Ruffian (horse)
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Ruffian (April 17, 1972-July 7, 1975) was an American champion thoroughbred racehorse, considered by many to be the greatest female racehorse of all time.
A dark bay or brown filly, Ruffian was born at Claiborne Farm, near Paris, Kentucky. Bred by Stuart and Barbara Janney, Ruffian was sired by the Bold Ruler stallion Reviewer and out of the Native Dancer mare Shenanigans. She was trained by Frank Whitely.
She earned the nickname "Queen of the Fillies" after being named Two-Year-Old Filly of the Year in 1974 and winning the Filly Triple Crown in 1975. She was undefeated in her first ten races, covering distances from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/2 miles (1106 to 2414 m) with an average winning margin of 8 1/3 lengths. Her eleventh 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 "equine battle of the sexes" was heavily anticipated and attended by more than 50,000 spectators, with an estimated 18 million watching on television.
The first quarter-mile (402 m) was run in a blazingly fast 22 1/5 seconds, Ruffian ahead by a nose. Little more than a furlong (201 m) later, Ruffian was in front by half a length when both sesamoid bones in her right foreleg snapped. Her jockey, Jacinto Vasquez, tried to pull her up, but she ran on for another 50 yards (46 m), apparently unwilling to give up the race.
She was immediately attended to by a team of four veterinarians and an orthopedic surgeon, and underwent an emergency operation lasting 12 hours. Tragically, when the anesthesia wore off after the surgery, she thrashed about wildly on the operating table despite the efforts of numerous attendants, breaking the cast and causing even more catastrophic damage to her injured leg. The medical team, realizing that further surgery was useless, euthanized her shortly afterwards.
Ruffian's legacy is complex. Her breakdown and tragic death led to a public outcry for more humane treatment of racehorses. One result was that medications, such as Lasix for bleeding and corticosteroids for inflammation and pain management, came into common use in racehorses. While helping the horses in the short term, the increased use of medications at the track had a downside, as many horses were raced while injured. It can be argued that thoroughbreds are becoming more delicate as a result; racehorses today run only half as many starts before retirement as did their counterparts 50 years ago. 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.
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 at the quarter pole in the infield at Belmont Park, facing the finish line.
External link
- Ruffian on thoroughbredchampions.com (http://thoroughbredchampions.com/gallery/ruffian1.htm)
- Cincinnati Enquirer: racehorse careers getting shorter (http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/05/01/spt_sptderby1horses.html)