidelines to be fifth in the fifth race at Belmont Sunday.

Expanding its presence onto the international scene, Fager Stable also has Medal of Honour (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), a Dundalk maiden winner last December, in training in Ireland with Joseph O'Brien.

“He shows a lot of promise,” Fager said of Medal of Honour. “We're very excited about him. It is a different sport over there. It's a fun change of pace from the way it's done here.”

Fager credits Nerud for much of his passion for racing and his six-horse stable includes the 6-year-old gelding Final Chapter (Thunder Gulch), the final horse owned by the legendary horseman.

“I asked Johnnie when he came to the house once if I could work on the farm and he said, 'Sure, why not?,” Fager recalled. “I went to work at Tartan Farms in Florida when I was 15 and I spent my summers there. It was amazing. Then when I was 17, I graduated to the track. I actually lived in the shedrow at Belmont and was a groom and a hotwalker there.”

When Fager was ready to start owning horses, Nerud teamed him with Hayden.

“I always thought I'd like to get into it somehow and when I went to John and asked him, he said, 'Come on, I've got Dan Hayden,” Fager said. “He'll help you pick horses. You can start right now and have your own collection of horses.

“John Nerud is an inspiration,” Fager continued. “He was such an amazing man in so many ways. He was a life inspiration and obviously as good as it gets in terms of a horseman. And Dan Hayden, who is our partner in this endeavor, was so close to him and learned so much from him. I think that combination has been important to us and is part of the legacy of Fager Stable.”

Surging Tide could provide the next chapter in that legacy, but connections will take their time with the promising filly.

“We've been talking about it,” Fager said of potential next starts for Surging Tide. “We're going to take it slowly. We're not going to overreach too quickly. We want her to come along at a reasonable pace. So we'll probably find an allowance for her second race.”

6th-BEL, $75,000, Msw, 5-4, 3yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:36.97, ft.
SURGING TIDE, f, 3, by Medaglia d'Oro
          1st Dam: Alienation (MGISP, $160,800), by Rock Hard Ten
          2nd Dam: Alienated, by Gone West
          3rd Dam: Extraterrestral, by Storm Bird
$310,000 Ylg '16 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $45,000. O-Fager Stable; B-Mercedes Stables LLC (KY); T-Charlton Baker.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.