Ruffian

I believe she was the equal of Man O War. I still cry when I remember what happened to her. I want to holler through the decades, "Stop, don't let her run that race." And she did win that race. She was ahead when she had her terrible accident. The fact that the Foolish Pleasure jockey kept on running his horse and his owners and trainers were smiling and gleeful at the end was obscene.

I can name 6 or 7 horses that would have beaten her with ease. Secretariat, Sea Bird II, Man O'War, Citation, Ribot and Nijinsky. Ruffian was overrated.

Oooohhhh one of the rawest athletes in history. Wish she stayed around longer.

There have been far better horses than this filly. I find it strange that she is so highly rated. Sea Bird II would have beaten her effortlessly.

Ten races against young filly stock with a mortal breakdown in an illconceived "made for TV" match race makes her an unproven potentially great horse. If Ruffian makes this list, why not add Go For Juan or even Barbaro. Not a knock on Ruffian, merely a reality.

She may have been the most beautiful horse I ever saw run, with the possible exception of Nijinsky. She was grace and speed personified, and she was a great horse that came to a horrible and tragic end. I have watched that match race on tape too many times and I am always sickened and saddened by the sight. However.... She is not the greatest horse who ever lived, and her tragic death does not make her so. Look at her record all you like, but look closely at the competition. She didn't face the same kind of class that Alydar, Affirmed, Secreteriat, Northern Dancer, Cigar, or Forty Niner faced. She's a great horse. And to her fans I say this: Leave it at that. She was a great racehorse. The fact that she wasn't the greatest of all time is no slur upon her.

A truly great horse with another tragic ending. Watching her race was so exciting and thrilling to see a filly do so well. She was one of the best and deserves to be remembered for all time.

Finest horse I ever saw race. I never saw Man O' War race....but I did see Secretariat. Make your own assumption of what I meant by my comment.

Lucien Laurin, Secretariats trainer did not say that Ruffian was better than he. What she actually said word for word was."As God as my witness,she may be even better than Secretariat." "MAY BE BETTER"There is a huge difference in the two meanings. It is like saying,IF!

I must say that i like Ruffian better than Secratariat. He was a great horse too, but you never see as much about fillies. She was a beautiful color seemingly flawless in the way that she ran like she was the queen. She refused to be headed in all of her first 10 starts. So what if she only raced against a colt Foolish Pleasure once. I thinl that the part that gets to me most is that even when her leg shattered she refused to stop running. It was because of the people around her that she even broke her leg because of having two good horses "go all out" for the stupid match race. She didn't need a match race to prove herself. I'm glad that match racing is banned forever because of what happened to her.

Never before or since, has a horse assumed first place by the first pole, never losing position, and held a perfect win record in their entire career!

"As God is my witness, she may be better than Secretariat." (Lucien Lauren, trainer of the legendary Secretariat) This says it all. Ruffian was the greatest filly ever to set foot on the tracks. Bar none. She ran a certain distance faster than any colt or filly, 5.5 furlongs, I believe it was. To deny that Ruffian is up there with the greatest ones just because she never raced against the boys and "proved" herself is chauvinistic garbage!

Perfect!!! Simply the BEST!!

I truly love Ruffian (and have watched her races many times), but she only went against the boys once (and unfortunately we know what happened). It's doubtful that she could have hung with the creme of history.

While Ruffian was ONE of the greatest fillies of all time, I do feel that some of the colt could have beat her. She had an amazing heart, and loved to run, but that can only carry you so far. I am a fan, don't get me wrong, but I just feel that if she would have continued racing, whether or not she beat Foolish Pleasure, she would have met her match soon enough. I love horseracing and I've followed it all of my life. I see horses like Barbaro as great, mainly because he raced against the big boys and still won. I think if her trainer had had her race against boys sooner, it would have made a lot of people feel better about her. I think that when Ras to Riches won the Belmont, a lot of people saw the heart that Ruffian had. Rags to Riches, now that's a true champion. She has proved herslef and is only getting better with each race.

I love Ruffian and I am furious that my mom didn't tell me that she had seen Ruffian race.

UPDATE:  Uh oh, if I knew what I would have started...[zips it]Maybe so, but can horses really truly proscribe to the tenets of Feminism?  Kant?  Camus, Gide, Schopenhauer et alia?  Don't tell me if they can, I don't wanna know that Jonathan Swift wasn't delusional about the Wynnyms, or however you spell it.

God Bless her soul

Ruffian was a force of nature. Even when she was winning by 15 lenghts, her jockey had a desperate hold on the reins to keep her from running even faster! She could have beaten Secretariat on his best day. A broken leg was the only thing that could beat her. Those who saw this black girl run thought she invincible. I will mourn her for the rest of my life, and mourn the fact there will never be another race horse with her speed and her heart. The term "look of eagles" was meant for her.

Ruffian was a terrific racehorse despite what some people have to say.The circumstances of her death were both noble and trajic.An amazing horse like her should live on history not criticized by people who just want to disagree for the heck of it.She lived the life of a champion in the life span of a hampster.Her name will and should live on in history forever.

A very good, tenacious filly who had the heart of a lion. Whether she can be considered the equal of most of the true thoroughbred champions is a matter of conjecture and debate. Ranked only 35th on Blood Sports' list of 20th century's USA's 100 greatest racehorse, and more oddly, the only non- human to appear on Sports Illustrated's greatest female athletes, Ruffian was a brilliant filly and no doubt, a star in her own right.

Apologies to her many big fans, but a horse who raced only 10x (I'm not counting her DNF in the mortal match) in lowest-level restricted stakes cannot possibly be considered the greatest ever, even the greatest filly. Ruffian is the *most* over-rated TB of *all* time, not only fillies but horses generally. She has no solid proof. She has alot of sympathy generated by the tragedy; I think that's alot of it. I know it's not popular but that's the truth - the Martyr Syndrome adds to the hype of alot of people, as well as horses - Lincoln, Kennedy, etc. Yes, she set records: 2- & 3yo FILLY *stakes* records; 1 early was a Track-equal but unfortunately, that distance is almost always run only by 2yos. (I REPEAT: she set only STAKES records, NOT TRACK as some WRONGLY say - and she DID NOT do it EVERY race.) Yes, she looked like a world-beater; she certainly seemed to have the spirit & attitude in her carriage, more like a Man O'War than anything, but we don't have solid proof. I give h... Read more

This book is supposed to be about a great racehorse. This book can melt any horse haters heart. I cried for 2 hours after reading this book. This is an enspiring book about a unbeatable filly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't really put into words my thoughts on Ruffian. She was one of a kind and her will to win cost her her life. If she would have allowed herself to be pulled up, the damage wouldn't have been so bad and maybe they could have saved her. I cry like a baby everytime I read about her burial in the book about her. She touched everyone in a special way.

Omg!!!! Ruffian was the GREATEST filly of all time! She was such a heartbreaker, and such a dermined one to win, and to win big, that there is no way anybody can resist this amazing horse. No. 3 on greatest of all time on my list (though her book is my all-time favorite!)

RUFFIAN did it with HEART, COURAGE and SPIRIT..There will NEVER be another horse like Her. Even in Her last race, on that Tragic Night, She NEVER Gave up. She NEVER was Under a Whip,and NEVER Headed. The Jockey's NEVER had to use the whip on her in all her 10 Races. Jacinto, did slightly touch the whip to her belly ONE TIME, Just to see what she would do??? and she excellerated even more!! All 10 Races she WON with EASE under a strong hold by her Jockey. So Strong a Hold Jacinto would complain to Frank Whiteley that he was SOO SORE. She Broke or Tied the Track Record EVERYTIME she went out. Jacinto was Foolish Pleasure's Jockey and RUFIAN's Jockey. Jacinto Chose to Ride RUFFIAN in the Match Race, Even though he knew he was risking his career with LeRoy Jolley, becase HE KNEW RUFFIAN WAS THE BETTER HORSE. She was what Fairy Tales are made of. A Mythical Creature with the Beauty, Spirit and Heart Of a CHAMPION. A ONCE IN A LIFETIME FILLY.. The likes of which we will NEVER EVER Se... Read more

No horse has ever done what she did, and with the ease she did it. Not even Secretariat.

Ruffian is and always will be a champion. While her body no longer graces onlookers racing, her memory lives on. All that is left of her are photographs and a few biographies. Every horse in comparison to her, is nothing. Secretariat on Belmont Day was amazing, brilliant. But if Ruffian had been there, he'd have left that track with a broken heart. She's gorgeous, amazing, no word completely describes her awestruck beauty. Her place was the racetrack, and that is where she'll always be remembered as the hellcat she was. My hero.

This filly was not just a racehorse, she was the best racehorse of all times.She won every race, she was never headed, and every time she ran she equaled or beat a record without trying. You find a horse that has a perfect record and i will say he is better than Ruffian. You find a horse who hammered his leg into the ground, trying to beat the horse in front of him,when he had already broken it. You find a horse you can call perfect, with a perfect record, fisical perfection, and enough heart to kil himself trying to catch the horse in front of him, and i will say HE is better than Ruffian. Untill then, no other horse can come close to her. Not Seabiscuit, not Secratariat, not Reviewer(sire), not even Man O' War himself, can beat this amazing filly, undefeated.

The heart of a champion beat in her chest. the blood of legends flowed through her veins. she won every race she entered. the only time she didn't win, she died trying. the owner of the horse that beat her referred to her in such a way after the race,that if i ever saw him i would spit in his face.

In the movie Seabiscuit the mock newsreel describes War Admiral as perfect, and Charles Howard bemoans Perfect, what is perfect... you show me something that is perfect and I will show you something that is not Ruffian is the answer to what is perfect... First in every race at every call until she broke down, leading by the way...

A true winner, Ruffian dominated every race she was in before breaking a leg in a match race against colt Foolish Pleasure. Ruffian worsened her broken leg by continuing to run on it, not wanting to lose. Tragically, during surgery she awoke under anesthesia and thrashed about, clearly wanting to run. This would break the cast and further damage her injury, requiring more surgery that veterinarians knew she wouldn't survive. Ruffian was buried in Belmont, her nose pointing to the finish line.

Ruffian definately belongs up there with Secretariat. She won all of her ten starts, and had the beauty, speed and strength of a true champion. But then tragedy struck when she stumbled and hurt her leg in a race. Later on, she had to be put to sleep.

Ruffian remains one of the best. I read her biography and was moved by the tragic end of her life. The suffering was unnecssary however and she should have been put down then and there at Belmont, because her case was so hopeless. Her owner was not even with her at the end but rather on vacation in Maine. Ruffian remains one of the best, but is not a Secretariat!!!

Heart of a winner.

sad way to lose a life.

Ruffian was the most tragic racehorse ever. To this day, many racehorse afficionados cannot bear to see the images surrounding her horrific end. But for this 'Queen of Racehorses' to be put in her rightful place in history, we must look past her tragic last moments and instead look at how dominant she was in an era of great horses. That being said, Ruffian was superb and deserves to be called 'great'.

Always in front, always the winner, always the Queen. Chances are you will never see another like the great Ruffian.