Official program for the infamous ‘Great Match Race’ held at Belmont Park on July 6, 1975, which featured a two-horse race between the dominant filly Ruffian and that year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure, 16 pages, 4 x 9, signed inside on the ‘eighth race’ page in black and blue ballpoint by the race’s two jockeys: Jacinto Vasquez and Braulio Baeza. In fine condition. Accompanied by four newspapers related to ‘The Great Race’—the July 6 and 8, 1975 issues of The Daily Racing Form; and the July 7 and 8, 1975 issues of The New York Daily News.
The showdown between Ruffian and Foolish Pleasure exists as one of the most highly anticipated matches in the history of racing. Ruffian was widely considered not only the best filly in racing, but perhaps the most talented horse overall, a sentiment shared by Vasquez, who, coincidentally, was the jockey for both Ruffian and the opposing stallion, Foolish Pleasure. When he was forced to select which to ride, Vasquez picked the filly, whom he believed to be the better horse.
When Ruffian and Foolish Pleasure broke from the starting gate, as usual, the filly took the lead, but just before the half-mile mark, something went terribly wrong: both sesamoid bones in her right foreleg snapped. Ruffian was placed in a cast and hastened to a hospital where she underwent emergency surgery for 12 hours. When the anesthesia wore off, Ruffian once more became disoriented. She thrashed about wildly and, in the process, caused even further damage to her leg. Sadly, the great filly was euthanized shortly thereafter. The consignor of this program held Ruffian's head as she drifted into sleep.
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