Ruffian posthumously earned the 1975 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Three-Year-Old Filly. In 1976, she was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. "The Blood-Horse" magazine ranked her 35th in its list of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century; she is the highest-rated filly (or mare) on the list, and the only female horse on both lists (best female, best horse). "Sports Illustrated" included her as the only non-human on their list of the top 100 female athletes of the century, ranking her 53rd.