Ruffian: Burning from the Start

Ruffian: Burning from the Start
by Jane Schwartz

Ruffian: Burning from the Start
List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $6.95
You Save: $8.00 (54%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.75 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Jane Schwartz
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-04-30
ISBN: 0345450000
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Ballantine Books

Book Reviews of Ruffian: Burning from the Start

Book Review: she burned brightly and left us far too soon
Summary: 5 Stars

Ruffian was perhaps the greatest filly that ever raced. Her unbeaten record and record-setting speed earned her a place alongside the finest of her sport. But she tragically broke down in a match race that never should have taken place and had to be euthanized, leaving many fans heartbroken and disillusioned about the sport of horse racing. Who knows how many other titles she would have won and what further magnificence she would have shown had her owners and trainer not been pushed into participated in the big-money media event and allowed her to continue to develop and mature? She was a mere teenager in horse years when she was taken from us.

Schwartz's book gives some sense of closure in her detailed account of Ruffian's life and, ultimately, her death. While knowing so much more about her life deepened my understanding of and love for Ruffian and the dedication and hard work it requires to train a racehorse, it was still very painful to read the last chapters. Schwartz captured the agony and devastation so many went through as Ruffian lived out her last hours. It was like having a wound opened again.

Thankfully, there is much more to this book than the tragic ending. When you have a good supporting cast, the star shines even more brilliantly in this case. There was obviously a great deal of love, bright hope and dedication among those who cared for her and groomed her into the phenomenal racehorse she became. The interplay of her personality with that of her trainer, riders and grooms brought out more about Ruffian than most would have ever known. There was something almost human in the way she is described, and this makes her all the more endearing, and her loss more enduring.

The only thing I would have wished for would have been more detail of the match race itself. Schwartz gave a virtual play by play in her previous races, chronicling each furlong and the thoughts and perceptions of her jockeys. Perhaps the details were not available as with the other races, but I had hoped to know more of what Jacinto Vasquez's recollections of those last tragic moments before she broke down. All I know is that it remains a mystery to this day why it happened.

As a musician, I am inspired by almost anything with grace and beauty. I also own a movie made about Ruffian, with video footage of her races. Watching Ruffian open up and take flight in that amazing, effortless ground-eating stride, I hear music. Schwartz has provided the beautiful text underneath that soaring melody.

Summary of Ruffian: Burning from the Start

During two short seasons at the track, Ruffian was hailed as the greatest thoroughbred filly of all time. Unbeaten in her first ten starts, she shattered one record after another, dazzling crowds with both her beauty and her brilliant speed. Then tragedy struck on the afternoon of July 6, 1975. Ruffian broke down-on the lead-in the middle of a match race at Belmont Park. Later that night she had to be destroyed.

Ruffian: Burning from the Start is the story of this exceptional filly, a horse so dominating, so powerful, that writer Walter Farley once suggested she was more like the fictional legend, the Black Stallion, than any colt he had ever seen. Beginning with her earliest days in Kentucky, the book follows Ruffian at every stage of her career and through the agony of her final hours- venturing behind the scenes of the racing world and exploring the politics and personalities that came together to shape this extraordinary filly's fate.

History Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in History Books
With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa ImageWith the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa
by E. B. Sledge
Presidio Press; Published: 1990-03; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops: $24.95
These Is My Words ImageThese Is My Words
by Nancy Turner
Hodder and Stoughten; Published: 1998; Paperback; Book
Hawaii The Big Island Revealed; The Ultimate Guidebook ImageHawaii The Big Island Revealed; The Ultimate Guidebook
by Andrew Doughty, Harriett Friedman
Wizard Publications; Published: 1999-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.45
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary, Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography ImageThe Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary, Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography
by Simon Singh
Doubleday; Published: 1999-09-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.15
Price in other shops: $24.95
Truman ImageTruman
by David McCullough
Simon & Schuster; Published: 1992-06-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops: $40.00
James Cameron's Titanic ImageJames Cameron's Titanic
by James Cameron, Ed Marsh, Jain Lemos
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 1997-12-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops: $20.00
Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust ImageLeft To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust
by Immaculee Ilibagiza
Hay House; Published: 2006-02-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.70
Price in other shops: $24.95
Rocket Boys (The Coalwood Series #1) ImageRocket Boys (The Coalwood Series #1)
by Homer H. Hickam
Dell Publishing Company; Published: 1900; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $27.91
Seabiscuit ImageSeabiscuit
by Laura Hillenbrand
Random House Audio; Published: 2003-06-05; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $12.87
Price in other shops: $29.95
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time ImageThree Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
by Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2007-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $15.00
Similar Books and other products
The Most Glorious Crown: The Story Of America's Triple Crown Thoroughbreds From Sir Barton To Affirmed ImageThe Most Glorious Crown: The Story Of America's Triple Crown Thoroughbreds From Sir Barton To Affirmed
by Marvin Drager
SportsMagicK; Triumph Books (IL); Published: 2005-03-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.77
Barbaro - A Nation's Horse ImageBarbaro - A Nation's Horse
Release date: 2007-05-22; DVD
Best price: $8.61
Price in other shops: $14.98
Barbaro: The Horse Who Captured America's Heart ImageBarbaro: The Horse Who Captured America's Heart
by Sean Clancy
Eclipse Press; Published: 2007-04-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.17
Price in other shops: $25.95
Secretariat, Updated Edition ImageSecretariat, Updated Edition
by Raymond G. Woolfe
The Derrydale Press; Published: 2001-06-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $24.00
Price in other shops: $45.00
Barbaro: America's Horse ImageBarbaro: America's Horse
by Shelley Mickle
Aladdin; Published: 2007-03-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.58
Price in other shops: $8.99
The Horse God Built: The Untold Story of Secretariat, the World's Greatest Racehorse ImageThe Horse God Built: The Untold Story of Secretariat, the World's Greatest Racehorse
by Lawrence Scanlan
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2008-06-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.62
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Licorice Daughter: My Year with Ruffian ImageThe Licorice Daughter: My Year with Ruffian
by Lyn Lifshin
Texas Review Press; Published: 2006-02-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.72
Price in other shops: $14.95
Ruffian: A Race Track Romance ImageRuffian: A Race Track Romance
by William Nack
ESPN; Published: 2007-05-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.55
Price in other shops: $14.95
Ruffian ImageRuffian
WELLSPRING/GENIUS; Release date: 2007-06-12; DVD
Best price: $13.25
Price in other shops: $24.95
Secretariat: The Making of a Champion ImageSecretariat: The Making of a Champion
by William Nack
Da Capo Press; Published: 2002-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.79
Price in other shops: $16.95