After a pretty busy Saturday of doing laundry, packing for my trip to North Carolina and running errands with Chuck, I sat down at my computer to catch up on news of the day.  I was very disturbed to read that the runner-up at the Kentucky Derby had broken both of her ankles and had to be put down.  Now for those of you that know me, you know that I am not a horse person.  I think they are magnificient beautiful creatures, but they scare me to death.  I was never one of these young girls who pined for a pony and I didn’t like riding ones during camp.  I have a healthy respect for them and am happy keeping my distance.  However, with that said, I am a HUGE fan of Joan Baez (yes, the folk singer) who sings a gorgeous song about another tragic filly — Ruffian.

As a child, my father would play Joan’s records for hours, and by the time I was ten, I new all her lyrics.  One of my favorite songs was “Stewball” — the story of the grey mare who stumbles allowing Stewball to win.  I must admit, that until today, I never fully appreciated the background story of Joan’s live recording.  

Through the pops and buzzes of my vinyl record, Joan says, “When the little horse “Ruffian” died on the racetrack, for some reason or another I became very sad about that.  Maybe because there’s some female chauvanism in me and she was a lady and she was going to win, but anyway…”  Now folks, I have been listening to this record for over twenty-five years and never before have I taken notice of the name Ruffian. . . until today.  

While the death of one filly is fresh on the minds of Americans, I thought I would take a moment and remember another who was equally amazing and died a tragic death.  The following is taken from Wikipedia and while it’s a bit long, it’s worth a read.

“She earned the nickname “Queen of the Fillies” after being voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Two-Year-Old Filly in 1974 and winning the Filly Triple Crown (now called the Triple Tiara) in 1975. Lucien Laurin, Secretariat’s trainer, even remarked to the press once that “she may be even better than Secretariat.” Ruffian was undefeated in her first ten races, covering distances from 5.5 furlongs (1.1 km) to 1.5 miles (2.4 km) with an average winning margin of 8 1/3 lengths. She won her maiden race in record time and by 15 lengths. She was unbeatable. Nothing could get close enough to even nibble on her saddle cloth.

Her eleventh and final race, run at Belmont Park on July 6, 1975, was a match race between Ruffian and that year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure. The two horses shared the same jockey, Jacinto Vasquez. Vasquez chose to ride Ruffian in the match race, believing her to be the better of the two horses. The “equine battle of the sexes” was heavily anticipated and attended by more than 50,000 spectators, with an estimated 18 million watching on television.

Just as the starting bell sounded and the race began, Ruffian hit her shoulder extremely hard on the starting gate. She recovered quickly, but was obviously in pain and leaning more heavily on her right foreleg compensating for the pain. The first quarter-mile (402 m) was run in a blazing 22 1/5 seconds, with Ruffian ahead by a nose. Little more than a 1 furlong (201 m) later, Ruffian was in front by half a length when both sesamoid bones in her right foreleg snapped.[1] Vasquez tried to pull her up, but the filly wouldn’t stop. She kept on running, pulverizing her sesamoids, ripping the skin of her fetlock as the bones burst through, driving the open wound into the sting sand of the Belmont track, tearing her ligaments, until her hoof was flopping uselessly, bent up like the tip of a ski. She was known for her incredible love of running and unwillingness to lose. She had never before been behind in a race.

She was immediately attended to by a team of four veterinarians and an orthopedic surgeon, and underwent an emergency operation lasting 3 hours. Tragically, 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 cast slipped, and as it became disloged it ripped open her forleg all over again, undoing what good, if any, the surgery had done. The medical team, knowing that she would probably not survive more extensive surgery for the repair of her leg and elbow, euthanized her shortly afterwards.

Her performance in the 1975 season earned her the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Three-Year-Old Filly. In 1976, she was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. No match race has taken place since Ruffian’s death.”