Do you know who Ruffian the racehorse is?

Answer 1

She was the greatest filly ever to set foot on the track. She either tied or broke a record in every race she ever ran... no horse was ever in front of her... she broke first and ran in front all the way to the finish. She won the filly triple crown and ran a battle of the sexes race against Foolish Pleasure, the colt who won the Derby that year. Unfortunately she broke her leg (both sesamoid bones) at the end of the backstretch, but kept running, apparantly refusing to give up. Nevertheless her jockey pulled her up and they took her across the street from Belmont Park where they performed surgery and put a cast on that leg. But when she woke up from the anesthetic she was confused and scared and started thrashing around. She broke the cast that they put on her leg as well as her other leg. (that's the reason that horses today (like Barbaro) awake from the anesthetic in a pool... so they can't hurt themselves. unfortunately it wasn't a common practice in 1975) The doctors felt they couldn't perform another surgery on her since her heart had stopped twice in the first surgery, so they euthanized her immediately. The next evening they buried her near the flagpole at Belmont park with her nose pointing toward the finish line.

She was really a beautiful filly. She was tall and black and really graceful when she ran.

She's probably the only horse in history to have another horse's trainer say that she was better than his horse... and to make it better, it was Secretariat's trainer... "As god as my witness, she may be better than Secretariat!"

Here's 2 you tube videos... they're really excellent:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vGFswkcfqaA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gZ5m4o21qz0&mode=related&search=
The first tells the story of the match race and the second is just a nice set of videos from her races. Reading about her just isn't enough. You have to see her to understand. I hope you enjoy the videos.

Also, ESPN and ABC are making a Ruffian movie to air this summer... either some evening or the afternoon before the Belmont.

Answer 2

Yes she is the best filly, if not, once of the best horses to ever step foot on the track. She won the Filly Triple Crown and was called the "Queen of the Fillies' and was awarded the Eclipse award. Her final race was against Foolish Pleasure it it was considered the 'battle of the sexes'. Foolish Pleasure had won the Kentukey Derby that year. She went off at 1-2 favorite. It was estimated that the race was watched by 50,000 spectators and18 million watching on television. The first quarter-mile was run in a blazingly fast 22 1/5 seconds, Ruffian ahead by a nose. Little more than a furlong 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, apparently unwilling to give up the race. She was imediatelly atteneded by a staff of vetinarians and an orthopedic surgen. Many believe it was a mistake to put her into surgury coming straight from the track because she still had the rush from the race. Thats why today most racehorses who revive breaks are treated the next day (like Barbaro). Ruffian was in surgury for 12 hours. Traigically when the anestisia wore off she began to thrash around wildly. During the process she broke her cast, damaged her other leg, and further injured her already injured leg. Realizing that further surgery was useless, the team euthanized her shortly afterwards. Ruffian is buried near the finish line in the infield at Belmont Park, her nose pointed towards the finish pole. It is often said, "she died on the lead."

Answer 3

I remember that race with Foolish Pleasure too. Ruffian was a big strong filly. One of the best to ever race. She held her own against the colts which most fillies cannot do. I don't believe there has been another like her to this day.

Answer 4

there's a rationalization why those horses destroy down. that is suggested as racing them at the same time as they are nonetheless children and bodily immature. a three 3 hundred and sixty 5 days previous horse is the equivalent of a 9 3 hundred and sixty 5 days previous human- his/her bones are nonetheless fairly smooth and turning out to be, and in many situations, those bones basically basically can not take the tremendous pressures enthusiastic about racing. it is the area of racing that I hate the most at situations, and the area that desperately needs to get replaced if we are EVER going to make certain an end to the poor tragedies like those with Ruffian, Barbaro, bypass for Wand, Pine Island, Union city, and all the different horses which have lost their lives as a effect of those injuries and the aftermath that follows. Economics are a huge aspect in the alternative to initiate and race those horses as children- no breeder and very few vendors prefer to take the time to attend till a horse grows up and is bodily mature in the previous racing them using money enthusiastic about breeding them and elevating them. The vendors and breeders want a go back on their investments, and they prefer to exhibit a earnings- hence, the courtroom situations through many who racing is continually about the base line. those courtroom situations have earnings- racing is about money to maximum persons that participate in it. So the stress to get those horses operating, regardless of their boom or adulthood aspect, is tremendous. Horses can make missteps, and would produce different injuries, certain- besides the undeniable fact that the important reason behind maximum of those catastrophic fractures and breakdowns is extreme actual stress. it is the unhappy aspect of racing- one would even call it the gruesome aspect.

Answer 5

She was a great horse, maybe the greatest female race horse ever. She died in her prime as a result of a broken foreleg sustained during a match race vs. Foolish Pleasure at Belmont in 1975. I watched that race.

Answer 6

Ruffian (horse)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ruffian
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Ruffianbookcover.jpg
Sire:Reviewer
Dam:Shenanigans
Damsire:Native Dancer
Sex:Filly
Foaled:1972
Country:USA (Kentucky)
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 & Honours & Awards
Major Racing Wins
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. Filly Triple Crown 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
Infobox last updated on: November 25, 2006.

Ruffian (April 17, 1972 - July 7, 1975) was an American champion thoroughbred racehorse, considered by many horseracing enthusiasts to be the greatest female racehorse of all time.
A dark bay or brown filly, Ruffian was foaled at Claiborne Farm, near Paris, Kentucky. She was bred by Stuart Janney Jr. and Barbara Phipps Janney. Ruffian was sired by the Phipps family's Bold Ruler stallion Reviewer and out of the Native Dancer mare Shenanigans. She was trained by Frank 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 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 floor of a padded recovery stall 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. 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.
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.
Fifteen years later, a filly named Go for Wand, among the best female racehorses since Ruffian's demise, also suffered a fatal breakdown at Belmont Park. It happened on Breeders' Cup Day as Go for Wand battled the older champion Bayakoa through the stretch in the Breeders' Cup Distaff. The two tragic events are often discussed together.
Ruffian is buried near the finish line in the infield at Belmont Park, her nose pointed towards the finish pole. It is often said, "she died on the lead."
(Buried nearby is another horse who died on this track in 1982, Timely Writer, running in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.)

Answer 7

she was a filly that would race with the males and win but her leg broke and they had to put her down that day after 20 hours of surgery.she was huge and black the best filly race horse out there.

Answer 8

The best girl to ever race! She held her own and beat the boys! Perfect horse woman-power if you ask me.

God bless her. All heart, that's for sure! wish we had the chance to see you race, Girl.

Answer 9

she was a very good race horse but i woulden't say the greatest female one ever but she broke down in a match race with foolish pleasure if i remember right i saw a trubite about her on you tube once it was pretty good but i heard the name alot on t.v. too.