Ruffian:
A Horse Racing Legend

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Preakness News Update May 15, 2004

Pimlico no match for Smarty Jones

by RICHARD ROSENBLATT
AP Racing Writer The Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) -- The move came in a flash.

Lion Heart had the lead, Smarty Jones was lurking and jockey Stewart Elliott was waiting for the right moment to go. The Preakness was setting up according to plan. Around the far turn, Elliott angled his Kentucky Derby winner to the inside of the pacesetter, and the horses entered the stretch together.

And then the race was over.

With one breathtaking surge, Smarty Jones left the field far behind, his lead building with every powerful stride over the final eighth of a mile. By the time he crossed the finish line, the little chestnut colt had delivered a record 111/2-length victory to set the stage for a dramatic Triple Crown try at the Belmont Stakes in three weeks.

"I had another gear left. Unfortunately, when I hit the other gear, Smarty Jones hit about four more gears," said Gary Stevens, who was aboard runner-up Rock Hard Ten. "Smarty Jones looks like he's just getting warmed up right here at the finish." Even after 1 3-16 miles on a hot and hazy afternoon at Pimlico, the undefeated Smarty was still running hard well beyond the finish line. The Belmont is 11/2 miles, the longest of the Triple Crown races, but there seems to be no stoppin' him now. "I have a good horse, but that was a great horse that beat us," Rock Hard Ten's trainer, Jason Orman, said.

Elliott won't quibble with that. "He's just unbelievable. He just keeps getting better, this son of a gun. I mean, he just did it so easy," the jockey said. Smarty Jones is eight-for-eight with one to go in his bid to become just the 12th Triple Crown champion and the first to sweep the Derby, Preakness and Belmont since Affirmed in 1978.

He would also claim another $5 million bonus and become racing's richest horse. By trouncing nine rivals, Smarty Jones simply added another amazing chapter to racing's feel-good story of the year.

The record crowd of 112,668 roared when Elliott asked this sensational Pennsylvania- bred to make his winning move. Down the stretch, the 39-year-old rider merely tapped him with the whip twice in the final eighth-of-a-mile, and Smarty took off like a shot. The margin of victory topped the record of 10 lengths by Survivor in 1873, in the first Preakness.

Lion Heart, runner-up in the Derby, faded to fourth. Rock Hard Ten, in just his fourth start, finished strong for second ahead of Eddington. Imperialism was fifth, followed by Sir Shackleton, Borrego, Little Matth Man, Song of the Sword and Water Cannon. "Smarty Jones, man, he's just an amazing horse," said Mike Smith, who was aboard Lion Heart. "I think me and Gary are on some great colts, just born in the wrong years." Winning time for the race was 1:55.59, well off the record of 1:53.40 held by Louis Quatorze (1996) and Tank's Prospect (1985).

The overpowering win put in place some mind-boggling possibilities for the 3-yard-old who has captured America's fancy -- as Funny Cide did last year before his Triple Crown bid fell short in the Belmont.

Smarty Jones will be the sixth horse in the last eight years with a Triple chance, but there's a big difference this time around: Smarty is the only one who hasn't lost. "He came through for America. I'm so impressed with his effort," trainer John Servis said. "I knew he had to bring his best game. I knew this was the toughest race he was going to be in in a long time. And he brought it. He brought it big time."

So much so that Stevens compared him to one of the greatest of champions of all time. "Smarty reminded me of Secretariat, the way he pulled away," he said. A victory in the Belmont and Smarty Jones would join Seattle Slew as the only Triple Crown winners with unbeaten records. Smarty, like Slew in 1977, would be 9-for-9. The son of Elusive Quality would also surpass Cigar as the richest racehorse in North America. Smarty would earn a $5 million bonus from Visa with a Triple Crown sweep. Add his purse money, plus the $5 million bonus he already earned from Oaklawn Park for winning the Rebel Stakes, Arkansas Derby and Kentucky Derby, and Smarty's total would top $13 million. Cigar earned $9,999,815.

Smarty Jones, the 3-5 favorite, earned $650,000 for winning the Preakness, boosting his career total to $7,383,155 -- fourth on the all-time list. Owned by Pat and Roy Chapman, Smarty returned $3.40, $3 and $2.60. Rock Hard Ten paid $5 and $4. Eddington, with Jerry Bailey aboard, paid $5.20.

Smarty became racing's best story even before the Derby because of his soap-opera history: He nearly died when he slammed his head on an iron bar; his trainer and jockey are based at small-time Philadelphia Park; and the Chapmans once refused a blank check to sell him. Roy is Since the Derby, it's been one Smarty party after another. The horse got a hero's welcome when he returned to Philly Park, where about 5,000 fans showed up to watch him jog around the track.

Perhaps no one is enjoying the party more than the Chapmans. Roy, who turned 78 three days after the Derby, uses a wheelchair and needs an oxygen supply tank to help with his emphysema. Smarty's success, he says, has energized him. "Some day, somewhere, he's going to get beat," Roy Chapman said. "We're trying to put that off as long as we can." And now it's on to the Belmont on June 5, where New York Racing Association officials are expecting "the biggest day in New York racing history," NYRA senior vice president Bill Nader said.

Servis says Smarty will be there "as long as he tells us he's ready." The largest crowd for a Belmont was 103,222 in 2002, when Derby and Preakness winner War Emblem stumbled at the start and finished eighth. Among the challengers Smarty could face are Derby starters Birdstone, Friends Lake, Master David, Read the Footnotes and Tapit. Other possible starters include Mustanfar, Relaxed Gesture, Sinister G and Royal Assault, who won the Sir Barton on the Preakness undercard.

"He'll do whatever I want him to do," Elliott said, referring to the Belmont's demanding distance. "It won't be a problem." The jockey has handled his newfound fame well, but he's also encountered the downside of being in the spotlight. Elliott admitted Friday that he battled alcoholism several years ago. The revelation came after Kentucky racing officials fined Stewart $1,000 for failing to disclose on his Derby application that he pleaded guilty in 2001 to an assault charge. That same year, the jockey also pleaded guilty to charges of assault and criminal mischief involving a former girlfriend.

"I just think about the past and I look where I was and now, the future," Elliott said. "Look where I am".

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RUFFIAN

Ruffian was bred and owned by Mr. & Mrs. Stuart Janney for their Locust Hill Farm. She (Ruffian) was born at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky from some breeding stock, which the Janneys kept there. Her sire, Reviewer, won 9 of his 13 starts in a career plagued with injuries. Ruffian was a product of his first crop. Her dam, Shenanigans had won 3 of her 22 starts, and prior to foaling Ruffian, had already produced the good stakes winner Icecapade.

Under the care of trainer Frank Whiteley Jr, her very first start came on May 22 at Belmont. The event was a 5 1/2 furlong maiden purse and Ruffian equaled the track record by running the distance in 1:03 flat. Ruffian was immediately moved up to stakes company and won the 5 1/2 furlong Fashion Stakes at Belmont in an identical time. The Janneys knew they had something special. Ruffian then won the Astoria Stakes at Aqueduct (5 1/2 furlongs) in 1:02 4/5.

Ruffian appeared to be getting faster with every start. Her first attempt at 6 furlongs was in the Sorority Stakes at Monmouth in late July, and she won that clocking a very fast time of 1:09. This was followed up with a win in the Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga in which Ruffian ran the 6 furlongs in an even faster time of 1:08 3/5!

As an undefeated multiple stakes winner of clearly superior skill and lightning fast speed, Ruffian was selected as the champion juvenile filly of 1974.

Ruffian returned to action the following year on April 14 in the 6 furlongs Caltha Purse at Aqueduct, which she won by 4 1/2 lengths. From this point onward, Ruffian raced at increasingly longer distances, and her winning margins became increasingly more impressive. She won the 7 furlong Comely Stakes by 7 3/4 lengths, then ten days later the 1 mile Acorn Stakes by 8 1/4 lengths. Ruffian stepped up to 9 furlongs for the Mother Goose Stakes and sailed home an easy 14-length winner.

The Acorn and Mother Goose Stakes constitute the first two legs of the American Filly Triple Crown. The 1 1/2 mile Coaching Club American Oaks is the third leg of this series. For the remaining event, Ruffian was held at odds of 1-to-20, the smallest pari-mutuel odds allowed by law in the modern era.

A crowd of almost 31,000 was on hand to see if Ruffian could win the title, and the great filly gave no anxious moments. Ruffian went straight to the front, as she always preferred to do, and fended off bids from several persistent pursuers. Ruffian did not even appear to be seriously extended during these momentary "challenges". Only one filly, Equal Change, could keep near in the closing stages, but Ruffian was clearly better, and won by 2 3/4 lengths. It was 9 lengths further back to third placed filly Let Me Linger.

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At this point, a Belmont match race was being proposed to test the winners of the Triple Crown races - Foolish Pleasure, Master Derby, and Avatar. But Avatar had already returned to California to prepare for the Swaps Stakes, so a change to the proposal was made allowing Ruffian to substitute for Avatar. But Foolish Pleasure's trainer, LeRoy Jolley, objected to the suggestion. He stated that Foolish Pleasure's jockey would be so busy watching Ruffian, that Master Derby would very well steal the race.

So Master Derby's stable was paid $50,000 to withdraw him from the match, making it the first time a track ever paid a "non-appearance" fee to a horse.

A crowd of over 50,000 assembled at Belmont Park on the 6th of July to witness what all felt would be a terrific and well-fought battle between champions. Jacinto Vasquez, who was the regular rider of both of these exceptional racers was placed in the difficult position of selecting between the two, and opted to ride the filly. Braulio Baeza was aboard the Derby winner.

Foolish Pleasure bounded from the gate with his head in front, but Ruffian quickly sprinted up from the inside and stuck her head in front. Despite bearing out and brushing with the colt five times in the opening stages, she increased her margin over Foolish Please to about a half-length as the pair approached the turn. The crowd was cheering loudly as the match appeared to be meeting their greatest expectations. But as the pair, still linked side-by-side, approached the mile marker, there was a sound which both jockeys described later as being "like the breaking of a board", and the great match was over.

Ruffian was pulled up; her off-fore sesamoid bones were shattered. Baeza and Foolish Pleasure were suddenly alone, and the jockey eased the Derby winner to a canter to complete the course, as soon as he realized what had happened.

The once-cheering crowd now watched in stricken silence as the ambulance sped toward the filly and veterinarians attended to her. Heroic efforts were made to save Ruffian, although the early prognosis gave her only a 10% chance of survival. A pneumatic cast was applied before she was loaded onto the ambulance and another was applied in the barn area. A team of four vets and an orthopedic surgeon labored for a total of 12 hours to accomplish the impossible. During the operation, Ruffian was twice revived after she had stopped breathing. Finally the surgery was done.

However, the worst was yet to come. The anesthesia wore off and the filly awoke, disoriented, confused, and in pain. She thrashed about wildly despite the attempts of several attendants to hold her down. She fractured the new cast and caused even greater damage to the fetlock. Knowing that she could not endure further surgery, the veterinarians put her mercifully to sleep.

It is ironic, and perhaps even more than mere coincidence, that Ruffian's parents would suffer her same fate and would both be dead within two years of the death of their great daughter. Shenanigans was undergoing emergency intestinal surgery, and upon waking from the anesthesia thrashed about, breaking two legs. She was humanely destroyed on May 21, 1977. Only a few days after her death, Reviewer suffered a fractured hind leg in a paddock accident at Claiborne Farm where he stood stud duty. He survived the initial surgery, but 15 days later when the cast was changed, he emerged from the anesthetic and became unmanageable, doing irreparable damage to the injured leg. Reviewer was euphemized on June 21, 1977.

Thus Ruffian and the pair that produced her were taken from us by an eerie and tragic set of circumstances. Although her career spanned only a shade over 13 months, and until that match she had only raced against her own gender, Ruffian is usually included in anyone's list of all-time great runners. She was not only unbeaten until her injury, she was also never headed in any race. She set a new stakes record in each of the eight stakes races which she won. She raced successfully from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/2 miles with an average winning margin of 8 1/3 lengths.

Ruffian is buried near the flagpole at her home track of Belmont Park - the site of her first race where she blazed boldly onto the racing scene, and the site of her final race where a hundred thousand eyes watched her brilliant flame flicker out.

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