Word: seabiscuit
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...fans craned their necks for a glimpse of the start. It was a day of days for California railbirds. Not only was it the day of the $100,000 Santa Anita Handicap, world's richest horse race, but this was the now-or-never race for doughty old Seabiscuit, darling of U. S. racing fans, Cinderella of the turf...
...there were who did not know what the Biscuit had gone through. Ugly-duckling grandson of glamorous Man o' War, Seabiscuit had been sent out to race 35 times when he was only two years old. Not much as a breadwinner, he was put in a Saratoga claiming race when he was three, but no one thought he was worth $6,000. Shortly afterward, the sturdy little bay caught the eye of San Francisco Automan Charles S. Howard, who bought...
Last week it was the Biscuit and none other who attracted a record crowd to Santa Anita's magnificent track. Could Seabiscuit win the Hundred Grand in his third try? Could he, after a year on the farm,* beat twelve of the country's fastest thoroughbreds? He had outrun a classy field the previous week in a tune-up race. But this time the Biscuit was assigned top weight of 130 lbs., six lbs. more than he carried the week before and 16 to 20 lbs. more than most of his fleet footed rivals...
...these thoughts flashed pell-mell through 75,000 minds, the thudding hoofs were coming closer. By the grandstand they flashed: Austin Taylor's Whichcee in front, Seabiscuit half a length behind. Rounding into the backstretch, the old trouper kept up with Whichcee's swift pace. Down the long stretch, silhouetted against the purple Sierra Madres, the Biscuit seemed glued to Whichcee's tail. Louder & louder the crowd roared as they seesawed coming into the homestretch-Seabiscuit nosing in front, then falling back, then in front again. Approaching the grandstands, Red Pollard flipped his whip and the Biscuit...
...lengths ahead of Whichcee, the patched-up cripple, in his 89th race, had set a new track record (2 min., 1 1/5 sec.) and had added $86,650 to his earnings-to become the biggest money-maker ($437,730) in the history of horse racing. With ear splitting cheers, Seabiscuit took his place alongside Babe Ruth, Bobby Jones, Bill Tilden as one of Sport's immortals...