Tom Smith and Seabiscuit 1879 ? 1957 In 1938, as the United States was recovering from the devastating effects of the Great Depression, the No. 1 newsmaker, ahead of President Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler, was a horse named Seabiscuit. Owned by Charles S. Howard, its remarkable racing career fascinated America as much as the lives of the other men involved in Seabiscuit?s remarkable success story, jockey Red Pollard and trainer Tom Smith. Smith spent his early childhood around horses, and, by age 13, he was an experienced horse breaker. He worked as a Colorado ranch foreman, taming horses and taking care of their medical and daily needs. Involved in horseracing by 1921, Smith showed remarkable skills on the track, turning difficult racehorses, often labeled ?losers,? into winners. Howard, the California auto magnate, hired Smith as a horse trainer in 1935 to establish a successful racing stable. A year later, setting eyes on a crooked-legged horse named Seabiscuit for the first time, Smith told Howard ?Get me that horse.? At the time of his purchase, Seabiscuit had a solid reputation as a horse that ate and slept too much and won too little. But Smith insisted that he had a winner, recognizing the horse?s innate talent, allowing Seabiscuit to sleep as much as he wanted, even giving him a large stable to house a dog, another horse and a monkey as companions. Smith also hired jockey Red Pollard, who had an equal track record of rarely ever seeing the winner?s circle. Yet, the three men and the horse with the turned-out front legs became one of the greatest success stories in modern-day horse racing. Their story, full of personal tragedies and devastating injuries, tells how they overcame all obstacles to make racing history. With their tremendous success, they fascinated and inspired a nation of people experiencing their own woes and triumphs. As a 4-year old in 1936, Seabiscuit earned US$ 168,580 and was named ?Champion Handicap? horse. The prestigious title of ?Horse of the Year,? however, went to another star on the turf, War Admiral, the Triple Crown winner. Seabiscuit and War Admiral finally challenged each other in the famous ?Pimlico Special? match race in 1938. Seabiscuit?s win earned him the title of ?Horse of the Year,? and the ensuing media frenzy and pitched national interest made the men around the horse and Seabiscuit heroes for ordinary men. Smith, Howard and Pollard saw Seabiscuit finally win the world?s richest horse race, the Santa Anita Derby in 1940, in which the horse set a new track record. When Seabiscuit retired from racing, the horse had won US$ 437,730. In 1958, 11 years after his death, Seabiscuit entered the National Racing Hall of Fame. Tom Smith?s achievements as a trainer made him a legend and a cult figure among horsemen. Nicknamed ?Silent Tom,? he felt uneasy with the media; when asked by a reporter to describe Seabiscuit, he answered ?He?s a horse.? Smith left Charles Howard in 1942 to train racehorses for Elizabeth Arden Graham, the cosmetics magnate. He won the 1947 Kentucky Derby title with Jet Pilot for her stable Main Chance Farm. From 1947 to 1949, Smith worked for Dan and Ada L. Rice and their thoroughbred stable, Danada Farms, entering their horse Model Cadet in the 1949 Kentucky Derby. He returned to Graham and worked with horses until he suffered a stroke at age 78. Forced to move to a sanatorium, it was the first time in his life that he was separated from the horses he loved so much. Smith died in 1957 and was honored at the Santa Anita Racetrack with a floral wreath placed on the statue of Seabiscuit on the day of his funeral. In 2001, Smith?s contribution to horse racing was recognized officially wi h his long-overdue induction into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame. (We thank Ms. Laura Hillenbrand, author of the book ?Seabiscuit ? An American Legend? and Ms. Janet O?Brien, Smith?s granddaughter, for their kindness in providing valuable information for this notice.)