::Seabiscuit's Story::
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Thank you to Mike for writing this article!

It has been said that between Seabiscuit, his owner, trainer and jockey, there were four good legs to stand on. It is perhaps an overstatement, considering the trouble of the great many others affected by the Depression. But somehow, in the wake of so much struggle and anguish, they were uniquely fitted together to do something that would put them back on their feet and do something very difficult in their time: inspire. In the manifestation of one horse, carrying one jockey down the track, those four legs brought jubilation to so many.

It was Seabiscuit's owner Charles Howard, crushed by losing his son in an automobile accident and watching his wife leave him. It was Charles Howard who had an eye for finding the right people to help him, first in business and later finding his trainer, and had faith in those around him and believed in second chances. It was Howard who saw the achievements of this group and told those struggling around him to keep fighting.

It was the trainer, Tom Smith, a quiet cowboy displaced by barbed-wire fences, railroads and oncoming automobiles. Offer him shelter and he still might sleep in the bushes. For Smith, it was easier to form a relationship and find trust in his horse than blend in with society. It was Tom Smith who took Seabiscuit and put the horse back in "racehorse". It was Smith who noticed the battler in his horse and a nearby jockey and created a wonderful tandem. He saw value in the life of every horse and was perhaps taught the same lesson about people from the two men surrounding him.

It was Jonathan "Red" Pollard, left to fend for himself when his well-to-do Canadian family lost everything, who literally kept fighting to stay afloat. Whether it was prizefights, scuffles with fellow jockeys or fighting for work, nothing seemed to be given to him. It was Pollard's bite that garnered Smith's attention and got him a test with a certain fighter measuring 15 hands. It was Pollard who, already blind in one eye, came back from multiple injuries to win the 1940 Santa Anita Handicap riding a horse he called "Pops".

It was Seabiscuit, sold to Howard for just $2,000 with a disappointing past. A descendent of Man O'War (and son of Hard Tack), great things would certainly be expected. But he was found to be lazy at times, stubborn at others and many watching would comment about short legs or simply call him unattractive. He could be found fighting with jockeys or sleeping in a field. He was made a training partner for better horses. But bought by an owner who believed in second chances, given a trainer with patience and understanding and a jockey who was as much a fighter as he was, he found a competitive spirit, legs that could outrun all competitors and an enormous crowd of fans.

The path was sometimes rocky, sometimes uncertain, but by the end, these four legs had captured hearts on numerous occasions. Losses in two straight Santa Anita Handicaps followed up in 1938 by the four-length win over 1937 Triple Crown winner War Admiral at Pimlico. Injuries to jockey and horse, forcing George "The Iceman" Woolf to ride for Pollard at the Pimlico Special and forcing the Biscuit to miss the 1939 Santa Anita Handicap, were followed up by his last run, a blistering win in the 1940 Santa Anita Handicap.

Seabiscuit, named (like Hard Tack) after a cracker served on shipping vessels during that time, was bred in Kentucky, ran his first race in 1935 in Florida (finishing fourth) and was sold in Detroit in the summer of 1936. But it was in California's Bay Area where Seabiscuit first made his mark, just as Howard had earlier in the automobile industry. While stabled at Tanforan, it was at the Bay Meadows Racetrack a few miles south where heads started to turn when he broke the track record in the 1936 Bay Bridge Handicap.

His star was rising when it came time for the 1937 season at Santa Anita. Labeled short, difficult, unattractive and indistinguishable for so long, Biscuit now seemed to find his stride under Smith and found himself as the favorite for the Santa Anita Handicap. But he was not the only one; there was Rosemont who had finished 3rd a year earlier. Still, while the pair split two races earlier, the majority of the nearly 50,000 fans pulled for Seabiscuit. With a furlong to go, their bets seemed to be paying off until Rosemont closed the gap and won by a nose.

Though disappointed after the Big 'Cap, he kept winning races. The results may not have impressed reporters back East, but whenever he returned to Tanforan, there would be multitudes greeting his train and being held back as he was led out from the railcar. Crowds would be packed along the rails when he would come to race at Bay Meadows. Newspaper headlines would alert everyone of his races and 30,000 people would come out on the weekends. It was the only game in town and anything imaginable could be built around opening day, even department store ads for women's fashions.

In 1938, there would be a second attempt for the $100,000 Santa Anita Handicap. But a roller coaster of reports would cast doubts on whether Seabiscuit would be the favorite. In fact, rumors swirled whether or not he would make it at all. But a time of 1:12 in a six-furlong workout helped squelch those until he lost by a nose in the San Antonio Handicap to Ameroid, who carried 12 fewer pounds than the Biscuit.

He did make it to the Handicap though, and appeared to be the winner again with a furlong to go. But Santa Anita Derby winner Stagehand, with a 30-pound pull, upset Seabiscuit by a nose.

That same February day, 1937 Triple Crown winner War Admiral won the Widener Handicap. In the build-up to their match race, War Admiral spent three months out of competition with no suitable races to run. There were several chances for the two horses to compete but a race at Belmont was called off and Seabiscuit was scratched in a potential meeting at the Massachusetts Handicap (where War Admiral finished out of the money for the first time ever).

Finally, there was agreement struck at Pimlico for a race on November 1, 1938. As the Maryland Racing Commission ruled that the track met with the stipulations of the agreement, it was announced that the race would be held. Gates were opened at 10 o'clock with a crowd waiting to enter. There would be 40,000 in attendance with at least half with standing room only. Across the country, the race would be received by perhaps the largest radio audience ever.

War Admiral stood at 18 hands, an incredible three hands on Seabiscuit and yet still carried less racing weight. This was not the only challenge the crew from California would face. For one, War Admiral's owner insisted on a walk-up start instead of a starting gate, making it even more of a challenge to get out to an early lead. But second, and more importantly, an accident to Red Pollard badly broke his leg and another jockey, the legendary Woolf, would ride Seabiscuit.

In spite of Pollard's injury, the race would go on at 1 3/16 miles. Most expected Seabiscuit to trail out of the gate but Smith's plan was executed perfectly as Seabiscuit sprinted to the front and held the rail. War Admiral would have to chase. On the backstretch, Woolf offered a hole on the rail but the Admiral's jockey, Kurtsinger, took him to the outside. He drew close and the crowds roared as they were neck-and-neck.

At the mile, Seabiscuit was up by a head. In the middle of the stretch, it was half a length and War Admiral would not keep up the pace. At the finish, Seabiscuit had won by four lengths. The champion had set a new track record! In a battle that gave people something to cheer about, Seabiscuit was the conquering hero.

Pollard would still be recovering from his injury in 1939 as Seabiscuit was sitting out races nursing his own. But there would still be another moment in the sun. At seven years old, he took one last shot at the Santa Anita Handicap in 1940, again at 130 pounds. His biggest opposition would come from 1939 winner Kayak II, another Howard-owned horse, and Whichee. But it was Seabiscuit who crossed the finish line for his first win at the Handicap.

While some allege that Kayak II jockey Leon Haas held off for second place, Laura Hillenbrand (author of "Seabiscuit: An American Legend") said, "Seabiscuit was the best horse, delivering an astounding performance. He forced a suicidal pace--the six-furlong split was equal to, or faster than, the winning time for seven of the 10 previous runnings of the nation's premier sprint, the Toboggan. He should have been staggering, but he kept rolling, overcoming traffic problems and blistering his final quarter to clock the second fastest 10 furlongs in American racing history. He did it at age seven, carrying high weight of 130 pounds, returning from serious injury. Nothing Kayak II did that day, or any other, compared to that."

Whether it was the Handicaps, the match race, the injuries or any of the races won, Seabiscuit carried the headlines, moreso even than the political leaders of his time. The little horse with even smaller expectations put the word "hero" in the minds of many when so few others could reach that accomplishment. Met with the right owner, trainer, and jockey, his star took a meteoric rise, highlighted by the victory over War Admiral. More than sixty years later, he's still making news. The longshot became a legend.

Sources: - San Jose Mercury News article by Ann Killion (Jul. 23, 2003) ... http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/entertainment/movies/6369284.htm - Miami Herald article by Jerry Berrios (Jul. 24, 2003) ... http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/entertainment/movies/6369885.htm - http://www.seabiscuitonline.com - http://www.secondrunning.com - War Admiral article: http://www.secondrunning.com/War%20Admiral%201938.htm - More California History (horse racing) 1937-1944: http://www.secondrunning.com/More%20California%20History.htm - Page 2 of More California History 1937-1944: http://www.secondrunning.com/More%20California%20History%20Part%202.htm - http://www.seabiscuitmovie.com