Ruffian
My friend previewed the movie months ago and said it was very sad.
I’m not sure if I shared this link before in the thread … to give folks a perspective fresh at the time
Time Magazine, July 21, 1975 “Could Ruffian Have Been Saved?”
excerpt
Would other methods of treatment have worked? Continuous sedation is unrealistic because a horse lying too long on its side develops radial paralysis; placing a horse in a sling often impairs circulation and waste elimination and could cause death; finally, putting a horse on a rubber raft in a pool, so that kicking off a cast becomes impossible, is still an experimental technique.
At 'week’s end Jack Dreyfus, chairman of the board of the New York racing association, said, “The inadequacy of knowing what to do was the problem. It happened to strike an area of incompetence in the whole industry.” Meantime, Ruffian had been buried quietly at Belmont, mourned by millions who knew little of racing but were moved by the untimely death of a great horse.
Sadly, just shy of 32 years later the remarks above are not irrelevant today
As inquired by another:
ABC will air Ruffian as the ‘movie of the week’ Saturday June 9th at 9:00 pm -11:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. [The Belmont Stakes will be aired that afternnon on ABC too] This movie will (also) be broadcasted in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format, with 5.1-channel surround sound.
As for the rebroadcast that won’t be until the fall!
It will be re-aired on ESPN October 24 at 8:00 p.m. EST
Content will also be available at that time to consumers across multiple ESPN platforms, including ESPNHD, ESPN360, VOD and DVD.
For those with ABC network access: photo captures from the movie
The overview:
Sam Shepard (“Don’t Come Knocking,” “Black Hawk Down”) stars in the inspiring horse racing drama “Ruffian,” the powerful and emotional true story of the racehorse hailed as the greatest thoroughbred filly of all time. Shepard plays trainer Frank Whitely, who guides this incredible filly’s ascension into the public consciousness amid the backdrop of the '70s, a decade of equine superstars and Triple Crown winners. Ruffian’s beauty and speed made her a memorable filly, but it was her match race with Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure that made her one of the beloved horses of all time.
The movie, which was shot in Shreveport, LA in 2006, also stars acclaimed actor, writer and director Frank Whaley (“Pulp Fiction,” “Born on the Fourth of July”) as legendary sports writer Bill Nack. Famed Canadian film director Yves Simoneau (“The 4400,” “44 Minutes” and “Nuremberg”) helms this original production.
“Ruffian” stars Sam Shepard as Frank Whitely, Frank Whaley as Bill Nack, Mat Greer as Dan Williams, Mark Adam as Mike Bell, Tyrone Shaw as Squeaky, Nicholas Pryor as Stuart Janney, Christina Belford as Barbara Janney, Keith Flippen as Dinney Phipps, Franco Torres as Braulio Baeza, Mike Harding as Leroy Jolly, John McConnell as Tony Pappas, Jon Stafford as Dr. Pendergast, Stuart Greer as Dan Lasater, David Dwyer as Dick Sandler, Dennis O’Neill as bar owner, Marion Guyot as Barbara’s friend and John S. Davies as CBS executive.
Just a side note, if anyone caught HBO Sundayor any reruns, their new movie “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” is also directed by Yves Simoneau. These 2 movies are quite a contrast for the sci-fi types he is known for. I thought he did a great job with Knee.
Anyone heard anything about a “Behind the Scenes” show on ESPN? I know they were supposed to air it.
Not unexpected is a very positive review by ESPN’s Bill Finley ““Ruffian” movie captures all that was great” for May 28th.
The movie never varies from the real life story and the director and producer and their teams have done an excellent job making the racing scenes seem realistic.
The story is seen through the eyes of Bill Nack, who, at the time, was covering racing for Newsday, Long Island’s biggest newspaper. Nack, arguably the most gifted horse racing writer ever, is played by Frank Whaley, best remembered for his roles in Pulp Fiction and Field of Dreams. Nack is both an inquisitive reporter and a passionate racing fan and his love affair with Ruffian is at the heart of the theme. The real Nack was a consultant to the movie.
There is a video interview with actor Sam Shepard and below it are 9 of her 11 starts. Although highly shameful is the fact they have her match race video. Skip that option and watch something more positive like The Acorn or Mother Goose Stakes, both of which are there too.
Looking back I have to say that Dave Johnson, the race caller of her big efforts, just is so lackluster in his passion and comments. By comparison listen to Chick with Secretariat or Seattle Slew or even Tom Durkin with Cigar … calling historical horses should be more ‘wow’.
OMG I saw myself on the TV!
Ok, so I’ve had to wait around for 14 months but the week is finally here - the big movie! ESPN aired the behind the scenes today and was excited to see myself (all 1.2 seconds of me) and my pony! DH even got his air time - for those that watch it, there will be a guy brushing one of the Ruffian’s in a round pen and a guy with his backside to the camera and that would be him…wondering why his butt doesn’t look that good in person! ha ha ha ha ha
It’s just exciting to see things and people you are involved with every day on national tv.
From The Blood-Horse: “Whiteley and Vazquez sue Disney over Ruffian movie”
Basically, Disney/ABC/ESPN bought the Nack book but did not make separate agreements with Whitely and Vazquez; they also claim there’s a trademark infringement with Thoroughbred Legends.
I’m sure they’ll reach a settlement as usual.
Oh Imagine this, conflict in the days leading up to the movie…you’d never have guessed this would happen, esp. since Frank Whitley’s feature profile is in The Bloodhorse this week.
I’ll sidestep the opinions thread on the Ruffian movie aired and just take the time to suggest the great article written by ESPN’s Randy Moss:
ESPN June 5, 2007 “Ruffian remembered” Randy Moss
All of her actual races are on the linked page (above) on the right column. They also have been cited in this thread elsewhere through ones ripped and uploaded onto youtube.com
No word on the lawsuit or even Jacinto Vasquez or Frank Whitely’s opinion of it. Clearly the injunction was rejected by the court with regards to ABC’s airing, they might be successful with the ESPN airing in October or the planned release of the film on other media. From the LA Times:
The Daily Racing Form reported that the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Northern Georgia, seeks monetary damages of $10 million and an injunction against airing the movie.
The plaintiffs claim Thoroughbred Legends owns the trademark of the name “Ruffian,” and that Whiteley and Vasquez are part-owners of the Ruffian trademark [btw Thoroughbred Legends LLC is unrelated to the BloodHorse publishing division of the same name].
Bloomberg News reported that Whiteley and Vasquez said that they rejected offers to sell their life story to ESPN and Orly Adelson Productions for $5,000 each and an additional $100,000 to be split among the pair and assistant trainer Mike Bell if a film was made.
In a statement, ESPN said, “The claims in the lawsuit are without merit.”
Per the media press conference in advance of Ruffian Orly Adelson (of Orly Adelson Productions along with ESPN Original Entertainment) said that for the injury scenes they built mock horses for those scenes.
Orly furthermore said animal rights officials were on the set to make sure no horses were mistreated. Five live horses were used to make the film.
Aside - Ruffian in respect to media, television, etc with the horse was only filed for trademark rights in May 2004. So if anyone thinks Whitely, et al have been holding the rights since the 1970’s is rather mistaken.
Thoroughbred Legends, LLC
(A Georgia Limited Liability Company)
Bank of America Plaza
600 Peachtree Stree
c/o Troutman Sanders LLOp
Suite 5200
Atlanta, GA 30308-2216
US Trade Mark Office, word mark: “Ruffian”
Serial Number 78415873
Filing Date May 10, 2004
IC 041. US 100 101 107. “G & S: Entertainment services, namely, production of theatrical plays, motion picture films, television shows, and documentaries.”
In my opinion, the subtle - and not-so-subtle undertones in this movie, together with the grisly Hollywood-ed up graphics of the breakdown (Any unsuspecting group of watchers were blindsided) did more damage to horseracing in the general public’s eye than anything.
I was very disappointed in many aspects of the movie, mostly the multi-faceted negative theme, but not surprised. It is Disney, after all.
ABC’s telecast of its Ruffian television movie drew a 2.9 rating and 5 share June 9 from 9-11 p.m. EDT. The movie, which documented the story of the brilliant race filly from the 1970s, finished third in its time slot behind “American’s Most Wanted” on FOX (3.7) and “Die Another Day,” a film on CBS that drew a 4.1. NBC showed “Scary Movie,” which registered a 1.9
Source: BloodHorse using Nielsen Ratings release
(In overnight ratings, each ratings point equals 770,000 viewers, and the share refers to the percentage of TVs in use that were tuned to the program.)
The Ruffian movie was hampered by poor Belmont ratings - despite the race being fantastic - of a 3.5 rating compared to say 2005 when NBC garnered a 5.0 for Afleet Alex’s victory.
Glimmerglass, thank you thank you thank you for that link. That just made my night.
i just saw the movie tonight and i loved it! you couldnteven tell that she was 4 diff. horses. They did a good job capturing her personality and passion for running.i give it 5 stars…the actors were great.:D:D
