Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit is a movie based on the real life of an underdog race horse by the same name. During the Depression, he beat the odds when he won a match race against the 1937 Triple Crown winner named War Admiral. The horse brings together three men who become the animal’s owner, trainer and jockey. The owner is Charles Howard, played by Jeff Bridges, a successful car dealer struggling with the aftermath of a personal tragedy. The jockey is Red Pollard, played by Toby Maguire, a sometimes-boxer who has lost the vision of one eye in a fight. He trying to survive when his family leaves him with a horse trainer to ease their financial stress brought about by the 1930's. The trainer is Tom Smith, played Chris Cooper, who persuades Howard to purchase Seabiscuit. The horse has excellent bloodlines, but his behavior and unappealing appearance have led to his previous trainers teaching him to lose. This team learns to work with the animal and each other to produce a winning race horse. After a long campaign, Howard convinces War Admiral’s owner to race his Triple Crown champion against Seabiscuit. While preparing for the race against War Admiral, bad luck still follows the team. Pollard suffers a career-ending leg injury and has to train a replacement jockey to understand Seabiscuit’s racing style. Pollard tells the new jockey, George Woolf, played by Gary Stevens, a secret to his horse’s success. The animal likes to look at his competition. It works with his temperament. In order to enable this, the horse needs to race side by side with his competition for a short while. In the film’s last race, Pollard is able to ride his horse to victory after being fitted with a special brace. The role of George Woolf, Seabiscuit’s replacement jockey, is played by real-life jockey Gary Stevens.