Horse Racing Champion: "Seabiscuit" 21min

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• published: 23 Aug 2012
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more at http://sports.quickfound.net/ "About famous racehorse Seabiscuit" Public domain film from the Library of Congress Prelinger Archive, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied. The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabiscuit Seabiscuit (May 23, 1933 -- May 17, 1947) was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse in the United States. A small horse, Seabiscuit had an inauspicious start to his racing career, but became an unlikely champion and a symbol of hope to many Americans during the Great Depression. Seabiscuit was the subject of a 1949 film, The Story of Seabiscuit; a 2001 book, Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand; and a 2003 film, Seabiscuit, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture... Seabiscuit was foaled on May 23, 1933, from the mare Swing On and sired by Hard Tack, a son of Man o' War. Seabiscuit was named for his father, as hardtack or "sea biscuit" is the name for a type of cracker eaten by sailors. The bay colt grew up on Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, where he was trained. He was undersized, knobby-kneed, and given to sleeping and eating for long periods. Initially, he was trained by Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons, who had taken Gallant Fox to the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. Fitzsimmons saw some potential in Seabiscuit, but felt the horse was too lazy. He devoted most of his time to training Omaha, who won the 1935 Triple Crown... [In 1936] His owners sold the horse to the automobile entrepreneur Charles S. Howard for $8000... Howard assigned Seabiscuit to a new trainer, Tom Smith who, with his unorthodox training methods, gradually brought Seabiscuit out of his lethargy. Smith paired the horse with the Canadian jockey Red Pollard (1909--1981), who had experience racing in the West and in Mexico. On August 22, 1936, they raced Seabiscuit for the first time. Improvements came quickly and, in their remaining eight races in the East, Seabiscuit and Pollard won several times, including Detroit's Governor's Handicap (worth $5,600) and the Scarsdale Handicap ($7,300) at Empire City Race Track in Yonkers, New York. In early November 1936, Howard and Smith shipped the horse to California by rail. His last two races of the year were at Bay Meadows racetrack in San Mateo, California. The first was the $2,700 Bay Bridge Handicap, run over one mile (1.6 km). Despite starting badly and carrying the top weight of 116 lb (53 kg), Seabiscuit won by five lengths. At the World's Fair Handicap (Bay Meadows' most prestigious stakes race), Seabiscuit led throughout... ...Howard decided to ship the horse East for its more prestigious racing circuit. Seabiscuit's run of victories continued unabated. Between June 26 and August 7, he ran five times, each time at a stakes race, and each time he won, despite steadily increasing handicap weights (imposts) of up to 130 lb (59 kg). On September 11, Smith accepted an impost of 132 lb (60 kg) for the Narragansett Special at Narragansett Park. On race day, the ground was slow and heavy, and entirely unsuited to "the Biscuit," even without the heaviest burden of his career. Smith wished to scratch, but Howard overruled him. Never in the running, Seabiscuit trudged home in third place. His 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. In 1937, Seabiscuit won eleven of his fifteen races and was the year's leading money winner in the United States. War Admiral, having won the Triple Crown that season, was voted the most prestigious honor, the American Horse of the Year Award. On November 1, 1938, Seabiscuit met War Admiral and jockey Charles Kurtsinger in what was dubbed the "Match of the Century." The event was run over 1 and 3/16 miles (1.91 km), and the Pimlico Race Course, from the grandstands to the infield, was jammed solid with fans... When the bell rang, Seabiscuit ran away from the Triple Crown champion... As a result of his races that year and the victory over War Admiral, Seabiscuit was named American Horse of the Year for 1938...