Seabiscuit VS War Admiral

[chadk66]

I imagine most if not all of you have seen this. My wife ran across it and I had never seen it. This was cool to see. I would have liked to seen the fractions of this race because they looked like they were flying the whole time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVT2MPNCqgM

[BELMONT 6-6-09]

Thanks for the posting it was nice to see the real race as I enjoyed the movie.

[trp]

Originally Posted by chadk66

I imagine most if not all of you have seen this. My wife ran across it and I had never seen it. This was cool to see. I would have liked to seen the fractions of this race because they looked like they were flying the whole time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVT2MPNCqgM

The official timing was:

23 3/5, 47 3/5, 1:11 4/5, 1:36 4/5, 1:56 3/5 (new track record)

[mountainman]

Good thread. Had never watched it and came away not totally convinced that the winner was the superior horse. Seabiscuit got the better start and may have tightened War Admiral up just a bit. And the loser seemed a tad intimidated along the rail.

I do think that a Seabiscuit wisely jacked-up to flash uncharacteristic zip, and being the stronger finisher to begin with, was the better horse THAT day. But match them again in some timeless dimension, and I'd be tempted to bet War Admiral at even up odds. Given a dead-equal start and hard-sending ride, I think he probably would out-quick Seabiscuit. Which would change the complexion, since through the interior, War Admiral seemed to have more in reserve than his foe.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by mountainman

Good thread. Had never watched it and came away not totally convinced that the winner was the superior horse. Seabiscuit got the better start and may have tightened War Admiral up just a bit. And the loser seemed a tad intimidated along the rail.

I do think that a Seabiscuit wisely jacked-up to flash uncharacteristic zip, and being the stronger finisher to begin with, was the better horse THAT day. But match them again in some timeless dimension, and I'd be tempted to bet War Admiral at even up odds. Given a dead-equal start and hard-sending ride, I think he probably would out-quick Seabiscuit. Which would change the complexion, since through the interior, War Admiral seemed to have more in reserve than his foe.

It's very possible that War Admiral was the faster horse and lost the race due to tactics.

But Seabiscuit was definitely the superior horse in the sense that matters-- he had a much better career than War Admiral. He went to age 7, lost two photo finishes in the Santa Anita Handicap (which at the time drew the strongest field of any race on the entire American racing calendar) and won a third, won the Hollywood Gold Cup, and shipped all over the country and won as well. He also won two big match races. And he beat large, competitive fields, set track records, carried lots of weight, and set the earnings record. He was an all-time great horse.

War Admiral did win the Triple Crown (over a pretty weak group of 3 year olds), and won a bunch of races over short fields in New York. And his career was much shorter than Seabiscuit's.

Therefore, even though War Admiral was probably faster on his best day, it's justice that Seabiscuit won that race.

[chadk66]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

It's very possible that War Admiral was the faster horse and lost the race due to tactics.

But Seabiscuit was definitely the superior horse in the sense that matters-- he had a much better career than War Admiral. He went to age 7, lost two photo finishes in the Santa Anita Handicap (which at the time drew the strongest field of any race on the entire American racing calendar) and won a third, won the Hollywood Gold Cup, and shipped all over the country and won as well. He also won two big match races. And he beat large, competitive fields, set track records, carried lots of weight, and set the earnings record. He was an all-time great horse.

War Admiral did win the Triple Crown (over a pretty weak group of 3 year olds), and won a bunch of races over short fields in New York. And his career was much shorter than Seabiscuit's.

Therefore, even though War Admiral was probably faster on his best day, it's justice that Seabiscuit won that race.

And Seabiscuit didn't ship via Jet

[mountainman]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

It's very possible that War Admiral was the faster horse and lost the race due to tactics.

But Seabiscuit was definitely the superior horse in the sense that matters-- he had a much better career than War Admiral. He went to age 7, lost two photo finishes in the Santa Anita Handicap (which at the time drew the strongest field of any race on the entire American racing calendar) and won a third, won the Hollywood Gold Cup, and shipped all over the country and won as well. He also won two big match races. And he beat large, competitive fields, set track records, carried lots of weight, and set the earnings record. He was an all-time great horse.

War Admiral did win the Triple Crown (over a pretty weak group of 3 year olds), and won a bunch of races over short fields in New York. And his career was much shorter than Seabiscuit's.

Therefore, even though War Admiral was probably faster on his best day, it's justice that Seabiscuit won that race.

Oldtimers have said Seabiscuit was a machine horse, and the alarm clock in the movie euphemistic for a buzzer.

[chadk66]

I think there were a pile of machine horses back in the days.

[MutuelClerk]

Cool video. They did look fast. But so does Babe Ruth in old baseball footage.

[mikesal57]

Wow...Seabiscuit ran alot of races....

didn't flourish until Tom Smith took over training....

Being a colt....did he ever go into breeding??

imagine a champion running these many races in the present ..hahaha

his only blemish is that he didn't like off tracks..

[chadk66]

Originally Posted by MutuelClerk

Cool video. They did look fast. But so does Babe Ruth in old baseball footage.

true that

[johnhannibalsmith]

Cool stuff. My favorite part is the race caller in the video. If you turned it into a drinking game every time old Blackbeard growls "head" you'd blow a .778 BAC at the wire.