On the 1 November 1938, jockey George Woolf rode Seabiscuit to victory over the former Triple Crown winner War Admiral by 3 lengths in a Pimlico Race Track record time of 1 minute 56.7 seconds, to win $15,000 in what is regarded as one of the greatest match races in horse racing history.

President Franklin D Roosevelt halted a cabinet meeting, to listen to the radio broadcast of the race. More than 40,000 people descended on the Pimlico track, with an estimated 40 million more captivated by the race, in one of the most anticipated sporting events of the 20th century.

War Admiral was the regal ruler of racing. An aristocratic horse that seemed unbeatable. The cult hero Seabiscuit was the underdog, a horse from the other side of the tracks who became a champion.

War Admiral hated starting gates, and a bell was used to start the race, which gave the advantage to War Admiral.

In one of the greatest match races ever run in the history of the turf, the valiant Seabiscuit got off to a stunningly fast start, and ran the great War Admiral into the dirt and dust, to win the race.

1 November 2019