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RUFFIAN (The Movie)
Only lasting two short seasons on the track, RUFFIAN was unbeaten through her first ten starts - shattering records in nearly every race. It was the much anticipated 11th race, on July 7, 1975, in front of a packed house at Belmont and a television audience of 18 million viewers, that proved to be her last when the race took a shocking turn. Hailed as the battle of the sexes, RUFFIAN went ead-to-head with Kentucky Derby winning colt FOOLISH PLEASURE, in what became the last match race in professional horse racing. Just short of the one mile marker, RUFFIAN was just pulling away from FOOLISH PLEASURE when she was seen breaking down suddenly on the track leaving FOOLISH PLEASURE to finish up eerily all alone in front of millions of thunderstruck fans.
RUFFIAN, sadly had broken a leg that appeared to be beyond repair; nevertheless a team of surgeons worked into the wee morning hours in hope of some slight miracle of saving the spirited filly. Unfortunately, upon wakening from anesthesia, RUFFIAN, disorientated began thrashing about and shattered her leg that was just operated on into tiny pieces....ultimately leaving doctors with no other option than to put the horse to sleep. The next day, she was buried at Belmont and to this day remains the only horse granted that honor. RUFFIAN won her first ten races, five of them Grade I stakes, in 1974 and 1975, and is considered by most one of the greatest fillies of all time. She was owned by Locust Hill Farm, racing as a homebred for her breeders, Mr. and Mrs. Stuart S. Janney Jr. She was trained by Frank Whiteley.
This emotionally charged and heartbreaking story of the legendary, "Queen of Fillies" is one of the most poignant of her time and is splendidly depicted in this sports melodrama.
(90 Minutes)
Listing Info: | |
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Listing ID: | 111 |
Format(s) Available: | DVD And VHS |
Category: | U.S. & Canadian Flat Racing |