A Little Horse with a Big Heart

Last Sunday I watched the movie "Seabiscuit" , about one of horse racing's most beloved horses.  Seabiscuit came along during the Great Depression and even though he had a good pedigree (his grandad was the great Man O War) his small size and unimpressive appearance made him a favorite of the 'average Joe'.

Seabiscuit with trainer Tom Smith  Source:  Wikipedia

This little horse showed the world that looks and stature don't count nearly as much as heart and determination.

Called the race of the century, Seabiscuit's most famous race was a match race with War Admiral, which he won decisively. even though War Admiral (who's sire was Man O War) was a Triple Crown winner and a much bigger horse.  Click here to see the race.

Red Pollard was Seabiscuit's jockey for 30 races and the two were considered an unbeatable pair.  Red Pollard was aboard for Seabiscuit's last race before he was retired, the 1940 Santa Anita Handicap.  Click here to see Seabiscuit go out in style.

Red Pollard with Seabiscuit  Source:  Wikipedia

I feel like I have a special connection with Seabiscuit and Red Pollard.  The streets around my mobile home park are Seabiscuit Place, War Admiral Place and Whirlaway Place. 

Why?  Because I live only a few blocks away from the former home of Narragansett Park, a racetrack where all of those horses ran.  Narragansett Park opened in August of 1934 and had a one mile oval track with 22 barns for over 1,000 horses.  One of Whirlaway's most famous races, also a match race with his younger rival Alsab, was run on the track known as 'Gansett' in 1942.  Seabiscuit set a track record there.  There was one drawback to Gansett though - it relied strictly on bringing horses in from the outside as there were very few horse breeders in the area, unlike places such as Churchill Downs in the very heart of horse country.  By the 1960's the interest in horse racing was declining and finally, deeply in debt, the track closed in 1978.

The woman who used to live next door told me that when her son was a youngster he used to hot walk the horses after workouts.  There are several other mobile home parks back-to back besides mine and I have read that some of the jockeys lived there.  And Red Pollard?  He and his wife bought a house here in Pawtucket where they lived after Red retired from horse racing.  I also read that Red died in a nursing home in sight of where the track used to be.  This MAY be the building where he passed away, only a few blocks from my house. 

And both he and his wife are buried at the Notre Dame Cemetery just a couple miles down the road.

The only thing left of Narraganset Park, the racetrack, is a building that used to be the grandstand (or part of it) and is now a discount store, Building 19.

Unless you know its history, you might think it's a pretty weirdly shaped building.  You also might wonder why a full sized model horse greets you at the door.

Or why this sign is hanging from the ceiling.

The area where the track was is now a business park.  If you were born after 1978 you also might wonder why there are horses and jockeys on all the signs.

Hasbro has one of the buildings in the park and there's also some green space.

There was a horse by the name of Charlie Boy that was buried in the infield of the track.  If I ever wake up in the middle of the night and think I hear a horse whinnying I guess I'll know he's still there.

To learn more about Narragansett Park, click here.  I hope you enjoyed learning about my historic neighborhood.