Who is the greatest racehorse to ever run? Can Ruffian be considered?

Question

Who is the greatest racehorse to ever run? Can Ruffian be considered?

Answer 1

Ruffian untill people remember Rags to Riches beating the boys.  

Common answers will be Seattle Slew, Secratariat, Man of War, A.P. Indy, War Admiral, Seabiscuit, Barbaro, Hambletonian(harness racing), Affirmed...

Answer 2

John Henry

Answer 3

There are so many,it's hard to pick just one.Ruffian should be considered as should Secretariat,Man o War,Seattle Slew and so many others.

Answer 4

barbaro hands down. how can anyone not fall in love with that horse? not to mention he was a good runner

Answer 5

Personally I think Ruffian IS the greatest racehorse ever.  Secretariat's trainer even said she might be better than Secretariat himself.  Ruffian's just amazing.  No horse was ever even close to her in a race.  She was always in first.  The only time horses were near her was in the starting gate.  She set new track records for the distance in nearly every race.  Track records don't depend on the gender...  that means she was faster than the boys too.  She would have beat Foolish Pleasure...  she wanted to beat him even with her leg broken.  She's just amazing.  She's the only of the greats who was never beaten...  ever.  And her jockey barely needed to encourage her.  She was already in front when Jacinto would tap her once and she'd gain another 2 lengths of her lead, before crossing the line.  That's raw talent...  you don't find that in many horses.  She just had that much will to win.  She always won effortlessly.  I'd have liked to see her beat a boy, just to prove how great she was...  but I know she was the best.

Answer 6

I agree with one respondent who said it is difficult to compare horses from different eras.  There were so many great racehorses.  My favorites would be Secretariat and Seabiscuit, but I also liked Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex, whose careers were short.  I would definitely say that Ruffian belongs in the greatest racehorses of all time list, as she was never beaten, and she broke track records every time she raced.  She is, I would say, the greatest Thoroughbred filly ever.

Answer 7

In my opinion the best sprinter was Dr. Fager (132.20), the best two year old, Devils Bag, the best filly or mare Ruffian, the best grass horse John Henry, the best male Secretariat and the best overall Secretariat. If these 5 horses had a mythical race at a mile I would bet Dr. Fager because hes the fastest and would have speed on the rail and at 1 and a quarter I would bet Secretariat.

Answer 8

greatest racehorse ??

in terms of speed - Secretariat.

in terms of fan favorite - Sea Biscuit.

in terms of personal favorite - Alydar

Answer 9

There are so many great horses out there, but I think my favorites have to be Seabiscuit, and Smarty Jones.

You have to give an honorable mention to Barbaro as well.  Not only was he great runner, but he captured everyones heart in battling his injuries, and with his tenacious spirit.

Answer 10

Secretariat.  Not only did he set track records for every Triple Crown race (he really ran 1:53.2 not 1:54.2 in the Preakness) in the Belmont he ran every quarter faster than the previous quarter.  Most people don't realize that in most races it's the horse that is slowing down the least that passes other horses in the stretch that are slowing down more.

He won at all distances from 6f to 1 1/2 miles and a couple of turf races too.

My all-time favorite.

Ruffian was the best ever filly/mare but I don't think she could have handled "Big Red"

Answer 11

Secretariat and Afleet Alex

Answer 12

Secretariat

Answer 13

phar lap!

Answer 14

Australia - Makybe Diva - Had incredible turn of foot and amazing stamina. Won every big race she was set for, re-wrote the history books, won everything in amazing fashion.

Phar Lap - Dominated his era and on par with the Diva as Australia's best.

US horses - Secretiat, Sea Biscuit, Man O War

Answer 15

Kelso, five time Horse of the Year, or Man o' War, winner of 20 of 21 races lifetime.

Answer 16

Hidalgo

Answer 17

Secretariat

trotter---Dan Patch

Answer 18

Deciding who was "the greatest racehorse ever to run" is a very difficult question.  How can you compare horses from different eras?  What about horses that excelled at a particular distance or on a particular surface?  And, as you have brought up, there's the question of fillies compared to colts.

Just to give you an example of the difficulty involved:  I think that from 5 furlongs to 1-1/8 miles on a dirt track, racing against other fillies or mares from the last half-century, Ruffian would be darn near unbeatable.  (Caveat:  we never got to find out how good Landaluce, the champion filly from Seattle Slew's first crop, was.  She died of septicemia late in her two-year-old season while still undefeated and untested.  Had she lived, I believe she might have been one for the Hall of Fame, but as it is, we'll never know.)

However, if the race was at 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 miles on turf, I believe that at the very least, Dahlia or Allez France would have given her a run for her money and I have to say that I think Allez France would have beaten her.  Maybe not by much, but I'd give the nod to Allez France.  

And if the race was at two miles on dirt, I'd expect Makybe Diva, a true stayer, would prevail.  

The equation becomes more difficult when you consider how Ruffian might have fared against colts.  For all that I think Ruffian was just short of having wings in terms of her talent, I have a lot of trouble imagining her prevailing over Secretariat at 1-1/4 miles on dirt at weight for age.  And I think that Seattle Slew and Spectacular Bid would have both been able to beat her at 1-1/4 mile on the dirt.  

I'm less sure they would beat her at a distance of, say, 7 furlongs.  I think that from 5 furlongs to 7 furlongs Ruffian might have beaten them.

Because Ruffian never raced on turf, there's no knowing for sure how she would have done.  But her sire Reviewer was not a noteworthy sire of turf runners, and Ruffian's running style didn't strike me as being the kind that would work as well on turf as on main course.  Because of that, I really doubt that she could have kept pace with a turf specialist like the great Round Table.

Against horses from other eras, who knows?  How can you make an argument for or against a horse that raced almost a century ago, like Man O' War?  

I have no doubt that Ruffian was one of the greatest fillies or mares to ever look through a bridle, and could under some circumstances have given some of the best colts or geldings a very tough race.  

And isn't that enough?  Ruffian's blazing talent for the relative brief time we were lucky enough to see her race put her among the immortals of racing.  Those of us who saw her race were among the fortunate on this earth.  "Greatest" racehorse is a subjective judgement.  I'm just glad we were allowed to see a talent like Ruffian's, however briefly.

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(PS--Eatonwrite, Dan Patch was a free-legged pacer, not a trotter.  And Niatross would have beaten him hollow.)

Answer 19

I have to name 2:

Secretariat

Invasor

I wouldn't consider Ruffian among the greatest from ever, even it was a very good horse.

Answer 20

I like Secretariat and Seabiscuit! Let's not forget Man O War! Ruffian was an awesome filly too!!