Even though his grandaddy was Man o' War, voted the greatest horse of the 20th century, Seabiscuit was an unlikely champion. He was not much to look at. Short legs. Knobby knees. Thin little tail. A coat the color of fresh mud pies. Like so many of the men and women from the Great Depression who cheered him on, he looked as though he had seen "hard times". He had. By the time he retired in 1940 about 6 weeks shy of age 7, he had started in almost 90 races, winning about a third of them. Man o' War retired at 3 having won 20 of 21 races. Secretariat, the only other contender for horse of the 20th century, also retired at 3 having won 16 of 21 races, including the Triple Crown. When Seabiscuit won his last race, the "hundred grander"at Santa Anita that until then alluded him, he was old by today's racing standards, which is why his jockey, Red Pollard, affectionately called him "Pops".

What made Seabiscuit special was not the number of races that he won but the heart and spirit he exhibited under punishing odds. Nowhere was this more evident than on November 1, 1938. War Admiral, the son of Man o' War and a Triple Crown winner, was pitted against the scrappy little Biscuit in what was called the "Match of the Century." The match was held at Pimlico in Baltimore, Maryland. Defying all the skeptics that said underdogs win only in the movies and carrying the hopes of many ordinary American people wearied by the Depression, Seabiscuit went on to beat the great War Admiral by four lengths. He was named Horse of the Year for 1938. More importantly, Seabiscuit was "The People's Horse" in the way that, 60 years later, Diana Spencer, would be "The People's Princess." Good days or bad, Seabiscuit captured the public's attention and heart.

After his triumph over War Admiral, Seabiscuit's owner, Charles Howard, continued to race his famous horse. In one race, Seabiscuit ruptured a ligament in his front left leg. Howard brought him back to Ridgewood Ranch in Willits, CA to recuperate. While an oddsmaker may have written off Seabiscuit at this point, his trainer, Tom Smith, and injured jockey, Red Pollard, were of a different mindset. It took almost a year of rehabilitation followed by three racing starts to make his comeback, but come back Seabiscuit did, finishing up his racing career with a win from behind at the Santa Anita Handicap on March 2, 1940. On top of that, Seabiscuit, the little horse that was all courage and grit, set the second fastest mile and a quarter in American racing history.
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Charles Howard retired Seabisucit to Ridgewood Ranch. Six days short of his 14th birthday, Seabiscuit died. Since May 17, 1941, Seabiscuit has been a permanent resident of Mendocino County, buried at an undisclosed site on the former Ridgewood Ranch. On June 23, 2007, a statue of Seabiscuit, molded from an original sculpture made while the thoroughbred was alive, was dedicated in front of the Howard home, which is undergoing restoration.

The old Howard ranch adjoins portions of MRC forestland, north of Ukiah and west of Highway 101. For the first 100 years of its history since pioneer settlement in the 1850s, this general area was used for raising cattle, sheep, horses, and agricultural crops. In 1951 the Howard Estate sold Ridgewood Ranch to Jeff and Elwood Welch, who reportedly outbid Roy Rogers at $24 an acre. The Welch brothers logged the land, extracting old growth redwood and Douglas fir. In 1962, the Church of the Golden Rule purchased the former Howard ranch and has been working with groups from the Willits and Mendocino communities to preserve both the ranch and Seabicuit's heritage.

Photo Credit

Seabiscuit statue with Howard home in the background. Photo taken on June 28, 2007 at Ridgewood Ranch by Doris M. Schoenhoff (MRC).

Secondary Sources

Hillenbrand, Laura. Seabiscuit: An American Legend. New York: Random House, 2003.

Seabiscuit Heritage Foundation at http://www.seabiscuitheritage.org/