SEABISCUIT MADE HEARTS RACE HORSE LIFTED SPIRITS OF DEPRESSION-WEARY AMERICA.Byline: Marianne Love Staff Writer It was the Great Depression, when America badly needed a hero, and along came an ugly, mean-spirited nag with crooked legs and the heart of a champion: Seabiscuit. ``He had the ability to get the whole nation's minds off the problem they were experiencing. He was a wonderful distraction,'' said Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron Christopher John "Chris" McCarron (b. March 27 1955, Boston, Massachusetts) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame retired jockey. He was introduced to the sport of thoroughbred racing by his older brother, jockey Gregg McCarron. , now vice president and general manager of Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, USA. It is known for offering some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the autumn and in winter. Racing at Santa Anita began in 1934. , where Seabiscuit became a legend. More than 60 years have passed since Seabiscuit broke 13 track records, won 33 races in a six-year career and earned nearly 55 times the paltry $8,000 his owner paid for him. ``He was a great horse,'' said former jockey Bill Shoemaker William Lee Shoemaker (August 19, 1931 – October 12, 2003) was an American jockey. Referred to as "Bill", "Willie," and "The Shoe", William Lee Shoemaker was born in the town of Fabens, Texas. At 2. , whose storied career began after Seabiscuit retired. ``The secret of Seabiscuit's success was that when he was young he didn't win much ... as he raced more and gained more experience, he figured it all out.'' In ``Seabiscuit: An American Legend,'' by Laura Hillenbrand, the scrappy horse - described as having lots of heart and courage - stole newspaper headlines from President Franklin Roosevelt, German dictator Adolf Hitler and movie star Clark Gable. ``The Biscuit'' reigned during the Great Depression, when Americans were downtrodden down·trod·den adj. Oppressed; tyrannized. downtrodden Adjective oppressed and lacking the will to resist Adj. 1. . They embraced the horse as a hero and came out in throngs to see him race and mug it up for the cameras. Some say he was a shining example of courage. Others described him as manipulative with a mind of his own and less than obedient at times. But no one could deny the crowds loved him. Not only was he an underdog, so were his owner, his trainer and his jockey. They started from rock bottom before rising to the top. Seabiscuit, owned by auto magnate Charles S. Howard
Charles Stewart Howard (1877 – 1950) was an American businessman. , arrived at Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
He took off a year after he ruptured a tendon in his left foreleg during a 1939 race, then turned a losing streak A Losing Streak is the third episode of series 2 of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses. It was first broadcast on 4 November 1982. Synopsis Del Boy, Rodney, and Grandad are making some sort of cheap perfume just to earn money after Del has been losing most of into a classic Cinderella story with jockey Johnny ``Red'' Pollard by winning the Santa Anita $100,000 Handicap in 1940, which today equals $1 million. He was 7, twice the age of his opponents, and 78,000 people were at the track that day to watch him run. It was his last race. Seabiscuit turned horse racing horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) on a flat track, or among saddled horses over a turf course with into the No. 1 sport in the nation during the 1930s and 1940s. And he helped the fledgling Santa Anita Park, which opened Dec. 25, 1934. ``It was like a blood transfusion blood transfusion, transfer of blood from one person to another, or from one animal to another of the same species. Transfusions are performed to replace a substantial loss of blood and as supportive treatment in certain diseases and blood disorders. to Santa Anita and thoroughbred racing all over the world. Enormous crowds came out especially on the days Seabiscuit ran,'' said trainer Keith Stucki, 84, of the San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of southern California. It lies to the east of the city of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and to the west of the Inland Empire. community of Bradbury. Stucki exercised Seabiscuit when his jockey was unavailable. ``When Red Pollard didn't show up or was in the jockey hot box, I galloped Seabiscuit. It felt good,'' Stucki recalled. ``The first time I galloped him, (trainer) Tom Smith took Seabiscuit to the half-mile pole. We turned and faced the infield and he said, 'Keep him in the middle of the racetrack toward the outside and just keep your hands down in one hold and he'll gallop real good for a mile and a half.''' Seabiscuit came at a time when there was no major league baseball "MLB" and "Major Leagues" redirect here. For other uses, see MLB (disambiguation) and Major Leagues (disambiguation). Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. or basketball in the Los Angeles area. ``He was quite an attraction,'' said trainer Noble Threewitt of San Gabriel, who introduced Smith and Howard to each other. ``He was the greatest drawing card.'' Threewitt, 92, said Seabiscuit broke the stigma that East Coast horses are better than California-trained ones. ``They thought (we) in California were still fighting the Indians. But in fact, (we) were out here training horses,'' he said. Santa Anita Park officials are hoping the resurgence of the great racehorse racehorse refers usually to thoroughbred but may also include standardbred, trotter. will have a positive effect on the industry and their tracks in particular. ``Because of his incredible national following he brought great national attention to this racetrack,'' said Santa Anita spokesman Stuart Zanville. ``Today, here we are 63 years later and this same racehorse is having a significant impact on our sport.'' Zanville said Santa Anita officials consider their park as the ``home of Seabiscuit.'' ``He ran 11 times here. His last two races and final victory and most famous race were here,'' Zanville said. ``He was an underdog, a little guy, who defied the odds because of his heart.'' Marianne Love, (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2108 marianne.love(at)sgvn.com. CAPTION(S): 4 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1) Seabiscuit, seen here with trainer Tom Smith, broke 13 track records and won 33 races. The racehorse is the subject of a major motion picture, starring Tobey Maguire, to be released Friday. (2) Horse trainer Nobel Threewitt, 92, stands next to a statue of Seabiscuit at the Santa Anita park on July 14. Threewit said Seabiscuit broke the stigma that East Coast horses are better than California-trained ones. Richard Lui/Special to the Daily News (3 -- 4) no caption (Seabiscuit) Box: (1) What's a Seabiscuit? (2) Seabiscuit tidbits TidBITS is an award-winning electronic newsletter and web site dealing primarily with Apple Computer and Macintosh-related topics. Internet publication TidBITS has been published weekly since April 16, 1990, which makes it one of the longest running Internet publications. |
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