Q&A With Jeff Fager, Executive Producer of ‘60 Minutes’

The Life

Jeff Fager will deliver the keynote address at the 2017 Thoroughbred Owner Conference on Oct. 31  from 1:30 - 2:15 p.m. ET. The three-day conference, hosted OwnerView and BloodHorse, runs from Oct. 30 through Nov. 1 at the Del Mar Hilton in Southern California. Del Mar racetrack will host the 2017 Breeders' Cup World Championships on Nov. 3-4.

Fagerhas been the executive producer of “60 Minutes,” America’s most-watched news program, since 2004. In his years at CBS News – topped in 2011 when he was made the division’s first chairman – Fager has covered the news around the world at each level of his distinguished career.

As producer and then senior producer of the “CBS Evening News,” he reported on the 1984 presidential campaign; the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe; the Reagan-Gorbachev Summits; the bombing of Libya in 1986; the death of the Japanese emperor; conflicts in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan; the Palestinian Intifada in 1988; the Iraq-Iran War; the Persian Gulf War; the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin; and the War in Bosnia. Named the newscast’s executive producer in 1996, he refocused it on hard news and added more than a million new viewers.

Fager was born in Wellesley, Mass. He graduated from Colgate University in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in English. At 15 years old, he started spending his summers cleaning stalls and grooming horses for Tartan Farms in Florida and later in the same role for Tartan Stables at the New York racetracks. 

Name: Jeff Fager

What I do for a living: Executive Producer of “60 Minutes”

How and when I was introduced to Thoroughbred racing: When my father saved John Nerud’s life when I was 10 years old

My favorite racetrack: Saratoga Race Course

My favorite Thoroughbred racing event: Saratoga

Other sports/teams I follow: New England Patriots

What I would like to see more of in Thoroughbred racing: Rules about medication

What I would like to see less of in Thoroughbred racing: Medication

Three words that define what Thoroughbred racing means to me: Escape, excitement, beautiful animals

First Thoroughbred track I ever attended was: Rockingham Park in New Hampshire

Favorite all-time Thoroughbred: Dr. Fager

My personal best moment in the sport of Thoroughbred racing: Watching Dr. Fager run

Best racetrack food can be found at: Saratoga Race Course

My favorite trainer: John Nerud

My hero: My father, Dr. Charles Fager

Favorite quote or motto: “Character is destiny.”

Favorite animal other than a horse: Dog

Favorite non-Thoroughbred racing sports event I have attended: The Masters, [Derek] Jeter’s final game

Favorite food: Wild, striped bass

Favorite vacation spot: Chappaquiddick Island, catching wild, striped bass

Favorite city: New York City

Favorite musician/band: Wynton Marsalis

Favorite all-time movie(s): “Gladiator”

Favorite TV show: “60 Minutes”

What I drive: BMW M4

Favorite movie about horse racing: “Black Stallion”

Alma Mater: Colgate

Favorite memento: Andy Rooney’s typewriter

What I like about my job: Storytelling

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