Now... What Can We Learn From a Horse?: The Race of the Century

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continued from: Pimlico Race track, Baltimore, November 1, 1938

At the final turn, both horses were still battling it out head and head with War Admiral appearing to have the advantage over a tired Seabiscuit. The home crowd was now delirious and people were falling over each other in excitement. George `Iceman' Woolf (Seabiscuit's new jockey) then let loose the reins a little, dropped low over the saddle and spoke into Seabiscuit's ear. The `little horse with the heart of a lion and the flying feet of a gazelle' had found what he relished best, the eye to eye challenge of another horse. He tore down the final stretch with flying feet, slowly increasing his lead over a worn out War Admiral. Seabiscuit won by four lengths and also broke the Pimlico track record. The underdog had proved that he was the top dog. `Red' Pollard would later say, "He had made a Rear Admiral out of War Admiral".

It was reported that in 1938, the number one newsmaker wasn't Franklin Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, Mussolini, Clark Gable or Lou Gehrig, it was a small horse called Seabiscuit. This horse had turned out to be a sports superstar. That year, he was crowned the `Horse of the Year'. Even after more than half a century, the story of this diminutive little horse and his team still manages to move the minds and spirits of people across the world. Laura Hillenbrand was credited with resurrecting the real life story of this gritty racehorse and his team with her #1 New York Times bestselling book "Seabiscuit: An American Legend". It was later made into a movie with the same title by film-maker Gary Ross.

The roar of the 74,000 horse racing fans at the Santa Anita stadium was deafening as they saw an official write down the words `Seabiscuit' under the list of contenders on the race board. Seabiscuit had raced here twice earlier and lost by literally a nose-length on both occasions. Moreover, he was making a comeback after a crippling leg injury sustained the previous year, which had left him lame. At seven years old, Seabiscuit was racing against horses that were much younger to him and that too with a heavy 130 pound handicap weight. But in a tale that legends are made of, Seabiscuit came from behind to win the prize that had eluded him and stamp his class on racing history.

After this victory, both Howard and Smith decided to retire Seabiscuit. At the time of his retirement, Seabiscuit had competed in 89 races which comprised 33 victories and 13 track records. Howard's $8000 horse had racked up a total career earnings of $437,730 in four years. With the win at the Santa Anita, Seabiscuit also became the highest prize money-winning horse at that time.

Oscar Otis, a Los Angeles Times sportswriter wrote in 1940, "This story wouldn't be complete without an account of the ovation tendered to Seabiscuit by those 74,000 at Santa Anita yesterday. Man and boy, it was the greatest old-timers had ever seen. Men talk in awed tones of Man o' War, they speak with reverence of Exterminator, they use adjectives of many syllables to describe Phar Lap, but Seabiscuit - this is a human sort of a horse that they love."

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