Ruffian And Eight Belles Essay

Ruffian and Eight Belles were two Racing Thoroughbred horses. Ruffian being born in the year 1972 and Eight Belles being born in the year 2005. These horses are very different when it comes to awards and honors, injury, trainers and where they are buried. Also having similar attributes, for example, the age they died, jockey colors, and the two horses were both euthanized. What makes Ruffian and Eight Belles similar is that they are the same breed of horse, which is that they are thoroughbreds and these horses are used for racing. Another attribute that makes them similar is their jockey colors are red and white. The only difference is that Ruffian's jockey uniform has a middle red horizontal stripe while Eight Belles has two red squares and two white squares. The big difference between Ruffian and Eight Belles is that Ruffian had trainer Frank Whiteley and Eight Belles had trainer J. Larry Jones.
Although these horses are the same breed they did receive very different awards. Ruffian received the Eclipse award for Best Two
Year Old Filly, Horse of the year, the Triple Crown, and was undefeated. "Each Time Ruffian had ran, she not only won, but led from wire to wire, setting a new stakes record each time and always running well within herself" (Unofficial Thoughbred Hall of Fame). The only award that Eight Belles received was the Eclipse award's American Champion three-year-old Filly (Press).
Although Ruffian received more awards than Eight Belles, they both had injuries.
During the Match race that Ruffian was in she snapped her front right sesamoid bone and ankle. “Ruffian stumbled as the colt rushed past. The great filly has broken down. The jockey fought to stop his mount, knowing that if she kept running she would go down. It was a desperate battle to pull up the filly, as she ran on the exposed bone, ripping ligaments" (Unofficial Thoughbred Hall of Fame). Eight belles injury was far worse than Ruffian's, Eight belles broke both her front ankles " When Eight Belles shattered both of her ankles as she pulled up past the finish line and galloped out around the clubhouse turn she obviously broke one ankle first, then snapped the other as she dug it in to support herself " (Nack). Ruffian was euthanized in a veterinary hospital while Eight Belles was euthanized on the church hill downs track, due to the extent of her
injuries.
Due to the injuries of both horses and after they were euthanized there were differences on where both horses were buried. Ruffian was buried at Belmont Park “The entire nation mourned the death of perhaps the greatest disaster in racing history. The game filly is now buried in the infield at Belmont Park, with her head pointed towards the finish line for all eternity” (Unofficial Thoughbred Hall of Fame). Eight Belles was buried in Churchill Downs "Eight Belles was buried and memorialized in the garden of Churchill Downs Kentucky Derby Museum on September 7, 2008. A race has been renamed in her honor, and was run on the Derby Day 2009 undercard as the Eight Belles Stakes" (Nack). The only two similarities between Ruffian and Eight Belles is that Bill Nack was the Press for both Ruffian and Eight Belles. The last similarity between the two fillies is that they both were euthanized at the age of three.