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Whiteley, who was born on Maryland's Eastern Shore and started working horses when he was six, is the perfect match for Ruffian's owner, Stuart Janney Jr., a 67-year-old retired Baltimore attorney and Brahmin. The son of a longtime Maryland Governor, Janney still rides with the skill of a man who has won the rugged Maryland Hunt Cup four times. With his wife Barbara, sister of New York Horseman Ogden Phipps, Janney keeps 15 thoroughbreds at Locust Hill Farm, his 400-acre estate in Glyndon, Md. So far, Ruffian, whose unladylike name had originally been intended for a colt, has earned $196,000. But unlike her male counterparts, who can be bred frequently, Ruffian will not command a huge syndication deal when she retires.
The big question for Ruffian is whether—and when—she can beat the boys. Whiteley did not run Ruffian in the Kentucky Derby or Preakness because she was recovering from an ankle injury. Now he says the first shot against the colts will probably be at Saratoga in August. Jockey Vasquez is not worried. "She's special, whatever the division," he says. "She's king—I mean queen."