From the Department of Better Late Than Never, this Saturday Belmont Park will present the John A. Nerud Stakes as part of its blockbuster holiday weekend program. Naming a significant race for the Hall of Fame trainer of Dr. Fager, Gallant Man, and Ta Wee should have been a no-brainer from way back. He certainly stuck around long enough in case such recognition came along. Nerud’s death at 102 in August of 2015 brought to a close a lifetime of unmatched achievement in Thoroughbred racing history. As a jockey’s agent, he peddled the book of future Hall of Famer Ted Atkinson. As a breeder, he developed Tartan Farm into an industry powerhouse for patron William McKnight. As a racing leader, he helped establish a health and welfare program for New York stablehands, then later turned his attention to founding the Breeders’ Cup with John Gaines and colleagues. Most of all, Nerud was a peerless horse trainer of bracing intelligence who picked the brains of the best and let his intuition do the rest. “I learned everything I needed to know from Ben Jones in a day,” Nerud would say, summoning the spectre of Calumet’s legendary trainer. “Ben told me, ‘Feed ’em good, keep ’em fat, and work ’em half a mile. They’re gonna win in spite of you.’ And he was right.” NYRA got the race right when they renamed the Grade 2, seven-furlong Belmont Sprint Championship in Nerud’s honor. Between them, the half-siblings Dr. Fager and Ta Wee won seven major New York stakes at the distance, including The Doctor’s last, breathtaking appearance in the 1968 Vosburgh Handicap with a six-length victory under 139 pounds in an Aqueduct track record of 1:20.20. Dr, Fager was undefeated in eight 1968 starts to earn an unprecedented four championship titles – Handicap Horse, Grass Horse, Sprinter, and Horse of the Year. Nerud kicked off the campaign in the seven-furlong Roseben Handicap on May 4 at Aqueduct. “I rode Dr. Fager that day because Braulio Baeza chose to ride a horse in the Kentucky Derby,” said Hall of Famer John Rotz, 84, this week from his home in Illinois. “John couldn’t understand why Braulio would do that.” At the time, Baeza was a three-time national champion on his way to a fourth straight title and thought Iron Ruler had a shot to win the Derby. Instead, they finished 12th at 5-1, while up in New York the Roseben was a three-length waltz for Rotz and Dr. Fager. “I had to throttle him down quite a bit to save him for his next race, thinking maybe I could ride him again,” Rotz recalled. “He was a dandy, a great horse, and a true joy to ride.” The Roseben was one and done for Rotz and Dr. Fager, as Baeza was back on board for the rest of the year. But at the end of July, Nerud threw Rotz a gold-plated bone with the mount on Ta Wee, Dr. Fager’s 2-year-old half-sister. They teamed for 18 races and two championships during a career split between Nerud and his former assistant, Scotty Schulhofer. “Ta Wee might have been faster than Dr. Fager, but she didn’t break real well,” Rotz said. “By her second stride, though, when she hit the ground she was full blast.” As far as Rotz was concerned, if you rode for John Nerud you already had a step on the opposition. “He let you use your own judgment,” Rotz said. “And any time he put you on one you knew it was a solid horse. He didn’t run any horses who weren’t ready to go out there and do their best.” A dirt-poor farm boy from western Nebraska, Nerud found himself up against a privileged class of New York society trainers who, in his words, looked at him as nothing more than “a gyp from the sticks.” “They never called me a cowboy,” Nerud said. “Wouldn’t give me that much credit.” Even Nerud’s training style raised eyebrows, from his regimen of stout gallops and half-mile blasts to the comportment of his crew at stuffy Belmont Park. “I let my people talk, have some fun,” Nerud said. “You had to let them have a good time. People don’t realize the horse has to be happy. They like a little B.S., too. And I didn’t mind hiring drunks, if they can control themselves in the morning. But did you ever see one of my horses that wasn’t on a loose rein, or somebody snatching on a horse? No, you didn’t.” Hopefully, that is the John Nerud shining through in “Born to Rein,” a new documentary about Nebraska’s impact on Thoroughbred racing that will be shown Aug. 20 at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. “I graduated from the same high school as John Nerud, only 56 years later,” said Jody Lamp, who produced the documentary with Melody Dodson. “But the only acknowledgement I could find of such an important Nebraska native anywhere in the state was in the Marion and Jack Van Berg exhibit at Fonner Park. I didn’t think that was right.” Neither was it right that Nerud’s name was not attached to a first-class horse race – until now. The John A. Nerud Stakes also offers the winner a free berth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. That’s nice, John would say. But first you’ve got to win.