Seabiscuit Page #7

Who's he gonna race? Pegasus?

l pity these other horses.

When will they know?

l don't know.

Maybe an hour. l'm not sure.

Charles is with the vet

right now.

Does it hurt when he bends it?

'Cause if it doesn't hurt

when he bends it...

We don't know anything yet.

l'll call you

as soon as we do.

l promise.

All right.

He was running easy on me.

There was no warning.

He's gotta be all right.

He's gotta be all right.

l know.

Mr. Howard.

Well, he ruptured

a whole ligament.

l put a splint on him

just to keep him immobilized,

but right now

he's totally lame.

He's not gonna race again.

Look,

l know this is hard,

but l'll put him down for you

if you want me to.

Oh, that's okay, Pops.

l'll come to you.

Hey.

See, first, you gotta get

a little flexibility.

Yeah. Then you can

put weight on it.

Then once you start to put

weight on it,

the whole leg gets stronger.

l know. l know.

l'm in a hurry, too, Pops.

But you know what Hadrian said

about Rome.

"Brick by brick, my citizens.

"Brick by brick."

See,

they're Arabians,

so they don't need to drink.

These horses can go

five or six days

without a drop of water,

like a camel.

Oh, l'm not saying

that's what you should do.

l'm just saying

that's what they do.

Oh, good idea.

Take a little rest.

l don't know, Red.

We're just gonna

walk in a circle.

You think the leg

will hold you?

Horse weighs 1,200 pounds,

Sam. l'm an afterthought.

No, l mean your leg.

Here comes Seabiscuit

charging down the lane,

picking off competition

one by one.

He's third! Now second!

Now first!

And it's Seabiscuit

at the wire

to win the Santa Anita

Handicap with Red Pollard

aboard! Yes!

Nice.

What?

Whoa, Pops. Easy.

Whoa.

Wow, Pops.

You feel better,

don't you, boy?

lt's okay, Sam.

l'm just gonna mow

the lawn a little bit.

Fine with me, Red.

Way to go! All right.

Looking good. Yeah,

you're great, Red!

Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

Way to go, Red.

ls it even possible?

TOM:
Sure.

Most folks don't

give it a chance.

Most folks just...

The best thing to do

is get him down there

and let him gallop a little.

l mean, that's the only way

we're really gonna know.

Can he handle that?

Sure. l mean, l think so.

He worked great.

l couldn't feel a thing.

Why don't we give him

a full work on Friday morning?

Maybe six furlongs.

See what we got.

Sure. l'll be here.

Thanks, George.

You're welcome.

Coming along.

Could he be ready?

For what?

Come on. You know what.

Top of the morning to you.

That's a nice colt.

Who is he?

Just a two-year-old.

He's not ready yet.

l thought maybe

you were getting a horse

ready for the Hundred Grander.

No. Just a two-year-old.

Hair of the dog.

You been here long?

No. Just got here.

Catching up on my reading.

Well, l'm sure

l'll see you soon.

Okey-dokey.

Stop the presses!

Stop the presses!

This isn't a scoop, folks.

This is three scoops

with hot fudge

and a cherry on top.

And throw in some nuts,

'cause this little horse

drives me crazy!

Guess who may be working

six furlongs next Friday.

Guess who may be shooting

for the Big 'Cap.

Oh, my saints alive!

You guessed it. Man, oh, man!

Did you ever guess it!

A minute 12, minute 13.

Something like that.

lf he starts to labor,

just slow it down.

Try and see how he feels...

Got you.

That's all right, Pops.

That's okay, boy. That's okay.

Come here. lt's okay, boy.

"And this, the most

unkindest cut of all."

Red. Red,

let me talk to you.

Talk to me?

You can't... Red!

You can't do it!

You could be crippled

for the rest of your life.

l was crippled for the rest

of my life. l got better.

He made me better.

Hell, you made me better.

Jesus Christ.

Red...

And that's as much my horse

as it is yours.

That's pretty quick.

God damn it.

lt's up to him, Red.

Yeah, but if he says

that l can't...

He's the doctor.

lt's up to him.

You made this?

Yeah. lt wraps around

my riding boot,

fasten it all the way

up the calf.

Right.

l barely feel anything

in the stirrups.

Look, it could shatter

at any moment,

even right now.

Forget about racing.

You see that right there?

That's barely healed.

There's no way to know

how much weight

it could hold under stress.

lf it gets reinjured,

it's possible he could

never walk again.

"Possible." He just said

it was "possible."

Well, hell,

anything's possible. We proved

that already, didn't we?

Red, this is different.

Yeah!

This is really different.

lt's not just some race.

lt's the Santa Anita.

l had that race. l was there.

l know.

What's going on?

Hell, even with the brace,

it'll barely hold him

if he gets bumped,

if he gets jostled...

Do you want to know

what l think?

Of course.

l think it's better to break

a man's leg than his heart.

lt's not just the leg.

lt's not!

Okay.

Mar, he could fall.

He could get trampled.

lf he gets thrown

from that horse...

He could die?

You know, l play

with this thing

all the time, too.

And no matter how hard l try,

l can't get that damn ball

to stay in the hole.

lt always rolls out again.

Just let him ride, Charles.

Just let him do it.

Jumping Jehoshaphat,

l could handle one comeback,

but this is ridiculous.

Who's next, Lazarus?

Oh, the heroism, the madness,

the excitement.

The largest crowd

ever to see a race

at Santa Anita!

and it's only 12:00!

lt's not bad.

St. Christopher. For luck.

A little late for that,

don't you think?

All right.

Let's go win us a race.

Ready?

Yeah.

Whichcee's the speed.

He's gonna be out on the lead,

but l don't think

he'll handle the distance.

Just stalk him like always.

Right.

Wedding Call

could make a late run.

Now, he's got some guts,

so look out for him, too.

Won't make that mistake again.

Relax, guys.

lt's gonna be fine.

Okay.

Charles, it's gonna be great.

Thank you, Frank.

Hope so. Bless you.

Good luck, Mr. Howard.

Thank you.

Good luck.

You're looking good.

Want a seat?

Relax. Buy you

a couple of drinks, huh?

That's a good idea.

Who you betting on?

Hey, old man.

What are you doing here?

Got another mount.

Just 'cause l'm not riding him

doesn't mean

l'm gonna sit it out.

Don't worry.

l don't stand a chance.

l'll see you at the finish.

Come on, boy.

Come on. Come on!

Come on! Go!

How you doing, Red?

Georgie.

You guys all right?

There you go, boy.

There it is.

Have a nice ride, Johnny.

Come on, Pops.

Ha! Ha!

Go home with it,

Johnny! Go on!

Come on, Red!

There it is, boy.

Come on, Biscuit!

You know,

everybody thinks we found

this broken-down horse

and fixed him,

but we didn't.

He fixed us.

Every one of us.

And l guess, in a way,

we kind of fixed

each other, too.

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