His identify is acquainted due to his connection to a beloved Thoroughbred, however the story of Purple Pollard goes past his time with Seabiscuit. He endured a life crammed with ups and downs, however his love of the horse stored him going even within the darkest of occasions. Pollard’s perseverance and his particular reference to “the Biscuit” made him an vital a part of the staff behind the celebrity.
Years after his time on the racetrack, the movie “Seabiscuit” re-introduced racing followers to the gutsy gelding and the rider he bonded with, however behind the movie’s feel-good narrative lies a extra outstanding life: a battered jockey who refused to let his damaged physique maintain him out of the saddle.
John Michael Pollard was born to folks John Aloyisius and Edith (Lord) Pollard on Oct. 27, 1909, the second of seven kids. The household lived comfortably in Edmonton, Alberta, the place his father and his uncle Frank had constructed a brick manufacturing unit on the North Saskatchewan River. Their dwelling was crammed with music and books, which had been lifelong companions for the red-headed younger Johnny. In 1915, the river flooded, threatening the household’s dwelling and washing away the Pollard brothers’ manufacturing unit. The household was bankrupt inside months, dropping every part however their dwelling.
To make ends meet, John took a job as an auto mechanic whereas younger Johnny educated his pony Forest Daybreak to drag a toboggan so he might take work delivering groceries. These hours driving his pony led him to native stables, the place he would barter his labor for an opportunity to trip different horses. At age 15, he persuaded his dad and mom to permit him to pursue life as a jockey. Regardless of his mom’s doubts, they had been nonetheless in dire monetary straits and permitting their son to attempt his hand at that ambition would imply he might escape the scenario they had been in. They allowed him to journey with a household buddy, who introduced the 15-year-old with him to a half-mile observe in Butte, Mont.
The person disappeared, leaving Johnny to fend for himself. He in some way survived as he traversed the bull-ring circuit in quest of rides on these casual half-mile tracks. At 5’6”, he was taller than most of his fellow jockeys, however nonetheless lithe in his teenage years, he was capable of trip at 101 kilos, and his bookish persona made the racetrackers he encountered like him. His purple hair earned him the nickname “Purple,” a moniker he would carry with him the remainder of his profession.
It took Purple greater than a yr to win his first race, which he did at a good in western Canada. Along with his first win, he was a bug boy, driving for “Acey” Smith and going between racetracks round Vancouver, B.C.; Tanforan close to San Francisco; and Tijuana in Mexico. To complement his meager revenue, he competed as an novice boxer, dropping extra fights than he received, however sending no matter cash he scraped collectively to his household again dwelling in Alberta.
Over time, Pollard gained a popularity for working with ailing and anxious horses. His time on the tough and tumble bush tracks had given him perception into the thoughts of those athletes and his endurance and kindness introduced out the perfect in them. That ability would come in useful greater than a decade later when Pollard met a bay gelding named Seabiscuit.
Laura Hillenbrand shares their first assembly in her e book “Seabiscuit: An American Legend.” It was 1936. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was within the midst of his marketing campaign for re-election as President of the US. His New Deal had helped alleviate a number of the struggling that the Nice Melancholy had visited upon the US, however he knew he wanted extra time to drag the nation again from the brink. Omaha had scored the third Triple Crown the yr earlier than, and Warfare Admiral was racing towards his personal Crown the next yr. Seabiscuit, alternatively, had been racing for the legendary Wheatley Secure, however had not had a stellar begin to his profession.
His pedigree predicted greatness: his sire, Laborious Tack, was by Man o’ Warfare and his dam, Swing On, was a daughter of Whisk Broom II, the horse who had lowered the world report for 1 ¼ miles to 2:00 in 1913. However the plain bay colt had not proven something near his progenitors’ excellence in his 2-year-old season, racing 35 occasions and successful solely 5 races. His coach “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons noticed potential within the colt, but it surely was not till Tom Smith received his fingers on Seabiscuit, whom Gladys Phipps bought to Charles Howard for $7,500, that every one of that latent potential was unlocked.
When Pollard met Seabiscuit in August 1936, Smith was nonetheless rehabilitating the colt’s spirit, which had been affected by the heavy racing schedule and lack of consideration to his quirks. Smith put Pollard on the horse and got here away with insights that permit the coach know that the bookish rider was the best match for the burgeoning celebrity. The red-headed jockey would trip Seabiscuit a complete of 30 occasions over the following few seasons and received 18 of these begins, together with his 1940 Santa Anita Handicap victory, the Corridor of Famer’s remaining begin.
Regardless of quite a few accidents from his days within the saddle, Pollard persevered as a jockey, although he did retire for a time – even attempting his hand at coaching – however he at all times returned to driving. His spouse, Agnes, who had been his nurse whereas he recovered from the damaged leg that stored him out of Seabiscuit’s match race with Warfare Admiral, raised their two kids, Norah and John, in Rhode Island whereas Pollard toiled away on the New England circuit. He finally known as it a day when the countless checklist of accidents caught as much as him at age 46. Pollard took jobs across the racetrack, sorting mail in a observe’s mailroom and dealing as a valet, however his alcoholism and bodily points noticed him end his life in a nursing dwelling. He died March 7, 1981, and Agnes adopted two weeks later.
Greater than 20 years after Purple Pollard’s loss of life, Tobey Maguire performed the Canadian Corridor of Famer in a preferred movie adaptation of Hillenbrand’s e book. New generations realized of the connection between rider and horse, the bond between Pollard and Seabiscuit that was an integral a part of the equine icon’s Corridor of Fame profession. That hyperlink between the 2 is a testomony to what horses and racing can do for individuals who make it their life, a soul-deep love that transcends time and place.
