Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States.

He became the top money-winning racehorse of his era during the 1930s and 1940s. Standing only 15.2 hands high, he was considered an undersized horse. He was a bay colt born on May 23, 1933, in Lexington, Kentucky. His sire was Hard Tack, a son of the famous Man o' War. Seabiscuit was named after his father, as "sea biscuit" is another name for hardtack. Hardtack is a type of cracker often eaten by sailors.

To many Americans living through the Great Depression, Seabiscuit became a powerful symbol of hope.

His early career was far from successful. Initially owned by the Wheatley Stable, he was trained by "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons. Fitzsimmons noticed the horse's potential but believed he was too lazy. The horse preferred sleeping and eating for long periods. Consequently, he was relegated to a heavy schedule of smaller races. Seabiscuit failed to win any of his first 17 races. He often finished at the back of the field. During his two-year-old season, he raced 35 times. He won only five of those races and finished second seven times. In three claiming races, he could have been purchased for $2,500, but no one bought him.

Success began when his ownership and training changed.

In August 1936, automobile entrepreneur Charles S. Howard purchased the horse for $8,000. Howard assigned Seabiscuit to trainer Tom Smith. Smith used unorthodox training methods to overcome the horse's lethargy. He paired the horse with Canadian jockey Red Pollard. Pollard was an experienced rider who had raced in the West and Mexico. On August 22, 1936, they raced together for the first time. Their partnership led to several victories, including the Detroit Governor's Handicap and the Scarsdale Handicap. In late 1936, they moved the horse to California to race at tracks like Bay Meadows.

Seabiscuit's racing style was highly specialized. He was known as a "pace stalker." This means he was skilled at staying with the pack before using late acceleration to pull ahead. To prepare him for fast starts, Smith used a starting bell and a whip. This created a Pavlovian burst of speed from the gate. In 1937, Seabiscuit won 11 of his 15 races. This made him the leading money winner in the United States for that year. However, he did not win the American Horse of the Year award in 1937. That honor went to War Admiral, who had won the Triple Crown that season.

The most famous moment of his career was the "Match of the Century." This head-to-head race took place on November 1, 1938, at Pimlico Race Course in Maryland. Seabiscuit faced War Admiral in a highly anticipated event. The race attracted a massive audience of 40,000 people at the track. Additionally, an estimated 40 million people listened to the race on the radio. War Admiral was the heavy favorite among bookmakers and writers. However, Seabiscuit broke in front when the bell rang. Although War Admiral caught up halfway through the backstretch, Seabiscuit pulled away in the final stretch. He won by four lengths. This victory earned him the title of American Horse of the Year for 1938.

After his greatest triumph, Seabiscuit faced significant physical challenges. During a race, he suffered a ruptured suspensory ligament in his front left leg. This is a serious injury to the connective tissue in a horse's leg. His jockey, George Woolf, felt the horse stumble during the incident. At the same time, Red Pollard was recovering from a terrible fall that shattered his leg. Both the horse and the rider had to undergo long recoveries. Pollard eventually returned to riding Seabiscuit while wearing a brace to stiffen his leg. Despite these setbacks, the bond between the horse and his team remained strong.

Seabiscuit's legacy extends far beyond the racetrack. He has been the subject of many books and films. These include the 1939 documentary *Seabiscuit: the Lost Documentary* and the 1949 Shirley Temple film *The Story of Seabiscuit*. In 1999, Laura Hillenbrand wrote the book *Seabiscuit: An American Legend*. This book was later adapted into a 2003 film that received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. His impact is even seen in geography, as a street in Indian Trail, North Carolina, is named after him. He remains a celebrated figure in the history of American sports and culture.