Seabiscuit: An American Legend

Historical books are always fun to read and learn about great events that I missed out on from long ago.  This book is no different.  In Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand, the reader is brought back to the grand old days of the racing world, when it was one of the most exciting sporting events around (editorial note: I’m thinking those days are long gone, I don’t know anyone who speaks about horse racing, well maybe the Kentucky Derby, I guess).  Seabiscuit was a horse for the ages and came at the perfect time for the American people to rally around, the Great Depression era.  Imagine being named after a cracker eaten by soldiers, well, this horse was not “crumby” at all (humor – just a  little, huh?).  The horse was short and stocky and no one would have any idea of the fame that would come to him, but that changed when the right trainer (Tom Smith) was paired with the right owner (Charles Howard) and the right jockeys (primarily Red Pollard and George Woolf), especially after very little support under his first owner.  The book chronicles the early beginnings of the horse and how he rose to fame, changing the face of racing and the attention that American people paid during the time period.  Most fascinating was the hyped races, the best was the one-on-one race called the “match of the century” with War Admiral at the Pimlico Race Track in Maryland with 40,000 attendees and over 40 million listeners on the radio on November 1, 1938.  Even reading the description of the wire-to-wire finishes got my juices flowing, hoping to place my own $2 bet on the winner. Seabiscuit was not destined to be a winner based on his frame, yet through the dedication of the trainers and his thoughtful jockey who realized that Seabiscuit was a curmudgeon, motivated the horse to be a winner.  The author also painted a colorful picture of the times and the various personalities in the horse racing industry, where cheating among the jockeys and trainers to give their horse an advantage was commonplace.  The lifetime of a horse goes quickly so running in 89 races is actually pretty amazing in those days where train transportation was the best way to get to your destination coast to coast.  This was an area of expertise I had little knowledge of, so I did appreciate the perspective and story very much.  The story is as much about the rise of Seabiscuit as it is a commentary on the times.  I’d add to your list of readings.  Compelling story.