Ruffian (film)
Encyclopedia
Ruffian is an American made-for-television movie
that tells the story of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
Champion
thoroughbred
filly
Ruffian
who went undefeated until her death
after breaking down in a nationally televised match race
at Belmont Park
on July 6, 1975 against the Kentucky Derby
winner, Foolish Pleasure
.
Made by ESPN Original Entertainment, the film is directed by Yves Simoneau
and stars Sam Shepard
as Ruffian's trainer
, Frank Whiteley
. The producers used four different gelding
s in the role of Ruffian. Locations for the 2007 film included Louisiana Downs in Shreveport, Louisiana
and Belmont Park
in Elmont, New York
.
Ruffian was first broadcast on June 9, 2007 on the ABC
television network. The DVD
was released on June 12, 2007.
Previously, ESPN Classic
had broadcast a special on July 6, 2000 to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of Ruffian. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/news/story?id=610063
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
that tells the story of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
Champion
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
filly
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
Ruffian
Ruffian (horse)
Ruffian was an American champion thoroughbred racehorse. Ruffian is considered by many to be the greatest female racehorse in history. Ruffian is among the greatest U.S. racehorses of all time. Her story was told in 2007 film Ruffian.- Career :An almost coal black filly of 16 and a half hands,...
who went undefeated until her death
Animal euthanasia
Animal euthanasia is the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, an animal suffering from an incurable, especially a painful, disease or condition. Euthanasia methods are designed to cause minimal pain and distress...
after breaking down in a nationally televised match race
Match race
A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.The term may be best known as a race between two sailing boats racing around a course...
at Belmont Park
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...
on July 6, 1975 against the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
winner, Foolish Pleasure
Foolish Pleasure
Foolish Pleasure is an American bay thoroughbred race horse who was born in Williston, Florida. He was one of the top three three-year-old colts of his time....
.
Made by ESPN Original Entertainment, the film is directed by Yves Simoneau
Yves Simoneau
Yves Simoneau is a Canadian film and television director.-Recognition:His acclaimed 1987 crime drama Pouvoir intime garnered multiple Genie Awards nominations including best direction at the 8th Genie Awards...
and stars Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
as Ruffian's trainer
Horse trainer
In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...
, Frank Whiteley
Frank Y. Whiteley, Jr.
Frank Yewell Whiteley, Jr. was a Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.Born and raised on a farm in Centreville, Maryland, Whiteley grew up around horses and from a very early age was intent on racing them. Developing his skills, by age twenty-one he had embarked on a professional training...
. The producers used four different gelding
Gelding
A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday...
s in the role of Ruffian. Locations for the 2007 film included Louisiana Downs in Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
and Belmont Park
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...
in Elmont, New York
Elmont, New York
Elmont is an unincorporated census-designated place located in the northwest corner of the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City...
.
Ruffian was first broadcast on June 9, 2007 on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television network. The DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
was released on June 12, 2007.
Previously, ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic is a sports channel that features reruns of famous sporting events, sports documentaries, and sports themed movies. Such programs includes biographies of famous sports figures or a rerun of a famous World Series or Super Bowl, often with added commentary on the event...
had broadcast a special on July 6, 2000 to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of Ruffian. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/news/story?id=610063
Cast
- Sam ShepardSam ShepardSam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
- Frank WhiteleyFrank Y. Whiteley, Jr.Frank Yewell Whiteley, Jr. was a Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.Born and raised on a farm in Centreville, Maryland, Whiteley grew up around horses and from a very early age was intent on racing them. Developing his skills, by age twenty-one he had embarked on a professional training... - Frank WhaleyFrank WhaleyFrank Joseph Whaley is an American film and television actor known for his roles in independent films.-Personal life:Whaley was born in Syracuse, New York, the son of Josephine and Robert W. Whaley, Sr. He is half-Irish and half-Sicilian and grew up in Syracuse. He has two sisters and an older...
- Bill NackWilliam NackWilliam Nack is an American journalist and author. He wrote about sports, politics and the environment at Newsday for 11 years before joining the staff of Sports Illustrated in 1978 as an investigative reporter and general feature writer. Since leaving S.I. in 2001, Nack has freelanced for numerous... - Laura BaileyLaura BaileyLaura Bailey is an English model represented by Liz Matthews PR. She has modelled campaigns for Guess Jeans, L'Oreal, Jaguar, Jaeger, Marks and Spencer, Bella Freud and Temperley London. Laura also works as a writer and has written for Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Vanity Fair, Glamour, The Independent,...
- Cassie - Nicholas PryorNicholas PryorNicholas Pryor is an American film and television actor.Pryor was born Nicholas David Probst in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Dorothy and J. Stanley Probst, a pharmaceutical manufacturer....
- Stuart Janney - Christine BelfordChristine BelfordChristine Belford is an American television and film actor.- Early life :Christine Belford was born January 14, 1949 in Amityville, New York...
- Barbara Janney - Mathew Greer - Dan Williams
- Louis Herthum - Dr. Harthill
- John McConnellJohn McConnell (actor)John "Spud" McConnell , is an American actor and radio personality based in New Orleans, Louisiana.McConnell is a character actor who has appeared in more than 40 films, ranging from obscure independent films to major cinematic release movies John "Spud" McConnell (born November 13, 1958), is an...
- Tony Pappas - Michael HardingMichael HardingMichael Harding is an Irish short-story writer, novelist, and playwright, born in County Cavan. He lives in Westmeath. He has published three novels Priest and The Trouble With Sarah Gullion' and'Bird in the Snow' 2008 He became a member of Aosdana, the National Academy for Creative Artists, in...
- Leroy JolleyLeRoy JolleyLeRoy Jolley is an United States Hall of Fame Thoroughbred horse trainer. The son of horse trainer Moody Jolley, LeRoy Jolley has been around horses all his life at age nineteen received a New York State trainer's license.... - Stuart GreerStuart GreerStuart Greer is an American character actor. He began acting in college productions while a student at the University of Arkansas/Little Rock before being accepted into the Professional Workshop at Circle in the Square in New York where he studied from 1987 to 1989...
- Dan Lasater - Jon Stafford - Dr. Pendergrast
- David DwyerDavid DwyerDavid Dwyer was an Irish soccer player who played in the League of Ireland during the late 80s and early 1990s.Dwyer played for Kilkenny City and Bohemians amongst others during his career in the League of Ireland...
- Dick Sandler - Bill FlynnBill FlynnBill Flynn was a South African actor and comedian. He was born in Cape Town and matriculated from Plumstead High School...
- Elder Reporter - Keith Flippen - Dinny PhippsOgden Mills PhippsOgden Mills "Dinny" Phipps is a retired American financier and prominent Thoroughbred racehorse industry executive and a Thoroughbred owner/breeder...
- Jerry Leggio - Lucien LaurinLucien LaurinLucien Laurin was a French-Canadian jockey and Hall of Fame Thoroughbred horse trainer.-Life and career:...
- Vladimir Diaz - Jacinto VasquezJacinto VásquezJacinto Vásquez is a retired Hall of Fame thoroughbred jockey. He rode two Kentucky Derby winners, Foolish Pleasure in 1975 and Genuine Risk in 1980, but may be best known as the regular jockey for the great filly Ruffian.-Biography:...
- Joel Santiago - Vincent Bracciale
- Francisco Torres - Braulio BaezaBraulio BaezaBraulio Baeza is an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey. He began racing in 1955 and in 1960, at the urging of agent Camilo Marin, moved to compete in the United States where at the Keeneland Race Course he won the very first he competed in.Braulio Baeza's success in America was...
- Dave JohnsonDave Johnson (announcer)Dave Johnson is an American announcer and sportscaster, best known for his work in horse racing with ABC and NBC Sports and at various race tracks in New York and New Jersey...
- himself - Gary McKillips - Jack Whitaker