Some tales were recalled for a movie about a horse. Which caused a rewrite. Which brought a central role in a movie. Which led to a book on the horse.
Ruffian wasn’t the only one traveling in circles.
Washington author and renowned horse racing writer Bill Nack has a winning exacta. The former Sports Illustrated writer and newspaper columnist is among the lead figures in ABC’s “Ruffian” on June 9 remembering one of the greatest fillies ever. On the last day of filming, ESPN approached Nack to write an accompanying “Ruffian: A Racetrack Romance” that was recently released.
The movie is sensational — as good as the Seabiscuit film of 2004. The book is a gentle, quick read. If you love horses — if you love a good story — the Ruffian remembrances are worth following even if lacks the traditional feel-good Hollywood ending.
And yet, Nack wasn’t eager to remember that July 6, 1975 afternoon at Belmont Park. Seeing Ruffian suffer a fatal broken ankle against Foolish Pleasure proved too haunting for even the Vietnam War veteran.
Nack went on to cover the New York Yankees and soon became a columnist for his New York paper before joining SI in 1979. Nack never covered racing regularly again, though he’s a fixture on the Triple Crown that concludes with June 9th’s Belmont Stakes.
A generation has passed since the filly broke down following 10 straight wins. She’s still remembered as perhaps the best-ever and the years finally allowed Nack to return to her for the movie and book.
“[Ruffian’s death] drained theromance from me,” he said. “I never wanted to go back there again, but now that [more than] 30 years have passed I’ll try to go back there.”
Nack saw the final nine races of Ruffian’s career. He was nearly run down by Foolish Pleasure on the track while running to Ruffian, forgetting the race was still ongoing, a moment brilliantly captured in the movie. And Nack was among the few at the Belmont infield graveside that next night.
The movie takes some licenses as filmmakers do. Nack was given a more prominent role to balance trainer Frank Whiteley, who in real life was nearly as silent as Charlie Chaplin in an age when conditioners were more horse whisperers than media stars.
“I just asked [the movie producers,] ‘Please don’t have me do or say anything I wouldn’t do,’ said Nack, who denied ever wearing the movie’s actor’s ’70s garb.
The book was supposed to be 15,000 words. The biographer of “Secretariat: The Making of a Champion” surpassed that midway through. In a surprising but thought-provoking start, Nack opens with Barbaro’s eventual fatal breakdown at the Preakness Stakes last year where the author was once again trackside.
“My overwhelming instinct was to lead with Barbaro because he’s a modern horse people can relate to and it was a very dramatic breakdown just like Ruffian,” Nack said. “The deja vu was amazing.”
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
