Seabiscuit Page #2

You already taught me

to drive the truck.

Well, what are you reading?

Flash Gordon.

Come on, Dad.

lt's about the future!

We'll be in San Francisco

till Wednesday.

Yeah?

What?

No!

Come inside.

l'm not done.

Sam can do that.

l don't want Sam to do it.

l want to do it.

Annie.

Don't... Don't... No!

Ma'am.

Come on, Red! Come on!

Come on, kid.

At a time

when the world

really needed a drink,

you couldn't get one

in the United States

of America.

Liquor was illegal.

Diversions were scarce,

and there's just so much

a human being can do without.

Soon, the border town

was born,

providing everything to

the south that their neighbor

to the north would not.

You could find anything:

food, companionship,

decent gin,

and with gambling

outlawed as well,

the chance to turn

bad luck into good.

Relax! You got it!

You got it! You got it!

Go!

Damn it.

That jockey was riding

like he's got an anvil

in his pocket.

l no bet with you no more.

l no like it.

Who's that?

George Woolf.

Greatest jockey in the world.

That's Charles Howard?

Yeah.

l thought he came

down here for a...

Quickie divorce?

Why?

Look at him.

Nothing quick about that.

lt was in the palace

of the great Sultan.

Sultan of where?

The Sultan of Araby.

l'd been living there

for almost a year,

racing his Arabians

across the desert by day

and finishing

my personal history

of the region by night.

Then one day,

the Sultan summons me

into his throne room.

He looks at me and says,

"John Pollard..."

"John Pollard,

"you are my greatest jockey.

lt is you l have chosen

"to ride my 100-mile race

from Kusma to Tripoli."

All right. 200-mile.

Excuse me, sahib.

You didn't need

to wreck it, Georgie.

When you

started telling that story,

it was only 50 miles.

Yeah, well,

everything gets longer

in the retelling.

Just ask your friend

Wanda over there.

You know, if you start

riding a little more

and talking a little less,

you might start

winning some races.

Well, l got two bucks

says l beat you in this one.

l'm not sure if you do,

but l got five

says l beat you.

Done.

Give me odds.

You're the favorite.

Even money.

Nah! Forget it! 2-to-1 !

All right. You got it.

Hey, Johnny. You're on

a speed horse. What are you

doing back here with me?

l like the conversation,

and it's not a speed horse.

Don't try to hook me.

You going tonight?

Nah. You?

Nah.

What time?

l don't know. 8:
00?

Okey-doke.

Oops, there's my hole!

Gotta go!

God damn it!

Whoa!

We got him!

All right.

l'll take him.

Get the hell

out of here.

l said, l'll take him.

He's got a fractured foot.

lf you're gonna

shoot him anyway,

l'll save you the bullet.

Whoa.

Fine.

Let him go. Hey.

Let him have him.

Now, bud.

Hey, boy.

Okey-doke, Johnny.

There's my hole! Gotta fly!

Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! Yeah!

"There once

was a princess from Siam

"Who was sitting here

sort of like l am

"l wined her and dined her

"And then l reclined her..."

Sh*t.

What rhymes with Siam?

That's great.

You make that up?

Pretty obvious, huh?

That's beautiful.

No. You're beautiful.

Don't say that. You pay me.

So, you wanna, you know,

get going?

Sure. Why not?

How do you miss

a hole like that?

There's my hole! Gotta fly!

Are you blind?

Angel, are you okay?

You don't wanna watch?

No. Not really.

l don't either.

So, what? They brought you

down here to make you

feel better, is that it?

Yes. Sort of.

Those guys, they think

everything is fixed

with a party.

l'm sorry. Who are you?

Marcela Zabala.

My sister, lsabella,

she's married...

No. No, no. l know.

Nice to meet you. Charles.

So, do you feel better?

No.

No, not really.

No.

How could you?

Something like that.

Come on, buddy.

Wake up.

Come on.

Did l lose?

Oh, no. You clobbered him.

Easy.

Easy, easy.

Nice and slow.

l'm fine. l'm fine.

Come on. Let me buy you

some turtle soup.

l'm fine, George.

Go win yourself

a race or something.

Look, let's go down

to Sloan's, and we'll just...

l'm fine, George. l don't need

your help, and l sure as sh*t

don't need your charity.

Leave me alone, all right?

lt's been 20 years

since l've been on a horse.

Don't worry.

lt's the kind of thing

that comes right back.

Let's go.

Come on!

What? She got you

back up on a horse,

and now you wanna buy them?

Yeah. Maybe.

Maybe a couple.

Well, you wanna win

or just own them?

l wanna win.

What sort of question

is that?

Well, you're gonna

need a trainer

before you buy horses.

No. You need two.

So you can fire one.

Randy Thatcher's barn.

Trains about 50

or 60 ponies.

Good fellow, too.

Real horse person.

A real horse-shitter.

You don't know. l don't know,

maybe you want a smaller barn,

somebody who can

take the time to...

Who's that?

He's a crackpot.

Lives alone in the bushes.

What's he do?

l don't know. He used to be

a trainer, farrier. Now he

just looks after that horse.

Come on. Let's look

at another barn.

Howdy.

Hello.

You hungry?

No. No, thanks.

l'm fine. Charles Howard.

Tom Smith.

Nice to meet you, Tom.

What's...

What's in his bandage?

Oh, that's hawthorn root.

lt increases circulation.

You wanna sit down?

All right. Thank you.

Will he get better?

Already is, a little.

Will he race?

No. Not that one.

So why are you

fixing him?

'Cause l can.

Every horse is good

for something.

He could be a cart horse

or a lead pony.

And he's still nice

to look at.

You don't...

You don't throw

a whole life away

just 'cause

he's banged up a little.

ls that coffee?

Yeah.

lt's bad, though.

You always tell the truth?

Yeah, l try to.

lt ain't just the speed.

lt's the heart.

And you want something

that's not afraid to compete.

Half these horses

are just show ponies.

You want something

that's not gonna run

from a fight.

How do you find that?

Look, l won the Robles

Handicap. l was second

in the Tijuana Derby.

l won the Manzanita Oaks.

You know, that used

to be a stakes race.

l know.

l would've won, T.J.,

but the piece of sh*t

lugged out on me.

Sounds great.

We'll let you know.

Look. l can work them out

in the morning.

Or even hot-walk them

if you need me to.

Really? You'll hot-walk them?

This is something else.

A dream come true,

walking you around.

Hook you up to a plow,

pull me around

for a little while. Come on.

You ever run in the money?

Hey. Hey.

You ever run in the money?

l don't think so.

Couldn't beat a human being,

let alone another horse.

You goddamn sack-of-crap

old plater. Probably the

fastest you're gonna run

in your entire life,

you piece-of-sh*t

old glue-pot.

That's right.

The first time

he saw Seabiscuit,

the colt was walking

through the fog

at 5:
00 in the morning.

Smith would say later

that the horse looked

right through him,

as if to say,

"What the hell

are you looking at?

"Who do you think you are?"

He was a small horse,

barely 15 hands.

He was hurting, too.

There was a limp in his walk,

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