Ruffian (USA)
April 17, 1972 – July 7, 1975
Reviewer (USA) x Shenanigans (USA), by Native Dancer (USA)
Family 8-c
April 17, 1972 – July 7, 1975
Reviewer (USA) x Shenanigans (USA), by Native Dancer (USA)
Family 8-c
Regarded by many experts as the best American race mare of all time, Ruffian captured the imagination of a generation of race goers at a time when issues of gender equality were much in the public eye. Gifted with scorching speed, apparently boundless stamina and a burning desire to run, the big near-black filly was also cursed with the fragility of her sire Reviewer, a flaw that became devastatingly apparent when she broke down during her match race with her year's Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) winner, Foolish Pleasure. A desperate attempt to save her life via surgery failed when she kicked her cast to pieces while coming out of anesthesia, leaving no choice but to euthanize her. She was buried in the Belmont Park infield.
Race record
11 starts, 10 wins, 0 seconds, 0 thirds, US$313,428
1974:
1975:
Honors
Assessments
Ruffian was ranked #35 among the top 100 American racehorses of the 20th century according to an expert panel assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005). She was the highest-ranking of the 26 fillies and mares on the list.
Rated at 122 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1974, tops among fillies and 5 pounds above her nearest competitor in the division, Hot n Nasty.
Highweighted at 132 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1975, the highest rating ever awarded in this division of the Free Handicap and 9 pounds above second-rated My Juliet.
As an individual
Ruffian was a nearly black filly (officially a dark bay or brown) standing 16.1 hands as a juvenile; she was later measured at 16.2 hands shortly before her death. She was described by veteran racing writer Joe Hirsch as the most imposing 2-year-old filly he had ever seen. Those who knew her well described her as being intelligent and professional in nature. She had a long, fluid stride. She suffered a hairline fracture in her right hind leg while running away with the Spinaway Stakes as a juvenile, a forerunner to the injury that later took her life.
Connections
Ruffian was bred and owned by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Janney. She was trained by Frank Whiteley, Jr.
Pedigree notes
Ruffian is inbred 4x4 to Discovery and 5x4 to Sir Gallahad III. She is a half sister to stakes winners Buckfinder (by Buckpasser) and Icecapade (by Nearctic), the latter an important stallion. She is also a half sister to the useful Florida sire On to Glory (by Bold Lad) and to Laughter (by Bold Ruler), dam of five stakes winners including 1988 Wood Memorial Invitational (USA-G1) winner Private Terms (by Private Account).
Ruffian's dam Shenanigans is a half sister to stakes winners Knocklofty (by Parnassus) and The Irishman (by Nasrullah). She is also a half sister to Longford (by Menow), dam of 1963 American co-champion 2-year-old filly Castle Forbes (by Tulyar); to Blarney Castle (by Nasrullah), third dam of two-time French champion Green Forest and French Group 3 winner Green Paradise; and to Castle Hyde (by Tulyar), dam of stakes winner Ramhyde (by Rambunctious) and third dam of Preakness Stakes (USA-G1) winner Pine Bluff and 1987 Arkansas Derby (USA-G1) winner Demons Begone.
Books and media
Fun facts
Last updated: May 25, 2024
Race record
11 starts, 10 wins, 0 seconds, 0 thirds, US$313,428
1974:
- Won Sorority Stakes (USA-G1, 6FD, Monmouth)
- Won Spinaway Stakes (USA-G1, 6FD, Saratoga)
- Won Fashion Stakes (USA-G3, 5.5FD, Belmont; equaled track record 1:03)
- Won Astoria Stakes (USA-G3, 5.5FD, Aqueduct)
- Equaled the track record of 1:03 in her first start, a 5-furlong maiden special weight at Belmont Park
1975:
- Won Acorn Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Aqueduct)
- Won Mother Goose Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Belmont)
- Won Coaching Club American Oaks (USA-G1, 12FD, Belmont)
- Won Comely Stakes (USA-G3, 7FD, Aqueduct)
- Did not finish in match race with Foolish Pleasure (USA, 10FD, Belmont)
Honors
- National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1997)
- Monmouth Park Hall of Champions
- Eclipse Award, American champion 2-year-old filly (1974)
- Eclipse Award, American champion 3-year-old filly (1975)
Assessments
Ruffian was ranked #35 among the top 100 American racehorses of the 20th century according to an expert panel assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005). She was the highest-ranking of the 26 fillies and mares on the list.
Rated at 122 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1974, tops among fillies and 5 pounds above her nearest competitor in the division, Hot n Nasty.
Highweighted at 132 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1975, the highest rating ever awarded in this division of the Free Handicap and 9 pounds above second-rated My Juliet.
As an individual
Ruffian was a nearly black filly (officially a dark bay or brown) standing 16.1 hands as a juvenile; she was later measured at 16.2 hands shortly before her death. She was described by veteran racing writer Joe Hirsch as the most imposing 2-year-old filly he had ever seen. Those who knew her well described her as being intelligent and professional in nature. She had a long, fluid stride. She suffered a hairline fracture in her right hind leg while running away with the Spinaway Stakes as a juvenile, a forerunner to the injury that later took her life.
Connections
Ruffian was bred and owned by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Janney. She was trained by Frank Whiteley, Jr.
Pedigree notes
Ruffian is inbred 4x4 to Discovery and 5x4 to Sir Gallahad III. She is a half sister to stakes winners Buckfinder (by Buckpasser) and Icecapade (by Nearctic), the latter an important stallion. She is also a half sister to the useful Florida sire On to Glory (by Bold Lad) and to Laughter (by Bold Ruler), dam of five stakes winners including 1988 Wood Memorial Invitational (USA-G1) winner Private Terms (by Private Account).
Ruffian's dam Shenanigans is a half sister to stakes winners Knocklofty (by Parnassus) and The Irishman (by Nasrullah). She is also a half sister to Longford (by Menow), dam of 1963 American co-champion 2-year-old filly Castle Forbes (by Tulyar); to Blarney Castle (by Nasrullah), third dam of two-time French champion Green Forest and French Group 3 winner Green Paradise; and to Castle Hyde (by Tulyar), dam of stakes winner Ramhyde (by Rambunctious) and third dam of Preakness Stakes (USA-G1) winner Pine Bluff and 1987 Arkansas Derby (USA-G1) winner Demons Begone.
Books and media
- Ruffian, Queen of the Fillies was written by Edward Claflin and was published by Scrambling Press in 1975.
- Ruffian, by Joan Campbell, was published by Tempo Books in 1977.
- Ruffian, a children's book that was part of the series The Horses, Pasture to Paddock, was written by Dorothy Callahan and Howard Schroeder. It was published in 1983 by Crestwood House.
- Ruffian: Burning From the Start was written by Jane Schwartz. It was released by Ballantine Books in 1991. Ballantine later released a paperback edition in 2002.
- Ruffian is the 13th book in the Thoroughbred Legends series from Eclipse Press. It was written by Milton C. Toby and was published by Eclipse Press in 2002.
- The Licorice Daughter: My Year With Ruffian is a collection of poetry dedicated to the great filly. It was written by Lyn Lifshin and published by Texas Review Press in 2005.
- Ruffian: A Racetrack Romance was written by William Nack and published by ESPN in 2007.
- Ruffian, a DVD from ESPN Original Entertainment, was released in 2007.
- Barbaro, Smarty Jones & Ruffian: The People's Horses was written by Linda Hanna and was published by Middle Atlantic Press in 2008.
- Ruffian was profiled in Chapter 10 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
- Ruffian is one of 50 Thoroughbreds profiled in Royal Blood: Fifty Years of Classic Thoroughbreds. Written by racing historian Jim Bolus with illustrations and commentary by noted equine artist Richard Stone Reeves, the book was released by The Blood-Horse, Inc., in 1994.
- A 2019 tribute to Ruffian can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvDJ4OtUMqs.
Fun facts
- Ruffian was the fourth filly to capture New York's Triple Tiara series of the Acorn Stakes, Mother Goose Stakes and Coaching Club American Oaks, following Dark Mirage (1968), Shuvee (1969) and Chris Evert (1974). After Ruffian, Davona Dale (1979), Mom's Command (1985), Open Mind (1989) and Sky Beauty (1993) also swept the series.
- Ruffian is the only non-human on Sports Illustrated's list of the top 100 female athletes of the 20th century. She was ranked #53.
- Ruffian's fatal match race with Foolish Pleasure was ranked #25 in Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments, a review of racing in the 20th century compiled by The Blood-Horse and released in 2006.
- Both Ruffian's sire and dam also had to be humanely destroyed after leg fractures.
- According to Tom Pedulla’s May 22, 2024, article at America’s Best Racing (“Remembering the Imperial, Elegant Ruffian,” https://www.americasbestracing.net/the-sport/2024-remembering-the-imperial-elegant-ruffian), Joan Baez dedicated a version of her song “Stewball” to Ruffian in 2009.
- The Ruffian Handicap was inaugurated in 1976. It has been run at all three of the major New York tracks at various points and is currently a Grade 2 race for fillies and mares age 4 and up. Its 2024 running was carded at the "Belmont at the Big A" spring meeting at Aqueduct due to ongoing renovations at Belmont Park.
- Belmont Park features a US$18 million equine medical center named in Ruffian's honor. It opened in 2009.
- In 2023, Ruffian's remains were exhumed at Belmont Park and transported to Claiborne Farm, where they were reinterred at the farm's Marchmont division on August 24. The move was made to allow fans greater access to Ruffian's burial place (which was visible but not accessible at Belmont) and to ensure the preservation of the remains in the light of ongoing renovations at Belmont Park.
Last updated: May 25, 2024