Ruffian......... could she have won?

Question

I am a HUGE fan of Ruffian, don't really know how since I wasn't born until 1982 , but nonetheless I am a HUGE fan. I just finished reading Bill Nack's "Ruffian: A Racetrack Romance" and it got me to thinking about what the outcome would have been had she not broken down. Me being the fan I am I think she would have stomped Foolish Pleasure into the ground. She was afterall on the lead at the point of breakdown. What do you think and also what do you think would have been the outcome had Whitelye decided to run her against the boys in the Derby?

Answer 1

There is no doubt in my mind that she would have whooped his hiny.  She's my favorite filly of all time.  A true legend, A true hero.  This day in age they could have saved her more than likely.  She was a huge loss to the breeding industry.   Such a darn shame.....  As for the derby winning... can only speculate....

Answer 2

What a great question...I too honor Ruffian as the great horse I believe she was..my answer...on that day I think she wqould have whipped FP soundly...The Derby?  Who can say??  From what I have gathered, she was pretty hot headed, and the Derby with all its big field and inexperienced contenders, always seems to favor the horse who stays levelheaded over the other 20 or so in the race...then the horse with the fire will win the Belmont...She may have well lost the Derby to a cooler colt...but we will never know, will we?  

i mention Rags to Riches...she did the jaw dropping defeat in last Belmont.  BUT, she has an immune system that fell apart unable to stand up to the travelling from track to track...that weak point ke3pt her from beiong a mare for history books...Ruffian and Barbaro''s too fine bone...they can't be caught...til they break their legs...I say this as a person who has the opinion that the one in a million super horse has many shoes to fill...I throw in that the moat awesome horse seen in this century was Secretariat, and he statistically never passed on his greatness to his progeny... alot to consider, no?  

To zero in on your question...I think Ruffian would have licked FP soundly in that race, had her bones not been too brittle, and she would have lost the Derby, due to this same fire in her spirit that made her great til her bones proved to be not up to the challenge...its a VERY complex issue...Karen

Answer 3

I've studied her times in her filly triple crown races against the colts' times in the triple crown races.

For example, her CCA Oaks win was at a mile and a half at Belmont, and was better than the winning time by Avatar in the Belmont.  (Ruffian: 2:27:4; Avatar 2:28:1)

Comparing the other races leads me to believe that she COULD have won the real Triple Crown that year.  Keep in mind that her times were on different days and some at slightly different distances.

This doesn't mean she was a lock to win any of the races, because things like post positions and racing luck can make the difference between winning and losing.  But it would seem that she was good enough to win any of the 3 big races.