SeabiscuitAn American LegendBy Laura Hillenbrand
...d. Howard loved the automobile. He sponsored and participated in races. Howard even wrote in 1908, “The day of the horse is past, and the people in San Francisco want automobiles. I wouldn’t give five dollars for the best horse in this country” (p. 9). This would all change on May 9th, 1926 when Charles Howard’s son, Frankie, died in a truck accident while Howard was away. Howard was forever changed. The excitement he had for the automobile perished with his son. This would break-up the Howard marriage and force him to find other avenues to turn his endeavors towards. Horses, which he had loved early in life, started coming back into it. At first it was the racetracks, but, he then decided he wanted something more; to own a race horse. This would bring together the other three figures in this story. Tom Smith had traveled extensively throughout the west. He lived on odd jobs working with horses. He had a western touch with the animals. The Indians he would work with referred to him as the “lone plainsman.” Smith was not big in the racing world but, a few knew of him and his peculiar abilities with horses. Howard, wanting a good trainer, talked to many people and interviewed a few trainers. He liked Smith and hired him. Smith’s first job was to find horses to put into the Howard stables. Howard did was not looking for the big named horses. He wanted a few “projects” that they could make into something special. While in Boston, Massachusetts at Suffolk Downs, Smith has a chance meeting with a little, two year-old colt named, Seabiscuit. He would later say, “Darn if the little rascal didn’t nod back at me kind [of] like he was paying me an honor to notice me.” Smith and Howard were not convinced at first. They eventually would buy the colt, which at this time was raising in claims races, for $8,000. They took Seabiscuit to Detroit to train. While in Detroit Smith ran into a down and out jockey named Red Pollard. Pollard’s career had started out decently but had plummeted. He had a way with difficult horses and demonstrated this around Smith. Smith sold the oversized jockey to Howard and the team was formed. Seabiscuit improved under the tutorial of Smith. He even won a stakes race. They decided to bring “the Biscuit” to the west coast to race. Seabiscuit, with the help of Howard’s extraverted style, began to be a press favorite. Howard, who was excellent at public relations, made him a national hero. And the nation needed a hero! This was the time of the Great Depression in the United States. People were suffering across the nation; twenty-five percent unemployment, the dust bowl, poverty, and hunger. Even those with jobs were not making enough to support their families. Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal were only starting to scratch the surface of America’s problems. More was brewing oversees. Adolph Hitler was starting to make his move into neighboring countries. This had all the scent of a couple of decades before when the United States was forced to go into the first World War. Seabiscuit was the perfect hero for this time. He was an undersized and not too particularly good looking horse. Biscuit carried the weight of a big jockey and usually a big impost (weight assigned a horse to carry to handicap him). Yet the little colt showed a will, a heart that caught the attention of a nation. He filled the racing stands as no other horse ever had. It became scandal in the media anytime Seabiscuit could not race and had to scratch from a contest. Seabiscuit would only then win the country and the media right back to him when did step on the track again. His legend culminated in three events. First was Howard’s insistence on racing him all over the country. This showed the fortitude of the biscuit and also allowed people all over to glimpse the colt. Second was the race against War Admiral, the large and b...