Ruffian (horse)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ruffian | |
|---|---|
Ruffian - a biography. |
|
| Sire | Reviewer |
| Grandsire | Bold Ruler |
| Dam | Shenanigans |
| Damsire | Native Dancer |
| Sex | Filly |
| Foaled | 1972 |
| Country | USA  |
| Colour | Dark Bay |
| Breeder | Stuart & Barbara Janney |
| Owner | Stuart & Barbara Janney |
| Trainer | Frank Whiteley, Jr. |
| Record | 11:10-0-0 |
| Earnings | $313,428 |
| Major Racing Wins, Awards and Honours | |
| Major Racing Wins | |
| Astoria Stakes (1974) Spinaway Stakes (1974) Acorn Stakes (1975) Mother Goose Stakes (1975) Coaching Club American Oaks (1975) |
|
| Racing Awards | |
| U.S. Champion 2-Yr-Old- Filly (1974) 4th U.S. Triple Tiara Champion (1975) U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old- Filly (1975) |
|
| Honours | |
| U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (1976) #35 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century Ruffian Handicap at Belmont Park TV Film: Ruffian (2007) |
|
| Infobox last updated on: May 25, 2006. | |
Ruffian (April 17, 1972 - July 7, 1975) was an American champion thoroughbred racehorse, considered to be one of the greatest female racehorses of all time.
A dark bay, almost coal black filly, Ruffian was foaled at Claiborne Farm, near Paris, Kentucky. She was bred by Stuart S. Janney, Jr. and Barbara Phipps Janney, owners of Locust Hill Farm in Glyndon, Maryland. Ruffian was sired by the Phipps family's Bold Ruler stallion, Reviewer, and out of the Native Dancer mare Shenanigans. As a yearling and 2-year old, Ruffian was trained by Frank Y. Whiteley, Jr..
She earned the nickname "Queen of the Fillies" after being voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Two-Year-Old Filly in 1974 and winning the Filly Triple Crown (now called the Triple Tiara) in 1975. Lucien Laurin, Secretariat's trainer, even remarked to the press once that "she may be even better than Secretariat." Ruffian was undefeated in her first ten races, covering distances from 5.5 furlongs (1.1 km) to 1.5 miles (2.4 km) with an average winning margin of 8 1/3 lengths. She won her maiden race in record time and by 15 lengths.
Her 11th and final race, run at Belmont Park on July 6, 1975, was a match race between Ruffian and that year's Kentucky Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure. The two horses shared the same jockey, Jacinto Vasquez. Vasquez chose to ride Ruffian in the match race, believing her to be the better of the two horses. The "equine battle of the sexes" was heavily anticipated and attended by more than 50,000 spectators, with an estimated television audience of 18 million.
Just as the starting bell sounded and the race began, Ruffian hit her shoulder extremely hard on the starting gate. She recovered quickly, but was obviously in pain and leaning more heavily on her right foreleg compensating for the pain. The first quarter-mile (402 m) was run in a blazing 22 1/5 seconds, with Ruffian ahead by a nose. Little more than a 1 furlong (201 m) later, Ruffian was in front by half a length when both sesamoid bones in her right foreleg snapped.[1] Vasquez tried to pull her up, but the filly wouldn't stop. She kept on running, pulverizing her sesamoids, ripping the skin of her fetlock as the bones burst through, driving the open wound into the sting sand of the Belmont track, tearing her ligaments, until her hoof was flopping uselessly, bent up like the tip of a ski. She was known for her incredible love of running and unwillingness to lose. She had never before been behind in a race.
She was immediately attended to by a team of four veterinarians and an orthopedic surgeon, and underwent an emergency operation lasting 3 hours. Tragically, when the anesthesia wore off after the surgery, she thrashed about wildly on the floor of a padded recovery stall as if still running in the race. Despite the efforts of numerous attendants, she began spinning in circles on the floor. As she flailed about with her legs, she repeatedly knocked the heavy plaster cast against her own elbow until the elbow, too, was smashed to bits. The cast slipped, and as it became disloged it ripped open her forleg all over again, undoing what good, if any, the surgery had done. The medical team, knowing that she would probably not survive more extensive surgery for the repair of her leg and elbow, euthanized her shortly afterwards.[1]
Her performance in the 1975 season earned her the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Three-Year-Old Filly. In 1976, she was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. No match race has taken place at Belmont since Ruffian's death.
Her breakdown and tragic death led to a public outcry for more humane treatment of racehorses. As it is natural for horses to thrash and kick when coming out of anesthesia, a "recovery pool" was developed so that they awake suspended in warm water and don't re-injure themselves. [1] Medications such as Lasix for bleeding and corticosteroids for inflammation and pain management, came into common use. While helping the horses in the short term, the increased use of medications at the track had a downside, as many more horses were raced while injured. It can be argued that thoroughbreds have become more delicate as a result of inbreeding, starting racing too young, and racing while injured; racehorses today run only half as many starts before retirement as did their counterparts 50 years ago.[2] Some of this effect is likely also due to breeding practices that select for horses likely to have short, brilliant careers—like Ruffian's—instead of the traditional racing career which might have lasted several years. Indeed, Ruffian's bloodline may be considered at least partly to blame for her broken leg; her sire, Reviewer, suffered three breakdowns.[1][3]
Regardless, Ruffian herself may be regarded as one of racing's best and brightest. The Blood-Horse ranked Ruffian 35th in its list of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century. Sports Illustrated included her as the only non-human on their list of the top 100 female athletes of the century, ranking her 53rd.
Ruffian is buried near a flag pole in the infield of Belmont Park.[1] When she was alive, her trainer always put her in one of his old blankets, but when she was buried, he buried her in two of his good blankets, because she deserved them. She was buried facing toward the finish line.
[edit] Further reading
- Schwartz, Jane (1994-03-02). Ruffian: Burning From the Start. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0345386027.
- Toby, Milton (2002-01-25). Ruffian (Thoroughbred Legends, No. 13). Eclipse Press. ISBN 1581500599.
- Lyshin, Lyn (2006-02-10). The Licorice Daughter: My Year with Ruffian. Texas Review Press. ISBN 1881515796.
- Nack, William (2007-05-08). Ruffian: A Racetrack Romance. ESPN Books. ISBN 1933060301.
- Hanna, Linda (2008-04-15). Barbaro, Smarty Jones & Ruffian: The People's Horses. Wilmington, DE: Middle Atlantic Press. ISBN 0970580452.
