Columnist Ralph Siraco: Seabiscuit movie the betting favorite

Ralph Siraco

Monday, July 28, 2003 | 8:53 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.

If you want to see another "Black Beauty," don't go see the movie "Seabiscuit." If you want another version of "A Day At The Races," you would be better served going to the races, not "Seabiscuit." And Seabiscuit -- the movie -- ain't "Let It Ride."

But the newly released movie Seabiscuit is a hit. For the real racing fan it will entertain. It will certainly take some racing fans down memory lane. But the real winners will be the masses that are movie-goers. And if you are a racing fan and a movie-goer you are really going to enjoy the movie -- based on the best-selling book by Laura Hillenbrand, "Seabiscuit: An American Legend."

Seabiscuit opened in Las Vegas on Friday. Director Gary Ross, who also adapted the book for the big screen, used his passion for his craft and the game to blend a real life story and time into a winner on celluloid.

The story is not new to the big screen. In 1949 "The Story of Seabiscuit" hit theaters starring Barry Fitzgerald and young actress Shirley Temple. This Seabiscuit movie stars Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper and the film debut of Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens. The differences between the two are as diverse as the decades that separate them.

The Hillenbrand brand is clearly on this movie as distributor Universal Studios believes will be a summer blockbuster.

The real Seabiscuit saga certainly was one.

A small beaten up and beaten down horse became the hope of a nation in one of its darkest moments. Seabiscuit came along at a time when this country needed a hero. The most improbable equine became that hero during the Great Depression.

That connection and its time in history is not lost in the movie while tells the story of the three principals -- the owner, trainer, and jockey -- as each is lead on their path, and past, to the doorstep of their meeting and meshing with Seabiscuit.

Jeff Bridges plays owner Charles Howard, a rather kind and generous millionaire who finds an odd-ball trainer and a busted out Shakepeare-quoting jockey, that is as tough in street fights as he is on horses, for his newfound racing stable.

The jockey, Red Pollard, is played by Maguire. And, oh by the way, the rider is blind in one eye.

Then there is the trainer. Chris Cooper takes his character, Tom Smith, who Howard first meets while living in a field with a broken down racehorse, as a likable down to earth guy who stays a grounding force throughout the movie. After accepting a job with Howard, Smith persuades his new boss to buy an uncontrollable broken down Seabiscuit just before he was destined to become dog food and takes Pollard along for the ride.

Then there is Gary Stevens. He plays legendary jockey George Woolf. His performance is as remarkable as it is good. He hits his lines and projects his part with the experience and panache of a veteran actor.

William H. Macy adds the perfect relief as "Tick Tock McGlaughlin," a Walter Winchell of racing.

Although the story of this underdog team is a natural for Hollywood, its presentation on screen is genuine and refreshing. The movie builds understanding of the characters before the Seabiscuit connection is made. Then the action picks up.

From the first sight of its equine star to the climactic conclusion, the movie sends you through an odyssey. And the action on the track takes the viewers into the race like no movie before.

Hall of Fame rider Chris McCarron was tabbed by Ross to be the racing consultant and audiences will not be disappointed by the heart-pumping speed and excitement of the racing sequences.

Of all the scenes in the movie there is one that brings that era to the reality of today. After chasing the bluebloods of the great War Admiral, Howard finally gets his challenge of a match race between his upstart Seabiscuit and the Triple Crown winner. That race, the Pimlico Speclal, was Nov. 1, 1938, in Baltimore. A Depression era America packed the track and millions more listened on the radio as the country stopped to witness the "Race of the Century."

Seabiscuit beat War Admiral that day and gave every down-and-out American new hope.

In the movie, as Smith walks out of the track he sees a dirty program of the day's race. He stoops and picks up the otherwise piece of trash and places it in his pocket as a souvenir of the moment.

That original program today would sell on e-Bay for about $3,500.

Go see the movie, it is decidedly cheaper.