Deja Vu?
First Photo on left: Rags To Riches wins the Belmont Stakes today. She is the first filly in 102 years (1905) to win the Belmont Stakes, beating the best colts in her crop to do so. She is also the winner of the Hollywood Oaks, the fillies' Kentucky Derby.
Second Photo on right: Ruffian winning one of her many races. Ruffian is considered the greatest filly in racing history, if not the greatest racehorse of all time. She is the only horse to be buried on the infield of the Belmont track, with her nose pointed toward the finish line. The movie about Ruffian debuts tonight on ABC, 9PM Eastern.
Racing history was made today. Has the baton been passed?
This is great. I wrote a novel with a filly winning the Triple Crown and my research seemed to indicate only colts in those three races.
ReplyDeleteNo, the Triple Crown races do not exclude fillies, it's just that by the middle of their 3 year old year, the colts are normally so much stronger that a filly generally can't compete with the males. Still there are exceptions. Winning Colors won the Kentucky Derby in the last decade or so. Every year there are a few stand-outs that get some early consideration for the TC series, but many get sidelined by injury or their connections opt out for a race they are more likely to win. Even Ruffian didn't run in the TC series, hence the fateful match race with Foolish Pleasure (the Derby winner). The only race she ever lost was the one she didn't finish. :(
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