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Ruffian, The Greatest Female Racehorse Of All Time

'Born April 17, 1972, out of the sire Reviewer, Ruffian appeared to be a jet black charcoal filly, although her official color was labeled dark bay. She earned the name Queen of the Fillies soon after being voted 2-Year-Old Filly of the Year (Eclipse Award) in 1974. Ruffian raced 11 times in her career and in her first 10 starts, this astounding filly had the lead in every race. [...] In fact, she won her first race (maiden race) in a world record time and by an astounding 15 lengths. [...]

Ruffian's fame would eventually become her ruination. [...] In her final race, which was run at Belmont Park on July 6, 1975, Ruffian would match up against that year's Kentucky Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure. What was interesting was that Jacinto Vasquez was the normal rider for both of these great horses, but Jacinto made the decision to jockey his favorite horse of all time, Ruffian, clearly believing she was the best between the two horses. The match race, which drew an on-track crowd of over 55,000 horse racing fans and a television audience of almost 20 million. [...]

Without getting into the tragic details of the race, somewhere around three-eighths of a mile into the event, Ruffian broke down by breaking both of her sesamoid bones in her right foreleg. Ruffian was in front of Foolish Pleasure at the time by a little bit more than a head. The filly had to be humanely put down after several efforts and emergency surgery to try to save her.

Horses like Ruffian are once-in-a-lifetime. Every race she completed, she won - and she won with great conviction and a great heart. Everyone knew from the beginning that this filly was something special, loaded with speed, great stamina and just the will to always want to be on top.'

Source: [link]

Could she beat the colt?

I believe that Ruffian would have beaten Foolish Peasure on that tragic afternoon.

Description
Ruffian, The Greatest Female Racehorse Of All Time

'Born April 17, 1972, out of the sire Reviewer, Ruffian appeared to be a jet black charcoal filly, although her official color was labeled dark bay. She earned the name Queen of the Fillies soon after being voted 2-Year-Old Filly of the Year (Eclipse Award) in 1974. Ruffian raced 11 times in her career and in her first 10 starts, this astounding filly had the lead in every race. [...] In fact, she won her first race (maiden race) in a world record time and by an astounding 15 lengths. [...]

Ruffian's fame would eventually become her ruination. [...] In her final race, which was run at Belmont Park on July 6, 1975, Ruffian would match up against that year's Kentucky Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure. What was interesting was that Jacinto Vasquez was the normal rider for both of these great horses, but Jacinto made the decision to jockey his favorite horse of all time, Ruffian, clearly believing she was the best between the two horses. The match race, which drew an on-track crowd of over 55,000 horse racing fans and a television audience of almost 20 million. [...]

Without getting into the tragic details of the race, somewhere around three-eighths of a mile into the event, Ruffian broke down by breaking both of her sesamoid bones in her right foreleg. Ruffian was in front of Foolish Pleasure at the time by a little bit more than a head. The filly had to be humanely put down after several efforts and emergency surgery to try to save her.

Horses like Ruffian are once-in-a-lifetime. Every race she completed, she won - and she won with great conviction and a great heart. Everyone knew from the beginning that this filly was something special, loaded with speed, great stamina and just the will to always want to be on top.'

Source: [link]

Could she beat the colt?

I believe that Ruffian would have beaten Foolish Peasure on that tragic afternoon.