1975 Match Race - Ruffian vs. Foolish Pleasure

The last major match race. Frank Y. Whiteley trained champions such as Tom Rolfe, Damacus, and Forego, but he is best remembered as the trainer of Ruffian. Two days after her death he glanced at her old stall at Belmont and said, "That stall will never be occupied as long as I have this barn. There'll never be another horse worthy of entering it."

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Thoroughbred
• Horse
• Racing
• 1975
• Ruffian
• Foolish
• Pleasure
• Match
• Race
• Belmont
• Park
• NYRA
• Dave
• Johnson
• Frank
• Wright
• George
• Plimpton

[horsesaremylife31899]

i hate how they say she had to be destroyed she wasn't destroyed she was put down humanely 

[cf1970]

@horsesaremylife31899 I totally agree. I despise the term "destroyed"; it sounds so cold and callous, when in fact it is anything but. The more commonly used term "humanely destroyed" isn't much better, but at least these horses are given a painless injection to tranquilize first and then stop the heart. If only all horses could have such a kind fate.

Thanks for the comments.

[whiteash002]

@cf1970 You think she had a kind fate? Read how she did herself in. The only option left was to euthanize her, but she destroyed herself when the anesthetic wore off.

[cf1970]

@whiteash002 @whiteash002 Look here, I was referring to the relatively "kind fate" of euthanasia ITSELF compared to slaughter, starvation, etc., NOT the fact that Ruffian re-injured herself and was then euthanized after much fear and pain.What Ruffian went through was tragic. I've never seen you around this channel before, so take a good look around and think about what you are saying before judging me. I am in the know about Ruffian's fate much more than you are giving me credit for. Sheesh.

[carlykaiser]

I have to say - I miss match races. Look at racing before the 50's, match races were the thing. match races originated horse racing. I wish there would be a good match race nowadays.

[cf1970]

Agreed. Match races would be a lot of fun to see again, and would create lots of excitement. In the same vein, a Triple Crown winner next week would be a good start to bringing the racing game back to a semblance of its former glory.

Go Big Brown!

[ashlee19881000]

God this just makes me sob. She did not deserve what happened to her. The fact that she kept running makes it even more heartbreaking

[GeordieTerrier]

I think the saddest thing of it all is that at this time these were the 2 greatest racehorses. They could have been bred together and who knows, they might have been a useless pairing or their foals could have been fantastic. Instead they wanted to match the two against each other and lost the better.

[DarkRedKitten]

She would have won. She was the better one. RIP Ruffian <3

[RayGordon4a]

The experience with Ruffian is why Barbaro woke up in a swimming pool after his surgery. Indeed, Ruffian almost saved Barbaro indirectly.

[iRebelliousity]

I've read up a little bit about Ruffian and apparently her dam gave birth to a few foals that all had rather soft bones...Ruffian is apparently one of these. As amazing as she was, she should have been retired quickly whether they knew about this or not - she showed all the signs.

[19sadiebug19HS]

Foolish Pleasure was an amazing horse but ruffian would have won the the race i think rip ruffian sweet dreams in heaven :)

[CatybelongstoJared]

<3 ruffian<3

[RAPPIEMYBABY]

she still won when you think about it she was in front she was leading she was running with probally a sprained ankle then it broke ruffian is the true winner of that race

[Asiya40]

Ruffian, you stays in our hearts, we love you forever, little filly... ='(

[marebare71]

I have watched all of Ruffian's prior races to this one. I cannot bring myself to watch her break down. I can't even watch the movie which is probably worse with the sound effects. I did watch the end of the movie however after she was hurt and the following events. I cried like a baby...it was sooo incredibly sad. I also saw the one part when she was on her way to the vet and they panned down to her hoof...I was NOT expecting that. Like most people, I fell in love with her..it breaks my heart.