War Admiral (left, wearing Number 1) and Seabiscuit (right, Number 2)
November 1, 1938: In a rare "match race" between champion horses, Seabiscuit, the leading handicap-winner of the last 2 years, defeats the heavily-favored War Admiral, the 1937 Triple Crown winner, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, home of the Preakness Stakes. It is probably the most famous match race in North American history.
Seabiscuit was older, 5 years old to War Admiral's 4. Most thoroughbreds are retired before they're 5. But War Admiral was Seabiscuit's uncle: War Admiral was a son of Man o' War, the great racehorse of the early 1920s, and Seabiscuit was a grandson of Man o' War.
When Man o' War was 3 years old in 1920, the Triple Crown -- winning the Kentucky Derby in Louisvlle, the Preakness in Baltimore, and the Belmont Stakes just outside New York City, all in the same year -- wasn't yet a big deal. Sir Barton, the year before, had become the 1st horse to do it. Man o' War was eligible to run in all 3, but only ran in the Preakness and the Belmont, winning both. In 1937, at age 3, War Admiral won all 3, ridden by Charles Kurtsinger.
In 1936, at age 3, Seabiscuit hadn't been entered in any of them. It took him until 1937 to start winning stakes races, all of them on the West Coast. In those days, the East and the West really were 2 different racing "circuits," and a horse that ran at one rarely ran at another. Air travel was risky even for humans, and for a strong yet delicate, and easily scared, animal like a horse, it was frowned up. Even train travel wasn't considered good for horses.
But Seabiscuit had been transported across the country, and had won a race at Yonkers, just north of New York City. (It's been mainly a harness racing track since, and the Yonkers Trot is part of the Triple Crown for "trotters," as opposed to "pacers." Don't ask about the difference: It speaks to those who claim that horse racing is cruelty to animals.) So taking him back east to challenge War Admiral, who was again the leading racehorse of 1938, was not a crazy idea.
John "Red" Pollard was Seabiscuit's rider, until an injury on another horse knocked him out for the season. Pollard recommended his friend and fellow Canadian, George Woolf, as a replacement. It was a good choice, as he was used to riding and winning, especially at Santa Anita, Seabiscuit's "home field."
Two attempts to get War Admiral and Seabiscuit to race, both at Belmont Park, ended when Seabiscuit was scratched, as his handlers didn't like tracks that were heavy due to recent rain. Finally, it was set up for November 1, 1938, at Pimlico. The distance was set at the same distance as the Course's best-known race, the Preakness: 1 mile and 3/16ths.
It was dubbed "The Match of the Century," and a full house of 40,000 was on hand. An estimated 40 million listened on radio. (No television yet.) War Admiral was set as a 1-4 favorite -- making Seabiscuit a 4-1 underdog. Pretty much the only racing writers predicting a Seabiscuit victory came from his home base in California.
There was no paddock to be loaded into: The horses were stood together, side by side, and a bell was rung to start them off. Head-to-head races tend to favor fast starters, and War Admiral was considered the fastest starter the "Sport of Kings" had ever known, faster even than his daddy (his opponent's grandpa). And yet, Seabiscuit broke faster, leading by a length after only 20 seconds.
Halfway down the backstretch, War Admiral closed and pulled ahead. Pollard had advised Woolf that, if War Admiral had the lead, he should ease up on Seabiscuit, and let him see his opponent, and then ask for more effort.
It worked: Seabiscuit retook the lead with 200 yards to go. War Admiral ran his best race ever for that distance, but it didn't matter: Seabiscuit won by 4 lengths.
Seabiscuit got hurt in his next race, and, as they recovered together in 1939, Pollard joked that they had four good legs between them (out of six). By the time the 1940 racing season began, Seabiscuit was 7 years old, and, as I said, most thoroughbreds are retired no later than 4. By the standards of most stallions, Seabiscuit was still rather young; but, by the standards of his sport, he was ancient.
And yet, after losing 2 races, Pollard guided him to victory in his 3rd that season, the San Antonio Handicap in Texas. A week later, he won the one West Coast race that had previously eluded him, the Santa Anita Handicap. He was then retired.
Woolf was a diabetic, and lost consciousness and fell during a race at Santa Anita on January 3, 1946. He died the next day, only 42 years old. Later in 1946, Kurtsinger fell victim to pnuemonia and died, only 39. Seabiscuit died in 1947, just short of his 14th birthday. Man o' War also died in 1947, at 31, which is old for any kind of horse. War Admiral lived on until 1959, age 25. Pollard suffered 2 more nasty injuries in races in 1938, and ended up marrying his nurse. He lived on until 1981.
In 1999, Laura Hillenbrand published Seabiscuit: An American Legend, postulating that the reason the American people took to Seabiscuit is that he was an underdog who beat the big boys. Parallels could be drawn to similar sports underdogs who became champions during the Great Depression, including the St. Louis Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" that won the 1934 World Series, and Jim Braddock, the "Cinderella Man" who won the Heavyweight Championship of the World in 1935.
Her book was made into the 2003 film Seabiscuit. Tobey Maguire played Pollard. Gary Stevens, winner of each of the Triple Crown races 3 times, played Woolf. Chris McCarron, who won each of those races twice, and once held the record of 546 thoroughbred races won in a single year, played Kurtsinger.
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November 1, 1938 was a Tuesday. The baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And the NHL season wouldn't start for another 2 days. So there were no scores on this historic day.
