Author: Laura Hillenbrand
Rating: 5/5
Seabiscuit took the world by storm in the 1930s, claiming even more attention and fame (at least in the USA) than Roosevelt, Hitler or Mussolini. It takes the union of three men to recognise Seabiscuit’s potential.
Spoilers ahead.
I am dismayed that I put this book off for years! I bet if I had read it during my Black Beauty, War Horse and Arthurian Legends era, I would have been the epitome of a horse girl. Seabiscuit’s story was wholesome and a classic underdog sports tale. No one thought such a short, plump horse with a duck-waddle gait would have what it took to set heartstopping records in racing. Seabiscuit had true grit and a racer’s heart.
Hillenbrand was brilliant at setting the scene. I liked that she explored Charles Howard’s past and how he came to own Seabiscuit. With his start as a bicycle repairman, Howard knew what businessmen wanted and shot to the top by dealing in cars. He married Marcela, his second wife and several decades his junior, and owned a ranch. Tom Smith, a man known by the Native Americans as the “Lone Plainsmen” was hired to select a winning horse and train it. When Smith first laid eyes on Seabiscuit, he knew Seabiscuit was the one. Seabiscuit proved to be lazy, preferring to lollygag and sleep even though his muscles thrummed with speed and energy that made a winning horse. This was where Smith’s genius lay–he was a brilliant horseman and could understand them intuitively and was able to get on the same page as Seabiscuit.
What they now required was a jockey. I had no idea how cutthroat the jockey world was. Jockeys were expected to be a certain weight which caused them to engage in horrible behaviours like purging themselves of food, staying dehydrated, losing water weight by sweating it off and consuming dangerous laxatives. Red Pollard was born in Canada to pretty wealthy parents but they lost everything in a flood. He decided to make his fortune by horseriding. As a young man, he was pretty good but his luck turned when he lost sight in his right eye. His best friend was George Woolf, a jockey who would become a racing legend and who, incidentally, had type 1 diabetes.
Red was hired by Howard to ride Seabiscuit and the two made a fearsome pair. They had some good wins but also many losses. Red was hospitalised numerous times due to injuries he sustained from riding other horses. He became an alcoholic while Woolf rode Seabiscuit.
Seabiscuit’s biggest rival at the time was another horse named War Admiral who was just as imposing as his name. Woolf rode Seabiscuit in their one-on-one race that Vanderbilt managed to organise. Seabiscuit, always the underdog (or -horse?) won and was named Horse of the Year. Even though I was always rooting for Seabiscuit, something in me did melt upon reading the description of War Admiral’s blood-rimmed eyes and the exhaustion that poured from his muzzle.
Seabiscuit became injured in another race where Woolf was riding him. Smith and Howard thought they had to retire him. Pollard had also sustained even MORE injuries and was pretty much told he would never walk again. The Howards looked after him and let him work with Seabiscuit. The two of them made a triumphant return after losing two races. They broke another track record after which Seabiscuit retired.
Smith left Howard after this as there was no need for him to be there anymore to train Seabiscuit. Pollard left to pursue his jockey career though after suffering even more injuries, he called it quits. Seabiscuit died young, at fourteen years. Howard’s death was three years later. Smith had a stroke and died in his 70s.
I don’t know if there ever has been another horse like Seabiscuit. I suppose that’s what made him so special–that he was one of a kind. I was totally ignorant of the horseracing world and now I wonder how many countless other stories I’m missing. How many Seabiscuit-esque stories have been scattered throughout history within various fields? I want to know them all!
I also really want a horse. So badly. 
Hillenbrand’s writing was beautiful and I hated to put the book down. This is how I wish more non-fiction could be written! I felt like I was there, watching the events unfold. I felt I had stakes in the game even though I really didn’t. I loved how deeply she talked about all the people who played a role in Seabiscuit’s rise to fame. Smith’s quiet and empathetic nature with horses, Pollard’s determination to keep riding horses (side note: I loved that he was bookish and witty, always quoting poets for people), Howard’s faith in his trainer and Seabiscuit. I was surprised at how much she was able to excavate about these people who have been dead for years. The research process outlined in the acknowledgements section sounded meticulous as hell.
I’m definitely going to pick up more of Hillenbrand’s work.
And Seabiscuit, well, I’m just glad I finally made his acquaintance.
Earnestly Eccentric 