Seabiscuit Page #3

a wheezing when he breathed.

Smith didn't pay

attention to that.

He was looking the horse

in the eye.

God damn.

He was the son of Hard Tack,

sired by the mighty

Man o' War.

But the breeding

did little to impress

anyone at Claiborne Farms.

Get rid of him.

At six months,

he was shipped off to train

with the legendary trainer

"Sunny" Fitzsimmons,

who, over time,

developed a similar opinion

of the colt.

ls that a racehorse

or a lead pony?

The judgment wasn't helped

by his gentle nature.

Where his sire

had been a fierce,

almost violent competitor,

Seabiscuit took to sleeping

for huge chunks of the day

and enjoyed lolling for hours

under the boughs

of the juniper trees.

His other great talent

was eating.

Though half the size

of other colts,

Seabiscuit could frequently

eat twice as much.

Fitzsimmons decided

the horse was lazy

and felt sure he could train

the obstinance out of him.

l want you to hit him

as many times as you can

over a quarter of a mile.

When he didn't improve,

they decided

the colt was incorrigible.

They made him

a training partner

to better horses,

forcing him to lose

head-to-head duels

to boost the confidence

of the other animal.

By the time

he was three years old,

Seabiscuit was struggling

in two cheap claiming

races a week.

Soon he grew as bitter

and angry as his sire

Hard Tack had been.

He was sold

for the rock-bottom price

of $2,000.

And, of course,

it all made sense.

Champions were large,

they were sleek,

they were

without imperfection.

When they finally did

race him, he did just what

they had trained him to do.

He lost.

What exactly is it

you like?

He's got spirit.

l'll say.

Can...

Can he be ridden?

Oh, sure.

Eventually.

He can be a little touchy.

Yeah, l got it.

No. Really.

l'm fine.

Jesus Christ!

That horse is nuts!

Come on!

Come on! Come on!

Let's go! Come on,

you sons of b*tches!

Let's go! Come on!

Let's go! Come on,

you sons of b*tches!

l'll take all of you!

Come on! Come on!

lt's okay.

l'm not afraid of you.

Sure. l know.

l know what you're all about.

You hungry?

Huh?

Yeah. Bet you are.

Come on. Come on, boy.

Yeah.

Why don't you just

breeze him around

one turn.

Give the folks a look.

Great.

Red Pollard,

Mr. and Mrs. Howard.

Yeah. Hi.

Hello.

Well, we'll just be

moving on.

Does he breeze?

Well, we'll find out.

Seems pretty fast.

Yeah. ln every direction.

Hell, he's so beat-up,

it's hard to tell

what he's like.

l just can't help

feeling they got him

so screwed up

running in a circle,

he's forgotten

what he was born to do.

He just needs to learn

how to be a horse again.

Well, how do you do that?

How far do you want

me to take him?

Till he stops.

Okay.

That seems like

a pretty good ride.

Hope so.

That's it, boy.

You're all right.

Let's see what you got, boy.

Ha! Ha!

That's it, boy. That's it!

Yeah!

Well, at least

he wasn't expensive.

No. That's true.

God damn it!

You're an amazing animal!

You can come inside,

you know.

l'm fine. Thank you.

Yeah, you look it.

No, really, l'm fine.

Okay. Suit yourself.

Welcome.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

lt's okay.

Oh, l'm not that hungry.

Sure you're not.

lt's just a lot of food.

lt's okay.

We rather have you

strong than thin.

They called it "relief,"

but it was

a lot more than that.

lt had dozens of names:

NRA, WPA,

the CCC.

But it really came down

to just one thing.

For the first time

in a long time,

someone cared.

For the first time

in a long time,

you were no longer alone.

Goat racing?

Oh, no. Just trying to

calm him down a little.

Smart ones hate

being alone all the time.

Oh.

And sometimes another animal,

it just soothes them a bit.

Pretty quiet in there.

What'd you do?

Go take a look.

Okay. You don't break him

or anything, but we gotta see

what he's got.

You take him to

the five and a half pole

and turn him loose.

Turn him loose?

Yeah, son.

He's a racehorse.

Ha! Ha!

Come on!

Come on!

Come on! l know

you got more than this.

Let's show them, boy!

How's he look?

Asleep.

Come on! Let's show them,

Pops! Come on!

There it is! Yeah!

Oh, my goodness.

Yeah, you and me! Let's go!

Boy. Fast?

Oh, yeah.

How fast?

Your horse just broke

the track record at Tanforan.

Yep. Sometimes

they just hanker

for a little competition.

As long as we're talking

long shots, l got a real

doozy for you, folks.

Today we got a horse

that's going off at 70-to-1 ,

and that's a short price,

my friends.

This horse couldn't win

a church raffle, let alone

a $2,000 allowance.

Yeah, talk about a jump

in class. This is the skunk

at the garden party.

Yes, he's the surprise

in the punch bowl.

As a matter of fact,

l'll lay even money

that this nag, Seabiscuit,

couldn't even finish

six furlongs.

This is Tick-Tock McGlaughlin

live at Clockers' Corner.

Wow.

l wanted maroon.

They only had bright red.

Oh, it looks great.

You don't think

the "H" is too big?

You seen the size

of our jockey?

Come on.

Okay. The favorite's

that gray over there.

He's got a big late charge,

so lock in early with him

and stay right off his flank.

Okay.

And once our boy sees

who the competition is,

he'll do most of the work.

But don't move

till that gray does.

What if it's late?

Let's go.

Twelve minutes to post.

l don't think

it's gonna matter much.

Honestly.

Horses come out on the track

for the sixth race.

$20,000...

Come on in.

Number 3,

Pollard on Seabiscuit.

Followed by...

Hey, sahib.

Kind of small, isn't he?

Gonna look a lot smaller

in a second, Georgie.

l got five bucks

says he doesn't.

Starter's poised.

The flag is up.

And away they go.

Pirate's Gold breaks first,

followed by Geronimo

on the outside.

Silver Treasure is third,

followed by Seabiscuit.

They're coming

by the five-furlong pole.

lt's Pirate's Gold, Geronimo,

Hill's Army and Agua Dulce.

Son of a b*tch!

Ha! Ha!

Piece of sh*t bastard!

What the hell is he doing?

...opening up

a three and a half...

A four-length lead.

Let's go!

What are you doing?

l'm gonna

put you on the rail,

you piece of sh*t!

Get off of me!

How do you like that,

you son of a b*tch?

You're gonna drop me, man!

The two horses

are flying down...

You like the rail?

...as they come

into the homestretch.

Here comes the cavalry charge!

Knock me

off my horse!

lt's Silver Treasure

on the inside

followed by Pirate's Gold.

Again they go, Pirate's Gold.

Silver Treasure on the inside.

Silver Treasure

and Pirate's Gold.

But at the wire it's

Silver Treasure, the winner

by two and a half lengths.

Damn it.

What the hell

were you thinking?

He fouled me.

What am l supposed to do,

let him get away with that?

Well, yeah,

when he's 40-to-1 .

He almost put me in the rail!

Well, did he?

Look, we had a plan.

He fouled me, Tom!

What am l supposed to do?

He cut me off!

He fouled me!

Son? Son.

What are you so mad at?

There's even

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