Seabiscuit’s Home

Jill's Journal: There’s an old saying very popular in racing, “It’s better to be lucky than good.” Yesterday we enjoyed such an unexpected opportunity that I’m still thanking my lucky stars.

A few of racing’s greatest names have transcended the sport. Zenyatta. Secretariat. Man o’ War. Citation. Seattle Slew. John Henry. And, of course, Seabiscuit, the hardscrabble little horse with the giant heart who defied

all odds and helped lift the morale of our nation during the Great Depression. America loves an underdog who makes good and Seabiscuit was a household name in the 1930s. His wonderful, inspiring story (and comeback) was retold with a bestselling book in 2001 and a major motion picture (nominated for seven Oscars!) staring Tobey Maguire in 2003. Like so many in Lexington, I was an extra for one of crowd scenes.

Seabiscuit’s owner, Charles Howard, had the 15,000-acre Ridgewood Ranch here in Willits, California. Instead of sending the Biscuit to Kentucky after retirement, Howard brought him home to Willits for his stud career. (He also turned the Thoroughbred into a cow pony, but that’s another story).

Seabiscuit died young, at only 14-years-old, in 1947 and Howard would die three years later. While Seabiscuit was buried in an unmarked grave on the ranch, rumor had it that Seabiscuit’s stud barn (which he shared with other big names Kayak II, Ajax, and Noor) is still intact. Our mission this week was to find it. We prepared the girls by letting them watch “Seabiscuit,” the first “grown-up” movie they’ve seen. They loved it.

We started yesterday at the Mendocino County Museum, which has a nice little display of some Seabiscuit memorabilia, including a stall door from a Ridgewood Ranch mare barn and the original sign over the entry to the ranch. However, the ladies at the museum could tell us very little about Ridgewood Ranch, only that sometimes bi-weekly tours are offered during the summer.

So, knowing the general area the ranch was in, we went on a little scavenger hunt. I mean, really, how hard can it be to find one barn on 15,000 acres? Much to our surprise (and very reminiscent of my search for Secretariat’s birthplace in Virginia last July), it was much easier than we thought! And not only did we stumble across the barn, we also just happened to run into the very kind man who just happened to have the key. When he heard we were from Kentucky and were interested in Seabiscuit, he graciously unlocked the padlock and gave us a private tour.

Seabiscuit's massive stall...I think he had more square footage than we do!

The gentleman opened the stall door so the girls could get a good look.

The Howard's sprawling ranch home, built in 1905.

And, if that weren’t enough, he then brought us into another building full of Seabiscuit photos and other memorabilia. And if that weren’t enough, he then brought us to the Howard’s home and gave us a little tour of that too. And if that weren’t enough, he gave the girls each their own hardcover children’s books about Seabiscuit’s famous match race against the Triple Crown champ and East Coast monster War Admiral, which was listened to by over 40 million Americans on the radio in 1938. It turns out this kind man --who took time out from the middle of barbequing hot dogs for 30 friends to show us around -- is the president of the Seabiscuit Heritage Foundation.

Erika closing Seabiscuit's barn door.

It was awesome, it was serendipitous, and it was wonderful. I know I’ve said it before, but we are so lucky, or maybe blessed is the better word. And the girls have a new racing hero from over 70 years ago who was brought to life for them yesterday. We are loving this journey.