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SEABISCUIT
The Life of a Legend
Laura Hillenbrand
The Owner
April 18, 1906
Charles Howard to the rescue after a devastating Earthquake hits San Francisco. Fires had spread throughout
the city, and its beloved horses fled. But, Howard luckily had 3 automobiles, which saved the city, doing anything from rescueing stranded people to carrying army explosives, for firebreaks.
1908-1909
Howard's charming, generous, and empathetic attitude was a recipe for success. As a salesman
for GM, he sold 85 cars, each for 1,000 dollars. Following this success, Howard was given rights to distrubute all GM cars, across the country. He begn shipping hundreds of cars, and due to his massive success, he was given GM stock as well as a royalty on sales for life.
1935
Even living in supreme wealth and luxury, Howard was not content. He was ready to go
on to bigger and better things. Howard was at first unsure about racing, but after witnessing the spellbinding track and purse of the Santa Anita, Howard had set his heart on the horse.
The Trainer
1921-1934
After being released from the ranch he worked at, due to it dissolving, Tom Smith, the reserved ranger, meets
Charlie Irwin, a man with both a giant personality and form. Smith, under Irwin, became famous for his ability to save failing horses, and became a respectable trainer. Unfortunately, Irwin dies in a car crash and his farm dissolves. Smith is, once again, forced to live on his own.
1934
Smith drifts in and out of the racing scene after Irwin's unexpected death, occasionaly turning formerly lame horses
into profit, but by the end of 1934, he was broke. Miraculously, his stable mate happened to train horses for Giannini, a friend of Howard's. Soon, Giannini realizes Smith's talent, and Howard hires the "lone plainsman" instantly.
The Jockey
1925-1923
Pollard, a boy with a natural urge to ride, decides to leave his poor family, without a lick of knowledge
about horses, and battle it out in the lowest tracks in all of horse racing. His natural talent begins to shine through, and in 1928, only his third season, he wins 20,000 dollars off of 300 mounts. Respected in the locker room and famous for his humor, Pollard enjoyed reasonable success in the racing world.
In 1934, while training, Pollard was hit by a rock in the skull, over the visual
1934-1936
center of his brain, and lost sight in his right eye forever. It was an injury that should have ended his career, but he kept on riding. Over the next 2 years, Pollard's mounts kept on losing, and his win percentage dropped to a lamentable 6 percent. During this time, he met up with a jockey agent named Yummy, and with
him, he began touring the country,
dripping into the great slipstream in which many jockeys are lost.
August 16, 1936
Pollard and Yummy, on that fateful day, took a stop at the Detroit
Fairgrounds, the same place where Howard and Co, happened to be studying Seabiscuit. Yummy rejected, rejected on all other fronts, was meeted by an interest from Tom Smith, who showed interest in Pollard. They agreed on a deal, and the scattered lives of
Charles Howard, Tom Smith, and Red Pollard had come to an intersection.
The Opponent
1937
War Admiral, son of the legendary Man o' War, was a hit from the start. No other horse could catch him. He took the Kentucky Derby, The Preakness, and Belmont, and in turn the Triple Crown, easily. He also happened to break the track record, as well as a national speed record while doing this. He was just like his father: unbeatable.
1937
Around the same time, War Admiral was crushing the east, Seabiscuit was
asserting his dominance in the west. By the end of 1937, both horses earnings were an impressive 140,000 dollars. It was clear a new rivalry would be born. It was clear, in the Howard barn, for Seabiscuit to be engrained as a legend, they must defeat War Admiral, but unbeknownst to them, it would take unforeseeable coordination for the "Second Civil War" to commence.
Tension
October - November, 1937
Smith and Howard both knew that War Admiral would not come to them, so they took Seabiscuit on a trip to
Maryland, in their first of many attempts to schedule a race with War Admiral. They had three possibilities for a meeting: the Washington Handicap, the Pimlico Special, the Riggs Handicap, and the Bowie Handicap. Seabiscuit had to be scratched from the first 2, due to bad weather, while War Admiral was scratched from the latter, due to unknown circumstances. Before any further meetings, Seabiscuit was going to have another try at the Santa Anita.
December, 1937 - February, 1938
Over the next 3 months, 2 horrible events, would cause Pollard's racing
career to cease to a halt. On December 7, 1937, Pollard had lost control, while riding Exhibit and accidentally hit a neighboring horse, Half Time. For this, he was banned from racing for the rest of 1937. Then, on the first day of his comeback, on February 19, 1937, while riding Fair Knightess, he took a horrible fall, and his chest had caved in. It was only a few weeks before the prestigious Santa Anita Handicap. Howard needed to find a new jockey, and after an unsuccessful stint with Sonny
Workman, he decided on the legendary George Woolf would ride Seabiscuit in Santa Anita.
March 5, 1938
At the very start, Seabiscuit was sabotaged by Count Atlas, who
continually tried to impede Seabiscuit from advancing. Desperate, Woolf used his whip to hit Count Atlas's jockey to get in front. However, Seabiscuit had spent his energy, and Stagehand, who carried 20 pounds less than Seabiscuit, snatched the 100 grand in a photo finish. For the second time, Seabiscuit fails to win the elusive Santa Anita, while ahead.
April - June, 1938
Both at Belmont and Massachusetts, Howard had arranged elusive meetings
with War Admiral, but both times Seabiscuit were pulled due to a lingering injury in the leg. Adding insult to injury, Pollard once again fell from a horse, and crippled himself; his leg being torn apart. Howard, once again, began scrambling for a jockey, and this time he had more concerning
matters at hand: the health of Seabiscuit.
The Inevitable
September 28 - October 5, 1938
After a successful showing at the Havre de Grace Handicap, the Seabiscuit-War Admiral meeting seemed plausible once
more, as both horses seemed healthy. Alfred Vanderbilt intended to exploit this. He managed to broker a deal between the two owners on these terms: 2 horse race, $15,000 purse, 120 pound impost, and a walk-up start. The race to decide who is the best horse in North America would commence on November 1. George Woolf would be riding the Biscuit.
November 1, 1938
Both horses started off well, but thanks to the walk-up, the sheer power of War
Admiral seperated him in the beginning, but Seabiscuit was accelerating, and after one lap, Woolf and his horse were in front. With the long backstrech ahead, War Admiral dipped back waiting for Seabiscuit to falter. Finally, War Admiral decided to go for it, and gave all a Triple Crown winner could give. but no matter how hard he tried Seabiscuit strolled in, victorious, a full 4 lengths in front. Seabiscuit was officialy the greatest horse in the States.
Sorrow
February 14, 1939
In preparation for the ever elusive Santa Anita, Seabiscuit was racing
in the Los Angeles Handicap. He started nicely, but he took an akward step, and after closely losing the race, it was clear that his ankle was hurt. He would miss the 1939 Santa Anita, and instead of him, it would be his stablemate, Kayak, who would win the prestigious event. Although, he improved dramatically in the following days, it was unclear if his ankle was bruised or ruptured. If the latter, Seabiscuit's career would end.
April - November, 1939
On April 12, 1939, Red Pollard joined Ridgewood
for the final time to help Seabiscuit, and himself, recover. Day after day, Pollard walked Seabiscuit a few miles. By the end of the summer, Seabiscuit made remarkable progress, and it seemed that they would race once more to chase the one dream that had eluded them.
Joy
January - March, 1940
1940 entered with dark, rolling rain clouds. It seemed like Seabiscuit was destined to
never win the Santa Anita. Due to bad weather, he barely trained, and, even though he stayed idle for a year, he was given a 130 pound impost, 20 pounds higher then the horse in second. The year didn't start much better for Pollard, with Howard refusing to race him for all of January, and his first 2 races in February ended in loss. But, this all changed, one week before the big race. In San Antonio, Pollard and Seabiscuit, in old fashion, sauntered to the finishline, breaking yet another record.
March 2, 1940
It had rained the week before, horrible conditions for Seabiscuit,
but Seabiscuit was running smoothly. Whichcee had taken an early lead, but Pollard found an opening and broke free. Pollard and Seabiscuit were alone once more; they had finally done it! With the win, Seabiscuit broke the track record, exceeded any horses' earnings, and most importantly, etched his name in the annals of history.