FREESEABISCUIT: THE TRUE STORY OF THREE MEN AND A RACEHORSE EBOOK Laura Hillenbrand | 496 pages | 02 Apr 2002 | HarperCollins Publishers | 9781841150925 | English | London, United Kingdom Seabiscuit - Wikipedia Seabiscuit May 23, — May 17, was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money winning racehorse up to the s, as noted in films and books. A small horse, at 15 hands high, [1] Seabiscuit had an inauspicious start to his racing career, winning only a fourth of his first 40 races, but became an unlikely champion and a symbol of hope to many Americans during the Great Depression. Seabiscuit has been the subject of numerous books and films, including Seabiscuit: the Lost Documentary ; the Shirley Temple film The Story of Seabiscuit ; a book, Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand ; and a film adaptation of Hillenbrand's book, Seabiscuitthat was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The bay colt grew up on Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentuckywhere he was trained. He was undersized, knobby-kneed, [4] and given to sleeping and eating for long periods. Fitzsimmons saw some potential in Seabiscuit but felt the horse was too lazy. Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse devoted most of his time to training Omahawho won the Triple Crown. Seabiscuit was relegated to a heavy schedule of smaller races. He failed to Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse his first 17 races, usually finishing back in the field. After that, Fitzsimmons did not spend much time on him, and the horse was sometimes the butt of stable jokes. Seabiscuit began to gain attention after winning two races at Narragansett Park and setting a new track record in the second—a Claiming Stakes race. As a two-year-old, Seabiscuit raced 35 times a heavy racing schedule[4] coming in first five times and finishing second seven times. While Seabiscuit had not lived up to his racing potential, he was not the poor performer Fitzsimmons had taken him for. His last two wins as a two-year-old came in minor stakes races. The next season, however, started with a similar pattern. The colt ran 12 times in less than four months, winning four times. One of those races was a cheap allowance race on the "sweltering afternoon of June 29,"at Suffolk Downs. That was where trainer Tom Smith first laid eyes on Seabiscuit. Howard assigned Seabiscuit to a new trainer, Tom Smith[4] who, with his unorthodox training methods, gradually brought Seabiscuit out of his lethargy. Smith paired the horse with Canadian jockey Red Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse —who had experience racing in the West and in Mexico. On August 22,they raced Seabiscuit for the first time. In early NovemberHoward and Smith shipped the horse to California by rail. In his second race ofthe San Antonio Handicaphe suffered a setback after he was bumped at the start and then pushed wide; Seabiscuit came in fifth, losing to Rosemont. The two met again in the Santa Anita Handicap a week later, where Rosemont won by a nose. The defeat was devastating to Smith and Howard, and was widely attributed in the press to a jockey error. Seabiscuit was rapidly becoming a favorite among California racing fans, and his fame spread as he won his next three races. With his successes, Howard decided to ship the horse east for its more prestigious racing circuit. Seabiscuit's run of victories continued. For the third time, Seabiscuit faced off against Rosemont again, this time beating him at seven lengths. On race day, the ground was slow and heavy, and unsuited to "the Biscuit", carrying the heaviest burden of his career. Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse wanted to scratchbut Howard overruled him. Never in the running, Seabiscuit finished third. His winning streak was snapped, but the season was not over; Seabiscuit won his next three races one a dead heat before finishing the year with a second place at Pimlico. InSeabiscuit won 11 of his 15 races and was the year's leading money winner in the United States. Inas a five-year-old, Seabiscuit's success continued. On February 19, Pollard suffered a terrible fall while racing on Fair Knightess, another of Howard's horses. With half of Pollard's chest caved in by the weight of the fallen horse, Howard had to find a new jockey. After trying three, he settled on George Woolfan already successful rider and old friend of Pollard's. Woolf's first race aboard Seabiscuit was the Santa Anita Handicap, "The Hundred Grander" the horse had narrowly lost the previous year. Seabiscuit was drawn on the outside, and at the start Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse impeded by another horse, Count Atlas, angling out. The two were locked together for the first straight, and by the time Woolf disentangled his horse, they were six lengths off the pace. Throughout andthe media speculated about a match race between Seabiscuit and the seemingly invincible War Admiral sired by Man o' War, Seabiscuit's grandsire. The two horses were scheduled to meet in three stakes races, but one or the other was scratched, usually due to Seabiscuit's dislike of heavy ground. After extensive negotiation, the owners organized a match race for May at Belmontbut Seabiscuit was scratched. Spooked by something on the track, the horse broke rapidly through the stables and threw Pollard, shattering his Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse and seemingly ending his career. With Woolf aboard, Seabiscuit won that race, despite persistent fouling from Ligaroti's jockey. After three more outings and with only one win, he was scheduled to go head-to-head with War Admiral in the Pimlico Special in November, in Baltimore, Maryland. Sent to race on the East Coaston October 16,Seabiscuit ran second by two lengths in the Laurel Stakes to the filly Jacolawho set a new Laurel Park Racecourse record of William Nack, Sports IllustratedNovember 29, From the grandstands to the infield, the track was jammed with fans. Trains were run from all over the country to bring fans to the race, and the estimated 40, at the track were joined by 40 million listening on the radio. War Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse was the favorite 1—4 with most bookmakers and a nearly unanimous selection of the writers and tipsters, excluding a California contingent. Head-to-head races favor fast starters, and War Admiral's speed from the gate was well known. Seabiscuit, on the other hand, was a pace stalker, skilled at holding with the pack before pulling ahead with late acceleration. From the scheduled walk-up start, few gave him a chance to lead War Admiral into the first turn. Smith knew these things and trained Seabiscuit to run against this type, using a starting bell and a whip to give the horse a Pavlovian burst of speed from the start. When the bell rang, Seabiscuit broke in front, Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse by over a length after 20 seconds, and soon crossed over to the rail position. Halfway down the backstretch, War Admiral started to cut into the lead, gradually pulling level with Seabiscuit, then slightly ahead. Following advice he had received from Pollard, Woolf had eased up on Seabiscuit, allowing his horse to see his rival, then asked for more effort. Two hundred yards from the wire, Seabiscuit pulled away again and continued to extend his lead over the closing stretch, finally winning by four lengths despite War Admiral's running his best time for the distance. As a result of his races that year, Seabiscuit was named American Horse of the Year forbeating War Admiral by points to in a poll conducted by the Turf and Sport Digest magazine. Seabiscuit was injured during a race. Woolfwho was riding him, said that he felt the horse stumble. The injury was not life-threatening, although many predicted Seabiscuit would never race again. The diagnosis was a ruptured suspensory ligament in the front left leg. In the spring ofSeabiscuit covered seven of Howard's mares, all of which had healthy foals in the spring of One, Fair Knightess's colt, died as a yearling. Seabiscuit and a still-convalescing Pollard recovered together at Howard's ranch, with the help of Pollard's new wife Agnes, who had nursed him through his initial recovery. Slowly, both horse and rider learned to walk again Pollard joked that they "had four good legs between" them. A local doctor broke and reset Pollard's leg to aid his recovery, and slowly Pollard regained the confidence to sit on a horse. Wearing a brace to stiffen his atrophied leg, he began to ride Seabiscuit again, first at a walk and later at a trot and canter. Howard was delighted at their improvement, as he longed for Seabiscuit to race again, but was extremely worried about Pollard, as his leg was still fragile. Over the fall and winter ofSeabiscuit's fitness seemed to improve by the day. By the end of the year, Smith was ready to return the horse to race training, with a collection of stable jockeys in the saddle. By the time of his comeback race, Pollard had cajoled Howard into allowing him the ride. After the horse was scratched Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse to soft going, the pair finally lined up at the start of the La Jolla Handicap at Santa Anitaon February 9, Seabiscuit was third, beaten by two lengths.