Bold Ruritana (foaled 1990 in Ontario) is a Canadian Thoroughbred Champion

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

. She was bred and raced by

Minshall Farms Barbara J. Minshall (born November 6, 1953) is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse trainer and owner who has competed both in Canada and the United States. She is the widow of Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Aubrey W. Minshall, the succ ...

, the successful {{convert, 350, acre, km2, adj=on horse farm at Hillsburgh, Ontario owned and managed by trainer Barbara Minshall and her husband, Aubrey. Bold Ruritana was out of the mare, Stage Queen, whose grandsire was

Graustark Graustark is a fictional country in Eastern Europe used as a setting for several novels by George Barr McCutcheon. Graustark's neighbors, which also figure in the stories, are Axphain to the north and Dawsbergen to the south. Description Gra ...

and whose damsire was Nearctic. She was sired by

Bold Ruckus In typography, emphasis is the strengthening of words in a text with a font in a different style from the rest of the text, to highlight them. It is the equivalent of prosody stress in speech. Methods and use The most common methods in W ...

, a grandson of the very important

North American Champion The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is primarily defended as the secondary men's championship of the NXT brand division, the promotion's developme ...

sire,

Bold Ruler Bold Ruler (April 6, 1954 – July 11, 1971) was an American Thoroughbred National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame racehorse who was the 1957 American Horse of the Year, Horse of the Year. This following a three-year-old campaign t ...

. Conditioned for racing by Barbara Minshall, her husband only saw Bold Ruritana race a short time, dying at age sixty-three in November 1993 following complications from a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

. Bold Ruritana raced on dirt but had become a successful turf horse by age five, winning the 1995

Sovereign Award for Champion Female Turf Horse The Canadian Champion Female Turf Horse is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing honor that is part of the Sovereign Awards program awarded annually to the top female Thoroughbred horse competing in Canada in races on turf. Created in 1975, by the J ...

. She raced in Canada, from a base at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack, as well as in the United States where she won the 1994

Cardinal Handicap The Cardinal Stakes is a Grade III American thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares three-years-old and older over a distance of one and one eighth miles on the turf held annually in November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. ...

and 1995 Distaff Turf Mile Stakes at

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was ...

. In addition to her fourteen career wins, Bold Ruritana finished in the top three in several other important Canadian and American

stakes races Stake may refer to: Entertainment * '' Stake: Fortune Fighters'', a 2003 video game * ''The Stake'', a 1915 silent short film * "The Stake", a 1977 song by The Steve Miller Band from ''Book of Dreams'' * ''Stakes'' (miniseries), a Cartoon Netwo ...

including: * 1993 - Wonder Where Stakes - 2nd * 1993 -

Duchess Stakes The Duchess Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is open to three-year-old fillies. Held during the first part of August, it is contested over a distance of 7 furlongs on Polytrack ...

- 3rd * 1994 - Canadian Stakes - 2nd * 1994 -

Dance Smartly Stakes The Dance Smartly Stakes is a thoroughbred horse race run annually during July at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A Grade II stakes race raced on turf, it is open to horses three years of age and older Inaugurated in 1986, it was ...

- 2nd * 1994 - Nassau Stakes - 2nd * 1994 -

E. P. Taylor Stakes The E. P. Taylor Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares held annually since 1956 in October at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is run on the E. P. Taylor turf course at a distance of miles. Originally run as ...

- 3rd * 1995 - Dance Smartly Stakes - 2nd * 1995 - Yellow Ribbon Stakes - 3rd * 1996 - Canadian Stakes - 2nd * 1996 -

Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes The Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes is a Grade II American thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares aged three and older over a distance of one mile on the turf held annually in early May on the Kentucky Derby day meeting at Churchill Downs ...

- 3rd Retired after her 1996 racing campaign with ore than $1.1 million earnings, as a broodmare Bold Ruritana had her first foal in 1998 followed by five more, the last born in 2005.

References

Bold Ruritana's pedigree and partial racing stats
1990 racehorse births Thoroughbred family 11-c Racehorses bred in Ontario Racehorses trained in Canada Sovereign Award winners