Ruffian

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"Ruffian"

1972 - 1975

Ruffian ~ Who Would Never Be Defeated.

Ruffian Image.

Her Story :

She was never defeated. And never headed. She set or eequaled a new stakes record in every one of the eight stakes races she won. She raced at distances from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/2 miles with an average winning margin of 8 1/3 lengths. She was queen of the track, and everyone knew it.

Ruffian was bred by Mr. & Mrs. Stuart Janney for their Locust Hill Farm, and born in 1972 at Claiborne Farms in Kentucky. She frolicked as a filly and weanling there, and was shipped to Belmont Park in New York for schooling under the care of trainer Frank Whiteley Jr. Ruffian was a tall, very dark bay filly, deep bodied but long legged and with a long body and neck. There was no mistaking her for anything but a racehorse. She broke the track record in her first race, winning by 13 lengths. She won every race she was entered in her 2 year old season, but fractured a bone late in the year and was retired to recouperate for a while. She was crowned 2 year old filly of the year.

The next year, 1975, people were excited to see if she would come back as good as she'd been as a 2 year old. Her running style had always been to burst like a demon from the gate and never look back, taking the lead immediately and sprinting to the end of the race. Dark lightening she was. But as a 3 year old, the races would be longer than the 6 furlongs she was used to, as long as a mile and a quarter, even a mile and a half. It takes a super horse to sprint that distance. Was Ruffian a super horse?

Ruffian's first race as a 3 year old was on April 14 in the 6 furlong Calthea Purse at Aqueduct, which she won by 4 1/2 lengths. From then on, she raced at longer and longer distances, and her winning margins became increasingly longer as well. She won the 7 furlong Comely Stakes by 7 3/4 lengths, then ten days later the 1 mile Acorn Stakes by 8 1/4 lengths. Then she ran at 1 mile 1/8 in the Mother Goose Stakes and came home first by 14 lengths.

In winning the Acorn and Mother Goose Stakes, Ruffian had captured the first two legs of the Filly Triple Crown. The 1 1/2 mile Coaching Club American Oaks is the third leg, and she was ready for it. Ruffian went straight to the front, as she always did, and ignored the several persistent pursuers who flew at her. She did not even appear to be seriously pushed during these attempts to catch up to and pass her. Only one filly, Equal Change, could stay near in the closing stages, but Ruffian was clearly better, and won by 2 3/4 lengths.

The next year, 1975, people were excited to see if she would come back as good as she'd been as a 2 year old. Her running style had always been to burst like a demon from the gate and never look back, taking the lead immediately and sprinting to the end of the race. Dark lightening she was. But as a 3 year old, the races would be longer than the 6 furlongs she was used to, as long as a mile and a quarter, even a mile and a half. It takes a super horse to sprint that distance. Was Ruffian a super horse?

Ruffian's first race as a 3 year old was on April 14 in the 6 furlong Calthea Purse at Aqueduct, which she won by 4 1/2 lengths. From then on, she raced at longer and longer distances, and her winning margins became increasingly longer as well. She won the 7 furlong Comely Stakes by 7 3/4 lengths, then ten days later the 1 mile Acorn Stakes by 8 1/4 lengths. Then she ran at 1 mile 1/8 in the Mother Goose Stakes and came home first by 14 lengths.

In winning the Acorn and Mother Goose Stakes, Ruffian had captured the first two legs of the Filly Triple Crown. The 1 1/2 mile Coaching Club American Oaks is the third leg, and she was ready for it. Ruffian went straight to the front, as she always did, and ignored the several persistent pursuers who flew at her. She did not even appear to be seriously pushed during these attempts to catch up to and pass her. Only one filly, Equal Change, could stay near in the closing stages, but Ruffian was clearly better, and won by 2 3/4 lengths.