The Juggernaut Continues
Remembering Ruffian: Part 2 by Steve Haskin
Following Ruffian's spectacular victory in the August 23, 1974 Spinaway Stakes in her final start at 2, and the subsequent discovery of a small hairline fracture, trainer Frank Whiteley gave the filly phenomenon plenty of time to recover in Camden, South Carolina. As a result, she did not make her return to the races for her 3-year-old debut until the following spring. What transpired that year would elevate Ruffian from being considered the fastest young filly ever seen, competing in only sprints up to six furlongs, to arguably the greatest filly ever witnessed on an American racetrack, crushing her opponents at distances of 5 ½ furlongs, six furlongs, seven furlongs, one mile, 1 1/8 miles, and 1 ½ miles.
She was so fast and so powerful she dashed the hopes of many horsemen who thought they had champions until they ran up against this black bullet who defied all the rules.
Getting back to Ruffian's first start at three, Whiteley just wanted a nice easy race her first time back after eight months off and he was fortunate to get an April 14 six-furlong allowance race at Aqueduct to fill, as only four others dared to challenge the reigning queen.
Sent off at odds of 1-10, Ruffian, as expected, went right to the front and was in no hurry early, setting fractions of :23 and :45 4/5, and coasted home under Jacinto Vasquez to win easily by almost five lengths in a swift 1:09 2/5. Her vanquished opponents included Sir Ivor’s Sorrow, who finished second and whose trainer Jerry Hirsch gets the prize for persistency, as he would take on Ruffian two more times that year. Finishing fourth and beaten almost seven lengths was Tartan Stable’s Land Girl, who had won the Demoiselle Stakes at 2 and would go on to win the Gazelle Stakes later in the racing season.
The champ still had not run farther than six furlongs and the allowance race would set her up perfectly for the seven-furlong Comely Stakes 16 days later. When Ruffian went to the post on April 30, she was far from the biggest news that day; on the world stage, it was announced that the Vietnam War officially was over following the fall of Saigon.
In the Comely, Ruffian, sent off at 1-20, broke last in the field of five, but shot to the front and ran the talented Aunt Jin off her feet with a :45 half and 1:08 4/5 for the six furlongs before drawing off under a hand ride to win by almost eight lengths in a sizzling 1:21 1/5. This was faster than Dr. Fager’s victories in the 1967 Vosburgh and 1968 Roseben. And it was still only April. Finishing 12 lengths behind Ruffian was Proud Delta, who would go on to win seven major stakes, including the Grade 1 Beldame, Top Flight, and Ladies Handicap and be named Champion Older Filly or Mare in 1976. The sheer dominance Ruffian had demonstrated over top class opponents as a 2-year-old had continued in the Comely and would carry on throughout her 3-year-old season.
"What followed that year would elevate Ruffian from being considered the fastest young filly ever seen, to arguably the greatest filly ever witnessed on an American racetrack."
Her next target was the one-mile Acorn Stakes, the first leg of the Filly Triple Crown, just 10 days after the Comely. But the week before the Acorn something happened that would start putting ideas in people’s heads.
During the spring, Ruffian's male counterpart, 2-year-old champion Foolish Pleasure, would extend his unbeaten streak to nine races with victories in an allowance race and the Flamingo Stakes before finally tasting defeat in the Florida Derby, then rebounding for victory in the Wood Memorial. Foolish Pleasure then won the Kentucky Derby, his 11th victory in 12 career starts and eighth victory in his last nine starts under Jacinto Vasquez. Many racing fans wondered, what would Vasquez do if Ruffian and Foolish Pleasure happened to run on the same day at different tracks? Has any jockey ever had to choose between two champions of such caliber? Little could anyone have known that he not only would have to make that decision only two months later, and it would be in the same race.
The May 10 Acorn could not have been easier as Ruffian, the 1-10 favorite, was all business and went to her customary lead, opened up on the turn and easily drew off to an 8 1/4-length victory over Betsy Ross Handicap winner Somethingregal, covering the mile in a stakes record 1:34 2/5.
As easy as the Acorn was, her two-turn debut came three weeks later in the 1 1/8-mile Mother Goose. Aside from Dan's Commander in the adjacent gate to Ruffian stumbling at the start and throwing his rider Rudy Turcotte, brother of Secretariat's regular jockey Ron Turcotte, the race turned out to be nothing more than a paid workout as Ruffian strolled home by 13 ½ lengths. Finishing third was C.V. Whitney's Sun and Snow, who had won the Ashland Stakes and Kentucky Oaks, defeating future Hall of Famer My Juliet by 5 ¾ lengths in the latter, but in the Mother Goose she was beaten 16 lengths by Ruffian.
What was most amazing about this victory was that Ruffian was able to win with ridiculous ease and still run the nine furlongs in 1:47 4/5, yet another stakes record, with a final eighth in :12 1/5. For comparison, prior to his Derby victory, Foolish Pleasure had won the Wood Memorial run at the same distance in 1:48 4/5.
Three weeks after the Mother Goose, Ruffian faced her toughest assignment yet – attempting to stretch her blistering speed out to 1 ½ miles in the June 21 Coaching Club American Oaks run at Belmont Park. If anyone could harness that speed it was Frank Whiteley, an old-fashioned hardboot who had great success in the classics with Tom Rolfe in 1965 and Damascus in 1967. But not only was Ruffian a pure speed horse, her sire Reviewer and her half-brother Icecapade, though both brilliant milers, had pedigrees geared more toward speed rather than distance.
Ruffian had easily handled every filly she had faced that year, but in the CCA Oaks there were several compelling contenders including Let Me Linger, who would later win the Maskette Stakes by almost five lengths over Honorable Miss, one of the leading sprinters in the country who defeated colts in several big stakes and future Hall of Famer Susan’s Girl. However, Ruffian’s most intriguing challenger was a late developer owned and bred by King Ranch with three victories under her belt and a classic pedigree that screamed a mile and a half. Her name was Equal Change and she was by Horse of the Year and Belmont Stakes and two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Arts and Letters, out of Fairness, a half-sister to Prove Out, who upset Secretariat in the 1 ½-mile Woodward Stakes and Riva Ridge in the two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup. And Fairness was by Belmont Stakes winner Cavan, out of Equal Venture, a full-sister to Triple Crown winner Assault.
So if there was a serious upset possibility, it was this regally bred and improving filly whose talent level was still unknown, and whose entire family had been unbeatable going 1 ½ miles at Belmont Park.
As expected, Ruffian shot to the lead, and when Equal Change, tracking in third, got carried wide going into the first turn, Ruffian spurted to a four-length lead and increased it to six lengths heading into the backstretch with Equal Change still in third. With no one to immediately challenge her, Ruffian was then able to slow the pace down to :49 for the half and 1:13 2/5 for the three-quarters.
But Let Me Linger in second and Equal Change quickly closed the gap to a length going around the far turn, with Equal Change the stronger of the two. How good was this exciting newcomer who you knew was loving the distance and was just starting to rev up the engine with three furlongs still to run? Could Ruffian find enough to hold off what was starting to look like the newest version of Prove Out?
Just as Equal Change moved up to Ruffian’s flank and looked like a serious threat, Vasquez let out a notch and Ruffian pulled clear by two lengths. Turning for home it was a two-horse race. Equal Change kept coming down the stretch, but couldn’t get any closer. Ruffian crossed the wire 2 ¼ lengths in front with her ears pricked, equalling the stakes record of 2:27 4/5, even though Ruffian, as usual, never changed leads and had run the entire mile and a half on her left lead.
Equally impressive, Ruffian had run her final quarter in :24 3/5, only a fifth of a second off the record final quarter Equal Change's sire Arts and Letters established in the 1969 Belmont Stakes. And Arts and Letters had run his first six furlongs three full seconds slower than Ruffian. (There would be another trainer who came along two years after Ruffian with a colt that was so fast he was also concerned about him getting the mile and a half distance in the race. That trainer was Billy Turner, his horse was Seattle Slew, and the race was the “Test of the Champion” — the 1977 Belmont Stakes. Turner always said he used Frank Whiteley’s training of Ruffian as a blueprint on how to get a lightning-fast horse to go a mile and a half.)
". . . the big question was where to go next."
With the Coaching Club victory and Ruffian having swept the Filly Triple Crown, the big question was where to go next. Could she possibly square off later in the year with the reigning Horse of the Year, the mighty Forego? Just the thought of such a showdown was already getting people excited. But little did anyone know there was a plan already being hatched that not only would ultimately include Ruffian but also would change the course of Thoroughbred racing history, and for some, cast a pall that even 50 years later still hangs heavy over the sport with the mere mention of Ruffian's name.