This model, item number 1429, was a regular run from 2010-2011. She was a portrait of the champion racehorse Rachel Alexandra, on the Ruffian mold sculpted by Sue Sifton. Rachel Alexandra is one of my favorite racehorses, so I was happy to add her model to my collection! I enjoyed following her daughter Rachel's Valentina's racing career and was sad to hear of her retirement this past July. But, at least she retired sound and healthy!
I really like the Ruffian mold - she's another one I wish I had a few more of (though she is a little too big to fit comfortably in my photo tent). She's a fairly popular mold, as evidenced by the high eBay prices of most of her releases, and she's been used as a web special an unprecedented three times.
There does tend to be some degree of variability in how she sits on her stand - some are tilted forward or backward more than others, and the metal peg in her planted foot can bend rather easily, as I found out when I put my new Rags to Riches on the shelf and noticed how much she was leaning compared to the others. But I don't think this mold will have the same degree of "droop" that I've noticed with my Show Jumping Warmbloods (a subject I addressed here), because the model's weight is distributed better.
As I said earlier, this model gets used with some frequency - along with the three web special releases, she was also this year's Halloween model Poltergeist, and is currently being used in the regular line as American Pharoah (and was Black Caviar before that). So she's definitely gotten plenty of love in the last few years! All the same, I wouldn't mind seeing her used at Breyerfest next year - the more Ruffians in my house, the merrier!
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