Ruffian (horse)

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. Janney, a cousin of prominent horseman Ogden Mills Phipps, later became the chairman of the Bessemer Trust.[2] 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 Y. Whiteley, Jr..

Ruffian was a nearly black filly standing 16.2 hands (66 inches, 168 cm) high as a two-year-old. Sportswriter Joe Hirsch called her the most imposing juvenile filly he'd ever seen.[3] William Nack, author of Ruffian: A Racetrack Romance, wrote, "She looked like an outside linebacker."[4] Ruffian used her size and strength to intimidate other fillies even before they started to race.[5]

Ruffian's eleventh race was run at Belmont Park on July 6, 1975. It was a match race between her and that year's Kentucky Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure. In the past, the horses had shared the same jockey: Jacinto Vásquez. Vasquez chose to ride Ruffian in the match race, believing her to be the better of the horses; Braulio Baeza rode Foolish Pleasure. The "Great Match" was heavily anticipated and attended by more than 50,000 spectators, with an estimated television audience of 20 million.

As Ruffian left the starting gate, she hit her shoulder hard before straightening herself. The first quarter-mile (402 m) was run in 22​¹⁄₅ seconds, with Ruffian ahead by a nose. Little more than 1 furlong (201 m) later, Ruffian was in front by half a length when she changed leads, followed by an audible crack: both sesamoid bones in her right foreleg had snapped.[9] Vasquez tried to pull her up, but the filly would not stop. She went on running, pulverizing her sesamoids, ripping the skin of her fetlock and tearing her ligaments until her hoof was flopping uselessly. Vasquez said it was impossible for him to stop her. She still tried to run and finish the race. Video showed Ruffian was startled by a bird in the infield and took a bad step. [10]

Ruffian was immediately attended to by a team of four veterinarians and an orthopedic surgeon, and underwent an emergency operation lasting twelve hours, during which she had to be revived twice after she stopped breathing.[11] 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 vet who treated her said that her elbow was shattered and looked like a piece of ice after being smashed on the ground.[10] The cast slipped, and as it became dislodged it ripped open her foreleg all over again, undoing the surgery. The medical team, knowing that Ruffian would probably not survive more extensive surgery for the repair of her leg and elbow (much less the long period of stall rest required after surgery), euthanized her shortly afterward at 2:25 am on July 7.[11][12]

"It was unfortunate we were in a learning period at the time", said her surgeon Dr. Edward Keefer in 2000. "Vets are really doing a hell of a job now and have improved tremendously in their knowledge and how to handle these catastrophic occurrences."[3]

Ruffian's breakdown and 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.[13] Medications such as corticosteroids for inflammation and pain management came into common use. However, 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. The average number of starts per year steadily declined, though this may also be attributable to economic factors.[14]

Ruffian's breeding may be considered at least partly to blame for her broken leg; her sire, Reviewer, suffered three breakdowns in his racing career. After his fourth and last breakdown, which occurred while in his paddock, he had to be euthanized after surgery.[11][15][16] Shenanigans, Ruffian's dam, was euthanized following intestinal surgery on May 21, 1977 when she broke two legs while recovering from anesthetic. Ruffian's damsire, Native Dancer, is considered by some to be the purveyor of "soft boned" genetics, primarily through his brilliant but unsound son Raise A Native. Inbreeding to Raise A Native may have been a factor in the later breakdown of Eight Belles.[17]

Later research by Susan Stover showed that catastrophic breakdowns were most often preceded by smaller stress fractures,[18] though the fracture Ruffian experienced as a two-year-old was in a different leg. To help prevent similar tragedies, Stover has directed research into improved early detection, surgical techniques and rehabilitation methods.[19]

Ruffian is buried near a flag pole in the infield of Belmont Park, with her nose pointed toward the finish line.[11]

Ruffian posthumously earned the 1975 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Three-Year-Old Filly. In 1976, she was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.[20] The Blood-Horse magazine ranked her 35th in its list of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century; she is the highest-rated filly (or mare) on the list, and the only female horse on both lists (best female, best horse). Sports Illustrated included her as the only non-human on their list of the top 100 female athletes of the century, ranking her 53rd.[21]

In the summer of 1975, the folk singer Joan Baez dedicated a version of the song "Stewball" to Ruffian.[22]

Since 1976, the Ruffian Handicap has been run in Ruffian's honor. Until 2009, the race had been held at Belmont Park (on Long Island, New York), but it was moved upstate to Saratoga Race Course in 2010. In 2014, the Ruffian Handicap was moved back to Belmont Park.[23]

The Ruffian Equine Medical Center, now known as Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists, opened on May 26, 2009. It cost $18 million to build and is located outside Gate 8 of Belmont Park. The facility offers a wide range of services ranging from acute care for race related injuries to preventative care and farrier consultations.[24]

Ruffian has many nicknames, such as "Queen of the Fillies", "Queen of the Century", "Queen of Racing", "Queen of the Track", "Filly of the Century", "The Super Filly", the "Black Terror" and more. Several books about her have been published, including Ruffian, Burning from the Start; Ruffian, A Racetrack Romance; Ruffian: Horse Racing's Black Beauty; and The Licorice Daughter, My Year with Ruffian.

Ruffian is the subject of a book of poems by Lyn Lifshin, entitled "The Licorice Daughter: My Year with Ruffian" (Texas Review Press).

In Lexington, Kentucky, the road into the Masterson Station Park is named "Ruffian Way" and a monument in her honor can be found inside the park. It reads, "This memorial erected in memory of Ruffian, dark bay thoroughbred filly. We were young when she died, too young to remember her with the greats of other eras. Yet to love grace and perfection is ours because we are human and none felt her loss more painfully than we. The Children of Lexington – 1975"

Ruffian was by Reviewer, a talented racehorse who was injured in each of the three seasons he raced. In a short career at stud, he sired two outstanding fillies, Ruffian and Revidere, but failed to sire a son capable of continuing his line.[25]

Ruffian's dam Shenanigans earned three wins in 22 starts for the Janneys, then became an outstanding broodmare. In addition to Ruffian, Shenanigans produced graded stakes winner and important sire Icecapade, the talented filly Laughter, who went on to become a producer of several stakes winners, and Buckfinder, another stakes winner and good sire. She was named the 1975 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year.[26]

• Schwartz, Jane (1994-03-02). Ruffian: Burning From the Start. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-38602-7.
• Toby, Milton (2002-01-25). Ruffian (Thoroughbred Legends, No. 13). Eclipse Press. ISBN 1-58150-059-9.
• Lyshin, Lyn (2006-02-10). The Licorice Daughter: My Year with Ruffian. Texas Review Press. ISBN 1-881515-79-6.
• Nack, William (2007-05-08). Ruffian: A Racetrack Romance. ESPN Books. ISBN 1-933060-30-1.
• Hanna, Linda (2008-04-15). Barbaro, Smarty Jones & Ruffian: The People's Horses. Wilmington, Delaware: Middle Atlantic Press. ISBN 0-9705804-5-2.

• List of leading Thoroughbred racehorses

• "Ruffian Horse Pedigree", Ruffian's pedigree and partial racing stats
• Ruffian at Find a Grave
• Center at Belmont to Bear Ruffian's Name
• "Ruffian", Racingmuseum.org, National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame