ruffian
 

as i am sure everyone knows, this last thursday was the anniversary of her last race and death. as usual, i read burning from the start..she was my favorite racehorse, even though at 25 i was not even born when she was racing.

so my question is...i am sure some of you had seen her race. can you please describe it for me. all of you are horse lovers, so i really want to hear from you about her. i am sure it was poetry in motion. thanks in advance.

i only saw that fateful last race on tv...

as a side note Ruffian comes from the same incredibly fast family that Storm Cat hails from...the two have a nexus in that family at Cherokee Rose, 1910.

Maybe you didn't know this ... but ...

... she did it all with batteries.

But seriously ... there never was a more physically imposing filly than Ruffian ... very tall but not at all delicate ... and that shiny black coat glowed in the sunlight.

She was an unfulfilled dream ... like Hail To Reason, Hoist The Flag, Graustark. We'll sadly never know just how great a race horse she was.

Here's a link to just about everything Ruffian
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache...s&ct=clnk&cd=1

i do know a lot about her, i just wanted some of you guys to let me know what it was like to see her in person. you can read all you want, but there is nothing like hearing a person in love with horseracing describe what a great horse like.

I never saw her live, but she was magnificent to watch race. She won from 5 furlongs to 12 furlongs and set numerous stakes records. Very rare combination of speed and stamina which only the truly great ones possess. I remember exactly where I was the day she broke down.

I'd rank her in a dead-heat with Personal Ensign as the best filly I ever saw. Silverbulletday wold be my third.

Never behind at any race call.....that just makes my jaw drop

She was a true great.
Here's a well written bio on her...

http://www.thoroughbredchampions.com...s/ruffian1.htm

Ruffian I place 2nd in the all time best fillies.

Kincsem
Ruffian
Personal Ensign
Silverbuttletday

My father used to tell me stories all the time about Ruffian. He would always say that you couldnt even hear her hooves hit the ground.

Kincsem was before my time. 54 in a row, correct?

She was way before any of our times. Here is a link ot her bio. But you are correct, 54 in a row. And it wasnt like she was racing in Hungry, she was racing in all of Europe.


http://www.thoroughbredchampions.com...es/kincsem.htm

I like how Kincsem won at 4 1/2 F to 18f.

No arguement from me about Kincsem. She might just be one of the very greatest ever.
Here's another one that holds strings to my heart.

http://www.thoroughbredchampions.com...ies/mumtaz.htm

Beautiful filly. I love this web site. It is is so awesome.

I love the site too. Good board too.

When you think that all greys came through Mumtaz...geesh...
We could start a whole thread about our favorite greys...
Spectacular Bid? Skip Away? ...I'll let others put theirs up.

Well I think you named the top two, but there is Monarchos.

Plenty of other good greys. I'll start a thread.

Native Dancer.... the Gray Ghost

Silver Charm--man how could I forget him.

The first three would probably make many observers' lists ... but ...

... you may want to become a bit more familiar with thoroughbred racing history ... before putting Silverbulletday at #4.

So....who would YOU put at #4?

All grey thoroughbreds are descendants of Roi Hérode ... including Mumtaz Mahal.

Of course.
So, was there an effort to breed out grey from thoroughbreds?
For sure you know the answer, "oh most knowledgeable one".
Where? when?

hint...you won't find the answer at a rightwing propaganda site.

Among American-raced fillies and mares ... many observers would rank Beldame, Maskette, Regret, Myrtlewood, Top Flight, Bewitch, Busher, Gallorette, Twilight Tear, Quill, Real Delight, Silver Spoon, Two Lea, Affectionately, Bowl Of Flowers, Cicada, Dark Mirage, Gallant Bloom, Gamely, Lamb Chop, Primonetta, Tosmah, Chris Evert, Dahlia, Desert Vixen, Late Bloomer, Revidere, Shuvee, Susan's Girl, Ta Wee, Waya, All Along, Bayakoa, Bold 'N Determined, Genuine Risk, Lady's Secret, Miesque, Princess Rooney, Dance Smartly, Go For Wand, Inside Information, and Paseana ... ahead of Silverbulletday.

You are so good at ducking a direct question.
Attempt #2.

I advised Eurobounce not to rank Silverbulletday as the fourth best filly of all-time ... because most persons who are considered experts in thoroughbred racing history ... would not rank her anywhere near that high.

For instance ... the Blood-Horse panel of experts ranked 26 fillies among the top 100 American thoroughbred race horses of the 20th Century ... and none of those 26 were named Silverbulletday.

Those of us who may have a better knowledge of American racing history than some of the younger members of this forum ... should be kind enough to help them not look artless and naîve ... and to encourage them to learn more about the history of this sport that we all love.

By providing that long list of great fillies in my earlier post ... I was hoping to pique the curiosity of Eurobounce ... so that he/she might possibly learn more about who those fillies were ... and why they're considered to be great.

Ummm ... so ... what was your question again?

As I'm sure you already know ... the grey color in today's thoroughbreds is traceable to the very early years of the 18th century ... when the Alcoc-k Arabian was imported to England. But the Alcoc-k Arabian is not considered to be a foundation stallion of the breed ... like the Darley Arabian, Byerley Turk, and Godolphin Barb are ... because the line back to him is not strictly tail-male ... but instead goes back through numerous generations of females.

Today's quality grey race horses can be accredited to the Irish breeder ... Edward Kennedy ... no relation to the bloated murderer who currently occupies several seats in our U.S. Senate ... who in the late years of the 19th century and early years of the 20th century ... made a concerted effort to breed quality grey race horses. This led ultimately to the breeding of the undefeated champion The Tetrarch ... known The Spotted Wonder or The Rocking Horse because of his unique-to-the-time dappled coat ... and to all of the quality race horses today who descend from him ... mostly through his female line.

Ok...so you say Silverbullet Day is #4?