Remembering Ruffian 50 years after her breakdown at Belmont

Thoroughbred racing suffered its astir ignominious, industry-deflating infinitesimal 50 years agone contiguous with the breakdown of Ruffian, an undefeated filly moving against Foolish Pleasure successful a highly promoted lucifer contention astatine Belmont Park. Her tragic extremity connected July 6, 1975, was a catastrophe for the sport, and observers accidental racing has ne'er genuinely recovered.

Two years earlier, during the emergence of second-wave feminism, the federation had been mesmerized by a "Battle of the Sexes" tennis lucifer betwixt Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. King's triumph became a rallying outcry for women everywhere. The New York Racing Association, anxious to boost regular racing crowds successful the mid-1970s, projected a contention akin to that of King and Riggs. They created a lucifer contention betwixt Kentucky Derby victor Foolish Pleasure and Ruffian, the undefeated filly who had dominated each 10 of her starts, starring gross to wire.

"In immoderate sport, quality oregon equine, it's truly intolerable to accidental who was the greatest," said outgoing Jockey Club president Stuart Janney III, whose parents, Stuart and Barbara, owned Ruffian. "But I'm ever comfy reasoning of Ruffian arsenic being among the 4 to 5 top horses of each time."

Ruffian, astir pitchy achromatic successful colour and massive, was the equine mentation of a Greek goddess. At the property of 2, her girth -- the measurement of the strap that secures the saddle -- was conscionable implicit 75 inches. Comparatively, racing fable Secretariat, a male, had a 76-inch girth erstwhile helium was afloat developed astatine the property of 4.

Her sanction besides added to the aura. "'Ruffian' was a small spot of a agelong due to the fact that it tended to beryllium what you'd sanction a colt, but it turned retired to beryllium an due name," Janney said.

On May 22, 1974, Ruffian equaled a Belmont Park way record, acceptable by a male, successful her debut astatine property 2, winning by 15 lengths. She acceptable a stakes grounds aboriginal that summertime astatine Saratoga successful the Spinaway, the astir prestigious contention of the twelvemonth for 2-year-old fillies. The adjacent spring, she blew done races astatine longer distances, including the 3 races that made up the alleged Filly Triple Crown.

Some successful the media speculated that she had tally retired of pistillate competition.

Foolish Pleasure had meantime ripped done an undefeated 2-year-old play with title year-end honors. However, aft starting his sophomore run with a win, helium finished 3rd successful the Florida Derby. He besides had recovered from injuries to his beforehand feet to triumph the Wood Memorial and past the Kentucky Derby.

Second-place finishes successful the Preakness and Belmont Stakes near astir observers with the thought that Foolish Pleasure was the champion 3-year-old antheral successful the business.

Following the Belmont Stakes, New York officials wanted to trial the champion filly against the champion colt.

The archetypal thought was to see the Preakness winner, Master Derby, successful the Great Match Race, but the squad of Foolish Pleasure's owner, trainer and rider didn't privation a three-horse race. Since New York racing had guaranteed $50,000 to the last-place horse, they paid Master Derby's connections $50,000 not to race. Thus, the signifier was acceptable for an equine morality play.

"[Ruffian's] abilities gave her the vantage successful the lucifer race," Janney said. "If she could bash what she did successful afloat fields [by getting the aboriginal lead], past it was astir apt going to beryllium adjacent much effectual successful a match."

Several ballyhooed lucifer races successful sports past had captured the world's attraction without incidental -- Seabiscuit vs. Triple Crown victor War Admiral successful 1938, Alsab vs. Triple Crown victor Whirlaway successful 1942, and Nashua vs. Swaps successful 1955. None of those races, though, had the sex disagreement "it" factor.

The Great Match Race attracted 50,000 unrecorded attendees and much than 18 cardinal TV viewers connected CBS, comparable to the Grammy Awards and a brace of NFL "Sunday Night Football" games successful 2024.

Prominent New York sportswriter Dick Young wrote astatine the clip that, for women, "Ruffian was a mode of getting even."

"I tin retrieve driving up the New Jersey Turnpike, and the woman that took the toll successful 1 of those booths was wearing a fastener that said, 'I'm for her,' meaning Ruffian," Janney said.

As the time approached, Ruffian's rider, Jacinto Vasquez, who besides was the regular rider of Foolish Pleasure including astatine the Kentucky Derby, had to take whom to thrust for the lucifer race.

"I had ridden Foolish Pleasure, and I knew what helium could do," Vasquez told ESPN. "But I didn't deliberation helium could bushed the filly. He didn't person the velocity oregon stamina."

Braulio Baeza, who had ridden Foolish Pleasure to triumph successful the erstwhile year's premier 2-year-old race, Hopeful Stakes, was chosen to thrust Foolish Pleasure.

"I had ridden Foolish Pleasure and ridden against Ruffian," Baeza said, with connection assistance from his wife, Janice Blake. "I thought Foolish Pleasure was amended than Ruffian. She conscionable needed [early race] unit due to the fact that nary 1 had ever pressured her."

The 1⅛ mile contention began astatine the commencement of the Belmont Park backstretch successful the chute. In an ESPN documentary from 2000, Jack Whitaker, who hosted the contention telecast for CBS, noted that the ambiance turned eerie with acheronian thunderclouds approaching earlier the race.

Ruffian deed the broadside of the gross erstwhile the doors opened but straightened herself retired rapidly and assumed the lead. "The full world, including me, thought that Ruffian was going to tally disconnected the surface and adhd to her legacy," said longtime New York trainer Gary Contessa, who was a teen erstwhile Ruffian ruled the racing world.

However, astir ⅛ of a mile into the race, the unit of Ruffian's mighty strides snapped 2 bones successful her beforehand close leg.

"When she broke her leg, it sounded similar a breached stick," Vasquez said. "She broke her limb betwixt her ft and her ankle. When I pulled up, the bony was shattered supra the ankle. She couldn't usage that limb astatine all."

It took Ruffian a fewer moments to recognize what had happened to her, truthful she continued to run. Vasquez yet hopped disconnected and kept his enarthrosis leaning against her for support.

"You spot it, but you don't privation to judge it," Janney said.

Baeza had nary prime but to person Foolish Pleasure decorativeness the contention successful what became a macabre paid workout. The TV cameras followed him, but the eyes of everyone astatine the way were connected the filly, who looked frightened arsenic she was taken backmost to the barn area.

"When Ruffian broke down, clip stood inactive that day," Contessa said. Yet clip was of the essence successful an effort to prevention her life.

Janney said that Dr. Frank Stinchfield -- who was the doc for the New York Yankees past and was "ahead of his clip successful fixing people's bones" -- called racing officials to spot whether determination was thing helium could bash to assistance with Ruffian.

New York veterinarian Dr. Manny Gilman managed to sedate Ruffian, performed country connected her limb and, with Stinchfield's help, secured her limb successful an inflatable cast. When Ruffian woke up successful the mediate of the night, though, she started warring and shattered her bones irreparably. Her squad had nary prime but to euthanize her astatine astir 2:20 a.m. connected July 7.

"She was going afloat bore trying to get successful beforehand of [Foolish Pleasure] retired of the gate," Baeza said. "She gave everything there. She gave her life."

Contessa described the clip aft arsenic a "stilled hush implicit the world."

"When we got the connection that she had rebroken her leg, the full satellite was crying," Contessa said. "I can't reproduce the feeling that I had the time after."

The Janneys soon flew to Maine for the summer, and they received a circular of applause erstwhile the aviator announced their presence. At the cottage, they were met by thousands of well-wishing letters.

"We each sat there, aft meal each night, and we wrote each 1 of them back," Janney said. "It was beauteous overwhelming, and that didn't halt for a agelong time. I inactive get letters."

Equine fatalities person been portion of the concern since its inception, similar the Triple Crown races and Breeders' Cup. Some person generated headlines by coming successful clusters, specified arsenic Santa Anita successful 2019 and Churchill Downs successful 2023. However, breakdowns are not the lone factor, and apt not the astir influential one, successful the gradual diminution of equine racing's popularity successful this country.

But the interaction from the time of Ruffian's death, and that moment, has been ongoing for equine racing.

"There are radical who witnessed the breakdown and ne'er came back," Contessa said.

Said Janney: "At astir that time, racing started to vanish from the nationalist consciousness. The mean idiosyncratic knows astir the Kentucky Derby, and that's astir it."

Equine racing contiguous is simply a safer athletics present than it was 50 years ago. The Equine Injury Database, launched by the Jockey Club successful 2008, says the fatality complaint nationally successful 2024 was conscionable implicit fractional of what it was astatine its launch.

"We yet person protocols that astir apt should person been successful effect acold sooner than this," Contessa said. "But the protocols person made this a safer game."

Said Vasquez: "There are a batch of bully horses today, but to person a equine similar Ruffian, it's unbelievable. Nobody could comparison to Ruffian."