Suffolk Downs closed for the final time this weekend, calling time on what was once an indispensable part of Boston’s sports scene. The racetrack, like horse racing in general, has experienced a decline in popularity over the decades since the East Boston-based venue first opened in 1935. It finally shutdown (likely for good) on Saturday, and sadly, it was an event that went largely unnoticed by many of Boston’s younger residents. Before you simply acknowledge the sad end to Suffolk Downs and then just carry on living your life, it’s worth noting that the old track is connected with one name you definitely recognize.
Seabiscuit, the famous racehorse chronicled in “that movie we saw with the guy from Spiderman and the Big Lebowski,” not only raced at Suffolk Downs, but actually has some very deep ties to the shuttered track. First, like most places that Seabiscuit raced in, he won there. The video at the top of the page shows the 1937 Massachusetts Handicap, where Seabiscuit charged away from the field to win his seventh consecutive race. The “little” horse set the track record that day, and garnered a winning purse of $51,780 (the second largest take in his career, and by 2014 inflation translates to $855,276.15).
Beyond that, two cool pieces of history:
1. Seabiscuit, as the story goes, was not very heralded until he drew the attention of trainer Tom Smith, who successfully encouraged Charles Howard to buy him (which he did). Smith first saw the ‘Biscuit while attending a race at Suffolk Downs in 1936, according to Laura Hillenbrand’s fantastic biography (Seabiscuit: An American Legend).
2. The famous duel against Seabiscuit’s triple crown-winning rival, War Admiral (the plot of which basically mirrored Rocky IV), was supposed to happen in Boston for the 1938 MassCap. A packed crowd of 60,000 turned out to what they thought was going to be history. In a last second move, however, Seabiscuit scratched due to an injury. The race ended up being a total anticlimax, with War Admiral finishing fourth. It was the only time the mighty horse ever finished out of the money.
Of course, it might have been better for everyone in the country that the duel between the two winners didn’t occur until a match race was put together at the Pimlico race track later that year.
As Hillenbrand explains in full detail in her book, this race was basically a Super Bowl before the Super Bowl even existed. Modern day observers can’t begin to estimate how big a deal the ‘Biscuit was in that time (he was even included in a list of top newsmakers that year, alongside President Roosevelt and Hitler).
The country stopped for just under two minutes to listen on the radio, with more than 40 million tuning in (including FDR). It was an epic duel, with stand-in jockey George Woolf guiding Seabiscuit to a late-charging win, pulling away after shouting at War Admiral’s jockey (Charley Kurtsinger) the famous line: “So long, Charley!”
Here’s the match race, which decided the rivalry that Boston narrowly missed out on:
Featured Image via Seabiscuit Heritage Foundation (Public Domain)
