TITANS OF TURF : Episode 6 – Ruffian
|
THE FILLIES |
While affirmative action has produced social and economic changes in America, the philosophy that was the impetus for legislating equality between sexes has never carried over to horse racing, here or anywhere in the world; at least on the racecourse, females of the equine species are considered to be inferior to males. In a survey published by The Blood-Horse magazine, four racing officials and three sportswriters selected the top 100 horses of the 20th century, and in their opinion there were 34 colts or geldings that were superior to the best filly. I have been less chauvinistic in granting my five favorite fillies at least equal billing as the colts.
RUFFIAN
Ruffian had two grandparents whose names epitomized her indomitable character: Bold Ruler and Bold Irish. She was bold indeed, her courage no doubt contributing to her tragic end. When her foreleg was shattered on the track, she fought to continue to race, and she fought with her final breath every restraint that was imposed upon her in a desperate attempt to save her life. She died in surgery.
Foaled in 1972 at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky, and bred by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart S. Janney, who raced under the banner of Locust Hill Farm, Ruffian was trained throughout her short career by Frank Whiteley Jr. Her sire, Reviewer, a brilliantly fast son of Bold Ruler, also died prematurely as the result of a paddock accident, while her dam, Shenanigans, was by the great Native Dancer.
Standing 16 hands, one inch, with a 75 and a half-inch girth as a 2-year-old, the huge dark-brown Ruffian completely dominated her division, winning all of her juvenile races so impressively that she had been considered by many as a candidate for Horse of the Year. Certainly no 2-year-old of either sex had been so spectacular since Secretariat had won that honor. Her 2-year-old racing season, however, was cut short in late September by a hairline fracture to her right hind leg; a precursor of what was to befall her less than a year later.
Only to run five times as a 2-year-old, and never beyond six furlongs, she nevertheless won every start unchallenged, winning a maiden race and four stakes by a combined margin of 38 lengths. She made her first start May 22, 1974, equaling Belmont Park’s five-and-a-half-furlong track record and winning by 15 lengths. Within the next 90 days, she won the Fashion Stakes at
She wintered in South Carolina, where the hairline fracture healed completely. Upon returning to the races April 14, 1975, as a 3-year-old, she won an allowance race, and then the Comely Stakes, followed by the Acorn Stakes and the Mother Goose — the first two legs of the Filly Triple Crown — all at Aqueduct within six weeks’ time. Her final victory came three weeks later when she won the third leg of the filly triple, the Coaching Club American Oaks at odds of 1-20.
To this point, she was undefeated, unchallenged, and never headed from start to finish in 10 lifetime starts from five and a half furlongs to a mile and a half. Only in her maiden race was she anything but an odds-on favorite, and as a 3-year-old, she never went off at odds of less than 1-10 until Foolish Pleasure ran against her in the fateful match race.
Although not voted best 3-year-old colt, Foolish Pleasure won the Kentucky Derby that year, and had been voted best 2-year-old of 1974 the previous year; he was certainly a worthy opponent for what was arguably the best filly of any year. But it was misfortune that decided the result of the Great Match Stakes — as it was named — rather than the ability of the colt. It was a credit to the filly that Jacinto Vasquez, the regular rider for both horses, having his choice of mounts elected to ride Ruffian. Which horse was the better always shall be a matter of debate, for only two furlongs into the mile-and-a-quarter race, after taking a slight lead, Ruffian irreparably fractured her right foreleg; within eight hours she was gone.
Only the tape measure could define the difference between the two horses that day, but Ruffian, at 1,125 lbs. and 16 hands, two inches, was far bigger than the colt. If not the largest filly ever to race, she was certainly the grandest filly of the century in the minds of most of us who saw her. She was buried in an emotional private ceremony in the centerfield of Belmont Park, where she had run her final race.
Speak! To change this standard text, you have to enter some information about your self in the Dashboard -> Users -> Your Profile box. 
