They called it the car for Everyman.
Henry Ford himself called it a car for the "great multitude."
lt was functional and simple, like your sewing machine or your cast-iron stove.
You could learn to drive it in less than a day,
and you could get any color you wanted, so long as it was black.
When Ford first conceived the Model T, it took 13 hours to assemble.
Within five years, he was turning out a vehicle every 90 seconds.
Of course, the real invention wasn't the car,
it was the assembly line that built it.
Pretty soon, other businesses had borrowed the same techniques.
Seamstresses became button sewers.
Furniture makers became knob turners.
lt was the beginning and the end of imagination
all at the same time.
Howard.
Charles, l'm talking to you.
They need spokes, same as the others. l know. They ought to make a better spoke.
Yeah? Then what would you do?
lt was a land of opportunity.
The country was shrinking, and there was life to be made out west
for any man with drive and ambition.
lf your dream was big enough and you had the guts to follow it,
there was truly a fortune to be made.
Good day, sir.
Damn thing blew on me. What?
lt's a Stanley Steamer. The boiler blew.
Oh? Can you fix it?
Sure. Sure, l can fix it.
This is an amazing machine.
lt's got a two-stroke boiler system that's heated by this huge fire grade.
l mean, it's... Well, it's basically a very small locomotive.
Thank you. Now, l made some improvements.
lt wasn't your boiler that was blowing, it was your bleed valve.
So, with the increased pressure,
l can see you getting up to 40 miles an hour.
Really? Oh, yeah.
And if you superheat the excess, l can see you reaching...
Fifty, maybe sixty miles an hour. ls that right?
Easily. And the thing of it is, Mr. Coughlin, you don't feed it,
you don't stable it, and unless you hit a lamppost,
the thing's not gonna get sick and die on you.
That's funny. To tell you the truth,
l wouldn't spend more than $5 on the best horse in America.
This is not the finish line, my friends. This is the start of the race.
The future is the finish line!
And the new Buick White Streak is just the car to take us there!
Yeah.
Four in-line cylinders, 42 and a half horsepower.
Wonderful.
And this is the very same car that you can buy
at any one of our five showrooms all across the Bay Area.
"The age of the automobile is here," boasted Howard. "The future has arrived."
Oh, my. Read the part about the future again.
l'm kind of dealing with it right now.
Oh, sorry. Here. l'll take him. Come here, big guy.
Come here. Come here. Are you the future, huh?
Are you the future?
Are you gonna...
Are you going to the moon?
The moon!
l'll take it.
Do we really need all this?
Well, no. We don't need it...
There's also a caretaker's house, a paddock, a barn, some very nice stables.
How big are the stables?
Got it.
Settle down. Settle down.
Quit. Quit. Whoa. Whoa.
Whoa.
Come on, Dad.
Whoa.
There you go.
You're not getting him a horse. Why not? He's great at it.
Because he's 16 years old. So?
So, he should earn it.
All right.
Tennyson! Emerson!
Longfellow!
Everybody knows Tennyson. All right. Quiet.
Nobody knows Longfellow. Yes, they do.
Dickinson.
"We never know how high we are..."
Oh, l know that. Yeah. l know.
l know it.
Well?
"We never know how high we are Till we are called to rise"
Good. Very good, John.
"And then, if we are true to plan Our statures touch the skies"
Excellent. Yes!
That's really good.
Uh-oh.
"The heroism..." Right.
Right. "The heroism..."
"The heroism we recite
"Would be a daily thing"
That's it. "Did not ourselves the cubits warp
"For fear to be a king"
You should be riding it. You knew the poem.
Yeah.
But he looks so perfect out there, doesn't he?
Yeah. He does.
That's the poetry right there, Agnes.
That's the poetry.
Thank you. Thank you for coming.
l came here 15 years ago with 21 cents in my pocket.
l know a lot of us at the table have a story like that.
And, you know, l can't help thinking that if we can start out there
and end up here, where can't we go in America?
So, as corny as it sounds, l'd like to propose a toast to the future.
Because out here, my friends, the sky is literally the limit.
To the future! To the future!
There were no suicides on Wall Street that day.
lt was a myth that would grow over time.
The real effect of October 29th took a little longer to sink in.
By noon, all the gains of the previous year had been obliterated.
By 4:00 p.m., nearly $10 billion of market value was gone.
Over the next two weeks, the hemorrhage continued.
And before long, 25% of the workforce was unemployed.
A great national migration began.
Displaced families took to the American highway
in the last possession that remained to them,
their automobile.
And all at once, millions of Americans
had a new definition of home.
l made $2 today.
What?
l made $2.
Here.
Where did you get these?
Yeah, your boy combed them out, changed all the tack.
l didn't have to tell him a thing.
Hey, Red. Attaboy!
Where'd a young fellow like you learn so much about horses?
His name's Johnny.
You can call me Red.
Yeah!
What's wrong?
What's that? Everything.
Dickens, Wordsworth.
There's your Arabian Nights and Moby Dick, even your Milne, from when you were...
Why? What's wrong?
Mr. Blodget here, he has a house... Dad.
...a real house. Dad, what's wrong?
And his wife cooks. She is a good cook.
No. No. Dad. There's even a phone next door.
We'll call you. Every couple of weeks, we'll call you,
and we'll tell you where we are. No. We're just gonna go home, all right?
Let's go. Listen to me.
You have a gift. You have a gift.
Don't... Don't do this.
Dad, don't do this. We'll be back.
Go on. Go with Mr. Blodget. No.
He's gonna take care of you, sweetie.
Mom, don't... Don't do this. lt's okay. Go with him.
l don't know. You still look pretty tall to be a jockey.
l've never been over 115.
Where'd you learn to ride like that? Home.
All right. Here's the way it works.
l pay you $10 a week to ride. You owe $9 for your meals,
$6 to sleep in the stalls, $3 tack fee. That's the deal.
How do l pay all that back?
You win.
You son of a bitch! Get off of me!
Get off!
Get off of me! Get off of me!
A nose?
You lose a race a nose, you'd better fall off trying! Here!
Muck these stalls down, every damn one of them!
A nose! For Christ's sake!
No. No, Bill. l'm not gonna do it. No more layoffs.
Well, it can't get any worse.
Look, if it stays like this, we'll just...
Bill, we'll be fine, really. We will.
All right. l'll see you in town.
Frankie, come on. lt's a glorious day outside.
Why don't... Why don't you go fishing or something?
l'm reading.
You can read when it's raining.
Come on. l'll teach you to drive the truck.
You already taught me to drive the truck.
Well, what are you reading? Flash Gordon.
Come on, Dad. lt's about the future!
We'll be in San Francisco till Wednesday.
Yeah?
What?
No!
Come inside.
l'm not done.
Sam can do that.
l don't want Sam to do it. l want to do it.
Annie. Don't... Don't... No!
Ma'am.
Come on, Red! Come on!
Come on, kid.
At a time when the world really needed a drink,
you couldn't get one in the United States of America.
Liquor was illegal. Diversions were scarce,
and there's just so much a human being can do without.
Soon, the border town was born,
providing everything to the south that their neighbor to the north would not.
You could find anything: food, companionship,
decent gin, and with gambling outlawed as well,
the chance to turn bad luck into good.
Relax! You got it! You got it! You got it!
Go!
Damn it.
That jockey was riding like he's got an anvil in his pocket.
l no bet with you no more. l no like it.
Who's that?
George Woolf. Greatest jockey in the world.
That's Charles Howard? Yeah.
l thought he came down here for a... Quickie divorce?
Why?
Look at him.
Nothing quick about that.
lt was in the palace of the great Sultan.
Sultan of where?
The Sultan of Araby.
l'd been living there for almost a year,
racing his Arabians across the desert by day
and finishing my personal history of the region by night.
Then one day, the Sultan summons me into his throne room.
He looks at me and says,
"John Pollard..." "John Pollard,
"you are my greatest jockey. lt is you l have chosen
"to ride my 100-mile race from Kusma to Tripoli."
200-mile.
All right. 200-mile. Excuse me, sahib.
You didn't need to wreck it, Georgie.
When you started telling that story, it was only 50 miles.
Yeah, well, everything gets longer in the retelling.
Just ask your friend Wanda over there.
You know, if you start riding a little more and talking a little less,
you might start winning some races.
Well, l got two bucks says l beat you in this one.
l'm not sure if you do,
but l got five says l beat you. Done.
Give me odds. You're the favorite. Even money.
Nah! Forget it! 2-to-1 ! All right. You got it.
Hey, Johnny. You're on a speed horse. What are you doing back here with me?
l like the conversation, and it's not a speed horse. Don't try to hook me.
You going tonight? Nah. You?
Nah. What time?
l don't know. 8:00? Okey-doke.
Oops, there's my hole! Gotta go!
God damn it!
Whoa!
We got him! All right.
l'll take him. Get the hell out of here.
l said, l'll take him. He's got a fractured foot.
lf you're gonna shoot him anyway, l'll save you the bullet.
Whoa. Fine.
Let him go. Hey. Let him have him.
Now, bud.
Hey, boy.
Okey-doke, Johnny.
There's my hole! Gotta fly!
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
"There once was a princess from Siam
"Who was sitting here sort of like l am
"l wined her and dined her
"And then l reclined her..."
Shit.
What rhymes with Siam?
That's great. You make that up?
Pretty obvious, huh?
That's beautiful. No. You're beautiful.
Don't say that. You pay me.
So, you wanna, you know,
get going?
Sure. Why not?
How do you miss a hole like that?
There's my hole! Gotta fly!
Are you blind?
Angel, are you okay?
You don't wanna watch?
No. Not really.
l don't either.
So, what? They brought you down here to make you feel better, is that it?
Yes. Sort of.
Those guys, they think everything is fixed with a party.
l'm sorry. Who are you?
Marcela Zabala.
My sister, lsabella, she's married... No. No, no. l know.
Nice to meet you. Charles.
So, do you feel better?
No.
No, not really.
No.
How could you? Something like that.
Come on, buddy. Wake up.
Come on.
Did l lose? Oh, no. You clobbered him.
Easy.
Easy, easy. Nice and slow. l'm fine. l'm fine.
Come on. Let me buy you some turtle soup. l'm fine, George.
Go win yourself a race or something.
Look, let's go down to Sloan's, and we'll just...
l'm fine, George. l don't need your help, and l sure as shit don't need your charity.
Leave me alone, all right?
lt's been 20 years since l've been on a horse.
Don't worry. lt's the kind of thing that comes right back.
Let's go.
Come on!
What? She got you back up on a horse, and now you wanna buy them?
Yeah. Maybe. Maybe a couple. Well, you wanna win or just own them?
l wanna win. What sort of question is that?
Well, you're gonna need a trainer before you buy horses.
No. You need two. So you can fire one.
Randy Thatcher's barn. Trains about 50 or 60 ponies.
Good fellow, too. Real horse person. A real horse-shitter.
You don't know. l don't know, maybe you want a smaller barn,
somebody who can take the time to... Who's that?
He's a crackpot. Lives alone in the bushes.
What's he do?
l don't know. He used to be a trainer, farrier. Now he just looks after that horse.
Come on. Let's look at another barn.
Howdy.
Hello.
You hungry? No. No, thanks.
l'm fine. Charles Howard.
Tom Smith. Nice to meet you, Tom.
What's... What's in his bandage?
Oh, that's hawthorn root.
lt increases circulation.
You wanna sit down?
All right. Thank you.
Will he get better?
Already is, a little.
Will he race?
No. Not that one.
So why are you fixing him?
'Cause l can.
Every horse is good for something.
He could be a cart horse or a lead pony.
And he's still nice to look at.
You don't... You don't throw a whole life away
just 'cause he's banged up a little.
ls that coffee?
Yeah.
lt's bad, though.
You always tell the truth?
Yeah, l try to.
lt ain't just the speed.
lt's the heart.
And you want something that's not afraid to compete.
Half these horses are just show ponies.
You want something that's not gonna run from a fight.
How do you find that?
Look, l won the Robles Handicap. l was second in the Tijuana Derby.
l won the Manzanita Oaks. You know, that used to be a stakes race.
l know. l would've won, T.J.,
but the piece of shit lugged out on me. Sounds great. We'll let you know.
Look. l can work them out in the morning.
Or even hot-walk them if you need me to.
Really? You'll hot-walk them?
This is something else.
A dream come true, walking you around.
Hook you up to a plow, pull me around for a little while. Come on.
You ever run in the money?
Hey. Hey. You ever run in the money? l don't think so.
Couldn't beat a human being, let alone another horse.
You goddamn sack-of-crap old plater. Probably the fastest you're gonna run
in your entire life, you piece-of-shit old glue-pot.
That's right.
The first time he saw Seabiscuit,
the colt was walking through the fog at 5:00 in the morning.
Smith would say later that the horse looked right through him,
as if to say, "What the hell are you looking at?
"Who do you think you are?"
He was a small horse, barely 15 hands.
He was hurting, too. There was a limp in his walk,
a wheezing when he breathed.
Smith didn't pay attention to that.
He was looking the horse in the eye.
God damn.
He was the son of Hard Tack, sired by the mighty Man o' War.
But the breeding did little to impress anyone at Claiborne Farms.
Get rid of him.
At six months, he was shipped off to train
with the legendary trainer "Sunny" Fitzsimmons,
who, over time, developed a similar opinion of the colt.
ls that a racehorse or a lead pony?
The judgment wasn't helped by his gentle nature.
Where his sire had been a fierce, almost violent competitor,
Seabiscuit took to sleeping for huge chunks of the day
and enjoyed lolling for hours under the boughs of the juniper trees.
His other great talent was eating.
Though half the size of other colts,
Seabiscuit could frequently eat twice as much.
Fitzsimmons decided the horse was lazy
and felt sure he could train the obstinance out of him.
l want you to hit him as many times as you can over a quarter of a mile.
When he didn't improve, they decided the colt was incorrigible.
They made him a training partner to better horses,
forcing him to lose head-to-head duels
to boost the confidence of the other animal.
By the time he was three years old,
Seabiscuit was struggling in two cheap claiming races a week.
Soon he grew as bitter and angry as his sire Hard Tack had been.
He was sold for the rock-bottom price of $2,000.
And, of course, it all made sense.
Champions were large, they were sleek,
they were without imperfection.
When they finally did race him, he did just what they had trained him to do.
He lost.
What exactly is it you like?
He's got spirit. l'll say.
Can... Can he be ridden? Oh, sure.
Eventually.
He can be a little touchy. Yeah, l got it.
No. Really. l'm fine.
Jesus Christ! That horse is nuts!
Come on! Come on! Come on!
Let's go! Come on, you sons of bitches!
Let's go! Come on!
Let's go! Come on, you sons of bitches!
l'll take all of you! Come on! Come on!
lt's okay.
l'm not afraid of you.
Sure. l know.
l know what you're all about.
You hungry?
Huh?
Yeah. Bet you are.
Come on. Come on, boy.
Yeah.
Why don't you just breeze him around one turn.
Give the folks a look. Great.
Red Pollard, Mr. and Mrs. Howard. Yeah. Hi.
Hello.
Well, we'll just be moving on.
Does he breeze?
Well, we'll find out.
Seems pretty fast. Yeah. ln every direction.
Hell, he's so beat-up, it's hard to tell what he's like.
l just can't help feeling they got him
so screwed up running in a circle,
he's forgotten what he was born to do.
He just needs to learn how to be a horse again.
Well, how do you do that?
How far do you want me to take him? Till he stops.
Okay.
That seems like a pretty good ride.
Hope so.
That's it, boy. You're all right.
Let's see what you got, boy.
Ha! Ha!
That's it, boy. That's it!
Yeah!
Well, at least he wasn't expensive. No. That's true.
God damn it! You're an amazing animal!
You can come inside, you know.
l'm fine. Thank you. Yeah, you look it.
No, really, l'm fine.
Okay. Suit yourself.
Welcome.
Thank you. You're welcome.
lt's okay.
Oh, l'm not that hungry.
Sure you're not.
lt's just a lot of food.
lt's okay.
We rather have you strong than thin.
They called it "relief,"
but it was a lot more than that.
lt had dozens of names:
NRA, WPA,
the CCC.
But it really came down to just one thing.
For the first time in a long time,
someone cared.
For the first time in a long time,
you were no longer alone.
Goat racing?
Oh, no. Just trying to calm him down a little.
Smart ones hate being alone all the time. Oh.
And sometimes another animal, it just soothes them a bit.
Pretty quiet in there.
What'd you do? Go take a look.
Okay. You don't break him or anything, but we gotta see what he's got.
You take him to the five and a half pole and turn him loose.
Turn him loose? Yeah, son. He's a racehorse.
Ha! Ha!
Come on!
Come on! l know you got more than this. Let's show them, boy!
How's he look?
Asleep.
Come on! Let's show them, Pops! Come on!
There it is! Yeah!
Oh, my goodness.
Yeah, you and me! Let's go!
Boy. Fast? Oh, yeah.
How fast?
Your horse just broke the track record at Tanforan.
Yep. Sometimes they just hanker for a little competition.
As long as we're talking long shots, l got a real doozy for you, folks.
Today we got a horse that's going off at 70-to-1 ,
and that's a short price, my friends.
This horse couldn't win a church raffle, let alone a $2,000 allowance.
Yeah, talk about a jump in class. This is the skunk at the garden party.
Yes, he's the surprise in the punch bowl.
As a matter of fact, l'll lay even money that this nag, Seabiscuit,
couldn't even finish six furlongs.
This is Tick-Tock McGlaughlin live at Clockers' Corner.
Wow. l wanted maroon. They only had bright red.
Oh, it looks great. You don't think the "H" is too big?
You seen the size of our jockey?
Come on.
Okay. The favorite's that gray over there.
He's got a big late charge,
so lock in early with him and stay right off his flank.
Okay.
And once our boy sees who the competition is, he'll do most of the work.
But don't move till that gray does.
What if it's late?
Let's go.
Twelve minutes to post.
l don't think it's gonna matter much.
Honestly.
Horses come out on the track for the sixth race.
$20,000...
Come on in. Number 3, Pollard on Seabiscuit.
Followed by...
Hey, sahib. Kind of small, isn't he?
Gonna look a lot smaller in a second, Georgie.
l got five bucks says he doesn't.
Starter's poised. The flag is up.
And away they go.
Pirate's Gold breaks first, followed by Geronimo on the outside.
Silver Treasure is third, followed by Seabiscuit.
They're coming by the five-furlong pole.
lt's Pirate's Gold, Geronimo, Hill's Army and Agua Dulce.
Son of a bitch!
Ha! Ha!
Piece of shit bastard!
What the hell is he doing?
...opening up a three and a half... A four-length lead.
Let's go! What are you doing?
l'm gonna put you on the rail, you piece of shit!
Get off of me! How do you like that, you son of a bitch?
You're gonna drop me, man!
The two horses are flying down... You like the rail?
...as they come into the homestretch.
Here comes the cavalry charge!
Knock me off my horse!
lt's Silver Treasure on the inside followed by Pirate's Gold.
Again they go, Pirate's Gold.
Silver Treasure on the inside. Silver Treasure and Pirate's Gold.
But at the wire it's Silver Treasure, the winner by two and a half lengths.
Damn it.
What the hell were you thinking? He fouled me.
What am l supposed to do, let him get away with that?
Well, yeah, when he's 40-to-1 .
He almost put me in the rail! Well, did he?
Look, we had a plan. He fouled me, Tom!
What am l supposed to do? He cut me off!
He fouled me!
Son? Son.
What are you so mad at?
There's even a phone next door. Dad.
We'll call you. Every couple of weeks, we'll call you,
and we'll tell you where we are.
No. We're just gonna go home, all right?
You have a gift.
l need to borrow some money.
All right.
l haven't been to a dentist, and...
Well, l need to borrow some money.
That's fine. l don't know when l can pay you back.
l mean, when we win. When we win, l can pay you back.
That is, if you still want me to ride.
Of course l want you to ride.
How much do you need?
Ten dollars.
Here.
lt's fine.
Thank you. l really appreciate it.
That's it, Pops. We're okay now. lt's all right, boy.
Yeah, we're okay. Nothing to worry about.
All the time in the world, boy. That's it, Pops.
Nice and easy. Just like that, boy.
Just like that.
What do you think, boy? You ready to go?
You and me. Let's go, boy. Let's go.
Ha! Ha!
ln the end, it wasn't the dams
or the roads or the bridges or the parks.
Or the tunnels or the thousands of other public projects
that were built in those years.
lt was more invisible than that.
Men who were broken only a year before suddenly felt restored.
Men who'd been shattered suddenly found their voice.
Well, l just think this horse has a lot of heart.
He may have been down, but he wasn't out.
He may have lost a few, but he didn't let it get to him.
l think we could all learn a lick or two from this little guy.
Oh, and by the way, he doesn't know he's little.
He thinks he's the biggest horse out there.
So you got big plans for this little horse?
Oh, yeah. See, sometimes when the little guy,
he doesn't know he's a little guy, he can do great big things.
Can we get a shot here?
See, this isn't the finish line.
The future is the finish line,
and the Biscuit is just the horse to get us there.
"Just the horse to get us there."
You certainly made a believer out of me, Mr. Howard.
lt's time for this old tout to eat some crow.
Four and 20 blackbirds, to be exact, all baked up in some humble pie,
and l'll take mine a la mode.
Oh. And one more thing, Mr. Howard. l just wanna say...
Thanks for the champagne. Don't mention it.
Did you see the infield? No, not yet.
Take a look. Your little horse is selling out the cheap seats.
Oh, my gosh.
Hey, what do you think about all those folks in the infield, Red?
That's who we're riding for, folks with a quarter in their pocket.
Red! Red! Red! Red!
That's an awful lot of hoopla for such a little horse!
"Though he be but little, he is fierce."
What's that? What? That's Shakespeare, boys.
That's Shakespeare. Oh, Shakespeare.
Holy cow.
Look at that, Biscuit. Look at that.
There you go. Oh, my God.
There he is! Seabiscuit! Yeah!
That's for you, Pops. That's for you.
That makes six consecutive victories
for this little colt from nowhere, one shy of the record.
Why, he may be the biggest sensation on four legs since Hope and Crosby.
Yes, it's standing room only every time this pint-size pony slips on a saddle,
and if you can't afford the quarter,
a comfy tree limb will catch you a glimpse.
So what is the secret of this rags-to-riches story?
l have it on good authority they feed Seabiscuit
two pints of ice-cold beer before every race.
Reporting from trackside in an equine exclusive...
Oh, my gosh!
This is Tick-Tock McGlaughlin, for Movietone News.
Who was that?
Morning.
Boy, what's this? lt's beer. From an admiring public.
lt's pretty good, too. There's more in there.
Where's the horse? Signing autographs.
He's what?
Yeah.
There you go, Max. Let it dry for a minute before you try to sell it.
Hey, Charles. You think you can break the record?
Oh, let's ask him. Hey, Biscuit.
You gonna win one more? You gonna break the record?
Hey, Charles. What do you think finally turned this horse around?
Well, l think we just gave him a chance.
Sometimes all somebody needs is a second chance.
l think there are a lot of people out there know just what l'm talking about.
You got that right.
Here, boys. Take some horseshoes with you.
Right here, Charles. Hey, thanks.
These are special. Never run out of luck.
Yeah. Right. There you go.
Sam! Where the hell are my horseshoes?
You quit? l can't work like this.
He's not a parade animal. He's a racehorse.
Look, Tom, a little bit of public relations...
l can't get him to be a great horse if l can't get the time to work with him.
What do you mean? He is a great horse. We don't know that yet.
He's won six stakes in a row. Against who?
This. This is a great horse.
First he smashed them in the Kentucky Derby.
Then he crushed them in the Preakness.
Then he destroyed all comers in the Belmont to snatch the Triple Crown.
At almost 18 hands, he's as big as he is fast.
Eighteen hands? They'd need two guys to ride him.
Yeah, he's big.
Born of perfect breeding, displaying perfect form, boasting a perfect record,
the millionaire Mr. Riddle may have finally created the perfect horse.
Until next time, this is Horace Halstedter for Metrotone News.
What the hell does that mean, anyway? Perfect. He's perfect.
What the hell does "perfect" mean? What?
You show me something that's perfect, l'll show you something that's not.
Look, he's obviously the best horse in the East.
We're obviously the best horse in the West.
l just think the country deserves to see which horse is better.
You may not be able to see it, folks, but the gauntlet just landed on my desk.
Are we talking about a match race, Mr. Howard?
Whatever Mr. Riddle wants. Match race, stakes race, potato sack race.
Just 'cause we're littler doesn't mean we're scared.
Right you are, and out there in the heartland of America,
every little guy knows exactly what you mean.
You hear that, Mr. Riddle? You have an appointment with destiny, a date with...
Destiny. Destiny. Yes, exactly.
So, destiny, and his name is Seabiscuit.
Does Seabiscuit stand a chance?
l'm glad they finally have racing in California.
Do they use Western saddles out there?
Look. Comparing these two horses is ridiculous.
War Admiral is a real racehorse
who's won every prestigious race in America.
This little colt of theirs is running out on some cow track.
You know.
Yeah, if we responded to every fledgling challenger
who wants to make a name for themselves,
it wouldn't be fair to us. But it wouldn't be fair to them, either.
You wouldn't put Jack Dempsey in the ring with a middleweight.
Would you?
"Middleweight"? l'll kill him.
l'll knock his goddamn block off! He's chicken!
l know. l know. "Middleweight"? l mean...
We just have to flush him out a little. How?
Well, this is still America. Right? Yeah.
Cash.
$100,000? The biggest purse in American history.
l sure hope so.
You'd get every top Eastern thoroughbred. All of them.
You'd put this place on the map.
They might have all that blue blood crap. Our money is just as good as theirs.
Charlie... Doc, this is our moment.
Now, they're stuck in the past. This is the future.
Great.
Come here. What?
Come on. Don't you wanna see them piling off of those train cars,
coming out here to your track?
Huh? That's victory in itself, Doc.
That's the finish line right there.
You sell cars like this? Hundreds of them.
Hold your horses! Hold your horses!
Just when you thought you'd seen it all,
Doc Strub has gone and raided the cookie jar.
Yes, he has smashed the piggy bank and sold the family silver.
$100,000 for one horse race?
Makes me want to walk around on all fours and throw a saddle on my back.
Will the Biscuit be the favorite? Not likely, folks. We're about to be invaded.
We're talking Derby winners, Preakness winners, Belmont winners.
Hold on, hold on. l guess that's all one horse.
But at 100,000 bucks, how can the Admiral not want to dock his ship
in this friendly port?
This is Tick-Tock McGlaughlin live from Clockers' Corner.
They raised the hundred grand!
Yeah, how about that Hundred Grander?
No, thanks.
Excuse me, boys.
Shit! Charles.
Shit. Yeah, l know what you mean.
The hell with it. We'll run him anyway.
There are still gonna be the greatest horses in the world,
and if we win this thing, they're gonna have to face us.
He's gonna have to face us.
Okay. Special Agent's pure speed.
He's gonna go to the lead, but he can't handle the distance.
So don't get sucked in. l won't.
lndian Broom could be there, too.
We'll know they're holding him back if they use the ring bit.
Now, the one to worry about is Rosemont.
He closes like a freight train,
and he'll fight you for it at the end.
You gotta have some momentum built up by the time he makes his move.
lt's still kind of soggy out there from the other day,
so try to stay off the rail where it's deep.
l figured l'd sit back about three wide. Yeah, that's fine.
And other than that, just...
Just try to feel it.
He'll tell you when he's ready.
Yeah, boy!
Red, come on, Red!
Yeah, come on. Go! Go!
Watch him, Red. Watch him.
Come on! Come on!
lt's not my fault. Not this time.
l told you look out for Rosemont. l thought l had it.
You stopped riding! l couldn't see him!
What the hell are you talking about? He was flying up your tail!
Yeah, well, l can't... What?
See out there!
He lied to us. What?
He lied to us. You want a jockey who lies to us?
What do you mean?
He can't see. He's blind in one eye.
lt's fine, Tom.
lt's fine? Yeah, it's fine.
You don't throw a whole life away just 'cause it's banged up a little bit.
Good night.
All right, all right. Hold it.
Well, l guess that little horse of theirs turned out to be
a glorified claimer after all.
At least we don't have to deal with this David and Goliath nonsense anymore.
You can say that again.
All right, boys. Let me through.
Wait a minute. Mr. Riddle...
The hell with it.
Just a couple of announcements.
First, Red Pollard will remain Seabiscuit's jockey,
now and forever.
Second, if they're too scared to come and race us, we're gonna go find them.
We're gonna enter every race where War Admiral is on the card,
and if he scratches, which he probably will,
we'll enter the next race he's on the card.
And we won't come home until we've faced him, win, lose or draw.
You know,
l'd rather have one horse like this than 100 War Admirals.
Thanks, fellas. Mr. Howard!
Gotta see him! Come on!
Look, l really don't know what to say. We appreciate it.
l'm sure the Biscuit appreciates it, too.
He's just a little shy about speaking in public.
He'd thank you himself.
l guess you all are here today
because this is a horse who won't give up.
That's right.
Even when life beats him by a nose.
That's right! Yeah. Ain't that the truth.
But, heck, everybody loses a couple.
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
And you either pack up and you go home, or you keep fighting!
lsn't that right? Yeah!
That's right!
That's right.
Now,
do you want to see a match race? Yeah!
You do? Yeah!
You wanna see this young fella ride that horse?
Yeah! Yes!
Seabiscuit!
Extra! Extra! Biscuit on the warpath!
Will there be a match race? lt's all right here.
Extra! Extra! Biscuit on the warpath!
l don't know what they're so worried about.
l mean, look at us. Our horse is too small. Our jockey's too big.
Our trainer is too old. Forgive me, Tom.
And l'm too dumb to know the difference! Yeah, Charlie!
You'd think they'd want to race us instead of running away!
Yeah!
Ladies and gentlemen, l am staring at a swarm of humanity,
a sea of hungry faces demanding the match of a lifetime.
They have come here tonight in the cold, in the wind,
in the chill of a late October night.
Let me just make my way over to one of them
so you can hear it for yourself.
Excuse me. Excuse me. l'm sorry. Excuse me.
Ma'am, ma'am, if l may.
What brings you out here tonight with your three small children
clamoring for a view of this little horse?
Because we want to see a match race!
l said, don't you think
Mr. Riddle owes this country a...
Match race! Match race! Match race!
Fine, but it's on my terms.
Any terms you want.
Mile and three sixteenths. l won't accept anything else.
All right. Want a walk-up start with a bell.
We won't be using any contraptions.
You mean a starting gate?
Fine. And we run it here, at our home track.
That's not negotiable.
Seems like a nice enough place.
Oh, l'm sure you'll find it quite comfortable, Mr. Howard.
Jesus Christ!
l wanna be a horse.
Well, you're almost big enough.
That's very funny.
lt doesn't even smell like a barn.
They probably deodorize it every morning.
Well, they still crap.
Well, they do. They do.
Over here, pal. Right over here!
There you go! This way. This way.
Take a good shot of that.
Biscuit, here...
Whoa! What's that thing?
They got us in the servants' quarters.
ls that him? No.
Bit too small.
That's him.
Oh, my God.
Maybe he's the kind of horse that just looks good in the paddock.
Wow.
We gotta get to the lead.
Biscuit never goes to the lead.
l know, but we gotta teach him to break first.
lf that monster shakes loose,
we'll never catch him.
What, retrain him?
We got two weeks.
Excuse me.
We'd like to buy your bell.
He didn't tell me you were coming. Oh, probably just an oversight.
Do you want me to turn on some lights or something?
No. No.
No?
Okay. lt's a predatory response.
lf l just brush it past his flank, he'll bolt.
And we just want to teach him to do it with the bell.
How far do you want me to take him? To a hundred feet.
Just so he learns to break first. Okay. Got it.
You ready? Ready.
All right. Here we go.
Oh, come on, Tom! When you gonna work that horse out?
When he wakes up, l guess.
Geez!
For crying out loud.
The whole track?
l just want him to do it once with nothing in front of him.
Yeah, but l can't see out there. That's all right. He can.
Come on, Tom. Tom, please.
Why do you always have to do this? Shit.
Oh, great.
Jesus Christ.
Wow.
Oh, my God.
Tim. Hey.
Pumpkin. Hey. How you doing, Pumpkin?
Are you shy?
Hey, Red?
Oh, my gosh.
Yeah. Guess l should have used you as a jockey instead of a groom.
No, no. lt was...
That was great.
Look, l'm in a little trouble.
l got this horse over in Annex, and l been trying to sell a share of him.
Tough times and all?
l was wondering if maybe you'd breeze him for me.
lf folks saw Red Pollard... Yeah. l'll breeze your horse for you.
lt's on. Good.
Just take him for five furlongs at around a minute one.
Can he do that? Should.
Try it now.
Okay, try it again.
Easy! Easy! Easy!
Look, most of the damage was restricted to his leg.
How bad is it? God, l don't know. lt's shattered.
Eleven, twelve breaks. Something like that.
We're gonna have to operate.
Just sit tight for me.
Well, we're all done.
He'll always limp, but it looks like he's gonna walk again.
Will he ride? No, he's not gonna ride.
You're sure? He won't ride. But he's gonna walk.
You take care. Thank you.
Hey.
You should see the other guy.
You're gonna be fine.
Couple of months, you're gonna be up and around like new.
l'm the one who makes up the stories, remember?
Well, yeah.
Maybe a little longer than that.
Yeah.
Look, l think we're gonna have to scratch.
No. No, don't scratch.
Son, he's a great horse, but he can't run by himself.
Don't scratch.
Call Woolf.
Son, nobody's riding... lt's okay.
Call him.
Are you gonna scratch?
No, we're not gonna scratch.
Red Pollard wants Seabiscuit to win this race
more than anything in the world.
He wouldn't let us scratch.
Thank you much. l appreciate it. You're welcome.
The lceman cometh! What a pinch hitter.
Why, it's like getting Babe Ruth off the bench.
Nerves of steel, ice water in his veins. Why, George Woolf is...
lrrelevant.
They can get the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
as far as l'm concerned. Won't make any difference.
War Admiral is a superior horse with superior breeding.
Doesn't matter who the passenger is.
He's got a strong left lead, Georgie.
Banks like a frigging airplane.
But he might need help switching to it,
so ease him off the rail just before the turn.
Like you did in the Gold Cup. Exactly.
He needs a good warm-up, so take him out slow.
When you do ask him, don't use the whip.
Just flick it twice, show him it's there. He'll know it's time.
Right.
And never on the left side.
They hit him on the left side when he was a baby.
l wish it was you, Johnny. Come on.
l'll be right there with you.
Great. Now, show him the stick at the quarter pole,
and he'll give you a whole new gear.
Okay, now,
force him to that left lead a little earlier,
and he'll give you even more.
Great.
Now, shut the door.
Okay. You know how Smith wants you to fight for the lead by the first turn?
Well, yeah. We were working with that bell.
l was a little nervous about that. No, no, it's fine.
But you gotta give it up on the backstretch.
Give it up? Give him back the lead.
He fights for it, Georgie.
lf you bring him head to head with that other horse,
and he looks him in the eye,
there's no way he loses that race.
You just hold him through that final turn
and let him get a good look at the Admiral.
Then let him go.
lt's not in his feet, Georgie.
lt's right here.
By 10:00 a.m., the closest place to park
was 15 blocks away.
The volume of refreshments alone was staggering.
Seventeen thousand gallons of lemonade.
Sixty thousand hot dogs.
Two thousand kegs of beer.
NBC broadcast the race,
and businesses around America scheduled a half day of work
so their employees could hear the call,
thanks in part to a missive fired by Mr. Howard only the day before.
Look, l know this is a fancy track and all,
but l think they ought to open up the infield,
so normal folks can come see the race.
You shouldn't have to be rich to enjoy something like this.
Seabiscuit entered the race a 2-to-1 underdog,
but you would never know it from the growing noise in the infield.
Get your program!
By the time it was over,
more than 48 million Americans would hear the call.
Okay, it's still kind of soggy at the rails,
so try to keep him out of there.
There's a dry tractor tread about five feet out off the fence.
l walked the track this morning.
Good. Good.
Now, he ought to break just like we worked on.
But there's one more thing.
What? Let him catch me on the backstretch?
You're not the only one who knows this horse.
Safe trip, George.
And a short one. Let's go, Sam.
Good luck, George. Thanks, Nick.
Charley! George.
The two jockeys have acknowledged each other.
lt's a quick hello, like boxers touching gloves.
Come on, George. This is no time for small talk.
Both the horses are now on the main track, and you can hear the roar from the crowd.
There he is!
lt's Seabiscuit by a nose, now by a head.
He's leading War Admiral, pressing on him a neck behind.
They fly toward the clubhouse turn. Who will be into it first?
lt's Seabiscuit heading the turn first and driving for the backstretch!
Now, coming out of the bend, it's Seabiscuit
with a two-length lead coming into the backstretch.
lt's Seabiscuit by two.
Now, back him off, son. Back him off. Back him off.
Come on back, George. Come on, come on, come on.
Now on the backstretch, Seabiscuit still with a two-length lead.
Come on, Georgie. Don't fool around.
l sure hope you're right, Red. Here we go.
Easy, Pops.
God damn it, Johnny.
lt's now War Admiral! lt's War Admiral!
lt's Seabiscuit and War Admiral,
neck and neck as they go into the homestretch!
Close, Pops. Easy, Pops.
That's it.
Come on.
lt's Seabiscuit. Now War Admiral! Now Seabiscuit! Now War Admiral!
Not going now, Pops.
Now Seabiscuit! Now War Admiral!
Do it.
Do it now. Come on, George!
Turn him loose. Turn him loose.
Do it now, George!
So long, Charley!
Turn him loose!
Here comes Seabiscuit!
lt's Seabiscuit by a length!
Come on, Biscuit!
Seabiscuit!
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Congratulations.
Amazing. Congratulations.
Thank you.
lceman, you did it. How does it feel?
Well, l just wish my good friend Red Pollard was up here today instead of me.
He will be.
This concludes our radio broadcast of the race of the century.
Now a word from our sponsor, the American Oil Company.
Money can't buy a finer motor oil...
Easy does it.
Watch it. Watch those wheels.
All hail the conquering hero.
Yes, folks, he's back. The little engine that could.
No more match races for this little pony,
because, quite frankly, they're all out of matches.
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.
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!
55,000 in the stands, 20,000 in the infield,
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.