The New York Racing Association announced Aug. 24 that the remains of Hall of Fame filly Ruffian have been transported from Belmont Park to the grounds of Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky., where the 1970s

The move to Claiborne will ensure the preservation of Ruffian's remains, buried shortly after her death in 1975 at the base of the flagpole near the finish line at Belmont, where NYRA is beginning the installation of a one-mile synthetic track. 

Bred by Stuart Janney Jr. and his wife, Barbara Phipps Janney, owners of Locust Hill Farm in Glyndon, Md., Ruffian was sired by Reviewer, a son of Bold Ruler, out of the Native Dancer mare Shenanigans. In her brief two-year career, Ruffian won all 10 races she finished, including the Acorn, Mother Goose, and Coaching Club American Oaks (all G1), then known as the American Triple Tiara. 

"I'd like to thank NYRA for preserving and protecting Ruffian's gravesite at Belmont for close to 50 years," said Stuart Janney III, who made the decision to move the remains jointly with Claiborne and NYRA, where he is a board member. "We have been working with NYRA and Claiborne for months, and this is a wonderful outcome that will increase the public's ability to visit the site and pay tribute to Ruffian and her incredible legacy.

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"Claiborne is one of the most beautiful and revered Thoroughbred farms in America and the home of some of the greatest horses in racing history, and the ideal place for Ruffian." 

Ruffian was dominant from the beginning, winning her first start as a 2-year-old by 15 lengths and equaling the Belmont track record for 5 1/2 furlongs. She led the field at every post in every race she ever ran and set records in each of her eight winning stakes races. Named a champion at 2 in 1974 and again as a 3-year-old in 1975, Ruffian died in July 1975 from injuries sustained in a race at Belmont Park, where she was buried that month. In 1976, she was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.