I am far from being a horse kind of person. Horses generally scare me when I meet them in, uh, person. But I do think they are the most beautiful creatures on this earth, especially when in full stride.
Reading about the filly Eight Belles having to be put down after the Kentucky Derby, was sad. A tragic event indeed. By a rather eerie coincidence, the trainer of the most famous filly racer ever, Ruffian, died on Friday.
In her day Ruffian was a shining star, amazingly fast, very big for a filly. She was put into a Battle of the Sexes match race against the winner of the Kentucky Derby that year, 1975, in the style of the Battle of the Sexes tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. During that race, she broke her right foreleg, and kept on running. She was destroyed when all attempts to try to save her failed.
A couple of years ago I became rather obsessed with Ruffian’s story, and read everything I could about her. The best by far is Ruffian: Burning From the Start by Jane Schwartz. It brings Ruffian to life, as it does the people around her. If someone writes about Eight Belles, I hope they do as good as job.
There is also a TV movie about Ruffian. I haven’t gotten around to watching this yet, but perhaps I will tonight.
Eight Belles and Ruffian
I was a little kid and I wanted Foolish Pleasure to win so badly that I said and wished very bad things for Ruffian. Suffice it to say, for years after that I believed that I killed Ruffian. Between Ruffian, Barbero and Eight Belles, I just can’t watch horse racing anymore.
Post new comment