Ruffian was a mediocre filly

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

And George Woolf still thought Seabiscuit was a better horse.

too much time in the hot box?

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Danzig

too much time in the hot box?

Heh. Whirlaway never seems to get much respect, does he? Breyer started a Triple Crown series of Christmas ornaments and he, along with Omaha, Count Fleet and Assault, never got made.

[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

Heh. Whirlaway never seems to get much respect, does he? Breyer started a Triple Crown series of Christmas ornaments and he, along with Omaha, Count Fleet and Assault, never got made.

ESPN did a one-hour SportsCentury on Whirlaway that they still run on ESPN Classic throughout the year.

They might have given him a little too much respect in that piece. They made him out to be a hero of World War II.

So did this congressman...

http://capitolwords.org/date/2006/06...-armed-servic/

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

ESPN did a one-hour SportsCentury on Whirlaway that they still run on ESPN Classic throughout the year.

They might have given him a little too much respect in that piece. They made him out to be a hero of World War II.

So did this congressman...

http://capitolwords.org/date/2006/06...-armed-servic/

I'll look for the ESPN special; thanks! (I imagine some one has probably put it on YouTube if I can't find it on Netflix.)

[OldDog]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

I'll look for the ESPN special; thanks! (I imagine some one has probably put it on YouTube if I can't find it on Netflix.)

They show it every year at Derby time.

In the meantime, here's a good video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o-5TR0m5N8

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by OldDog

They show it every year at Derby time.

In the meantime, here's a good video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o-5TR0m5N8

That was a neat clip; thanks for posting it. Easy to see how he got his nickname.

"Ruffian, Burning from the Start" by Jane Schwartz still one of the best racetrack books I've ever read.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

That was a neat clip; thanks for posting it. Easy to see how he got his nickname.

yeah, old longtail. but i caught a mistake during the derby narration. his derby time didn't last til secretariat broke it-northern dancer was the first to hit the 2.00 minute mark. don't know if anyone else in those intervening years topped w'away, but i know ND did.

[OldDog]

By the way, it's 37 years ago today that Ruffian faced off against Foolish Pleasure.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by OldDog

By the way, it's 37 years ago today that Ruffian faced off against Foolish Pleasure.

Wow. So many, "what if's" there. I remember crying when I heard she was gone.

Thank goodness that today, we rarely lose horses to drugs and anesthesia. One good thing to contemplate.

Great video of Whirlaway, thanks. I hope the new owner of Calumet decided to reopen the farm, and the cemetery, to tours again. I love their old race training barn, and the cemetery rivals Claiborne.

[Merlinsky]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

ESPN did a one-hour SportsCentury on Whirlaway that they still run on ESPN Classic throughout the year.

They might have given him a little too much respect in that piece. They made him out to be a hero of World War II.

So did this congressman...

http://capitolwords.org/date/2006/06...-armed-servic/

I heard that after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, racing on the west coast ground to a halt and horses, including Whirlaway, couldn't ship back east either. Is that accurate? I wonder what he would've gotten up to if he hadn't gotten stranded.

[Calzone Lord]

Regarding Seabiscuit and Whirlaway.

Seabiscuit was every bit the handicap champion that Whirlaway was and probably a little bit more. He was also more tactically versatile than Whirlaway and likely would have beaten him in a match race.

Here is a cut of Seabiscuit as an older horse:



Note the difference in weights that he's carrying against his top finishing rival.

Three times in a row, he was 2nd by a neck. In those three races, the horse who beat him got a weight break of 30 pounds, 12 pounds, and 15 pounds.

Even in all of his wins, Seabiscuit was carrying bowling balls more than his opposition. He was facing top competition, racing in big fields, and traveling all over the country.

That said, Whirlaway is clearly the higher rated overall horse. Seabiscuit was mediocre until very late into his 3yo season when he exploded in Northern California. I don't think Seabiscuit's win over War Admiral was any kind of fluke. He looked the better horse and War Admiral didn't run to his best form at Pimlico. He won the Preakness in a desperate battle as a 3yo and made hard work of weak competition in the prior years Pimlico Special. War Admiral bounced right back and won his next race. He had no excuse in the match race.

Seabiscuit has a suspicious form and his trainer later came under suspicion.