No title

I actually considered painting Seabiscuit 18 months before anyone even knew a book was coming out, let alone a movie on him. You see, long time friend Rick Snider, who's an author and racing writer for the Washington (DC) Times newspaper, was contacted by a woman from DC named Laura Hillenbrand. Laura obviously read Rick's Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup stuff over the years. She needed to know where to research historical material on an old horse named Seabiscuit?

I can clearly recall discussing Laura's ambition with Snider. A major book endeavor on a racehorse. Cool! From my perspective, you always pull for someone who is trying to celebrate Thoroughbred racing out of their own desire, skill and pocketbook. This is precisely what I do as an artist. In essence, we provide free publicity to the industry. Moreover, as in mine and Rick's case with Laura, you pull even harder for someone who's your neighbor. Rick pointed Laura in all the right directions for research and even edited some of her early manuscript. Laura graciously thanked Rick Snider in the now-famous book's attributions.

Today, we laugh about the fact that Rick didn't think "Seabiscuit" would be a huge seller. He'd be the first to admit his misjudgement. Granted, Snider knew it was very well written and would be interesting to Thoroughbred racing fans, but no previous book on horseracing had ever sold well to the general public. Since Laura was an obvious talent, Snider hoped she'd sell out her first printing and go to paperback. In hindsight, no-one envisioned what would ensue after publication .... months as #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List and later a multiple-Oscar nominated movie. As of summer 2004, last I heard, "Seabiscuit" had sold close to 1.5 million copies. So here's to Laura Hillenbrand for breaking down the pop culture barrier on books and movies about Thoroughbred racing!

Let me back up a bit. Pre book publication, the reason I considered painting Seabiscuit was that Laura told Rick she had secured a major New York city publishing house for the book. Snider was quick to tell me this was huge for any author, and went on to say, "And it doesn't stop there; Laura says the rights to the book have been sold to a major movie studio." Hearing this, I figured Seabiscuit would become, at the very least, temporarily popular and the fans of her book might like a nice painting of him.

Well, we've come full circle. Seabiscuit has arguably become the second most popular Thoroughbred in America, behind only Secretariat. Heck, he might even be more popular! My grade school boys know Seabiscuit, but they don't know Secretariat.

With Seabiscuit's story and fame secure, my collectorship began to clamor for an image him. Due to Biscuit's immense popularity and love people gained for him, I knew I had to strive for an all-encompassing composition. I chose to depict the defining race of his career, The Great Match Race in 1938 against War Admiral at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. However, I wanted to tell a complete story of Seabiscuit.

As I contemplated the design, I heard from old friend, Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens. Gary had wowed audiences with his acting performance as Seabiscuit's replacement jockey, George Woolf. Previously, Gary hadn't been in so much as a high school play. He's from Idaho and verbalizes no particular accent. He's also articulate and intelligent. To be asked to play an integral role as a jockey in a Hollywood movie, I suppose it didn't hurt to also be handsome and one of the all-time great American jockeys. Stevens was exactly what the casting director was looking for on many levels. Along with retired Hall of Fame jockey, Chris McCarron, he instructed "SpiderMan," actor Tobey Maguire -- who played regular rider Red Pollard -- on all the nuances of riding a Thoroughbred in a race. McCarron was the technical director, and between he and Gary, they ensured all of the scenes would be authentic-looking. It was one of the best movies I ever saw. Congratulations to all!

Back to my painting. Gary Stevens made one of the most powerful and humbling comments I ever received about my artwork. He said, "Make Seabiscuit your best work. The book was phenomenal and the movie awesome, but in 5, 10, 20 years, your portrayal of Seabiscuit hanging on walls will be the most enduring image of Seabiscuit, because it's a constant visual. Celebrate him well."

Without knowing my philosophy, Stevens was correct. My goal as a narrative artist is always to recapture a timeless moment. I strive to choose the most poignant and memorable moment in a race. For Seabiscuit, this was simple. From the hospital bed, Seabiscuit's injured regular rider, Red Pollard, told new jockey George Woolf to change tactics. Seabiscuit had always been a stalker in a race, laying perhaps 5-7 lengths off the leaders. However, once he made the lead, he was awful tough to pass. In Match race's, the horse which grabs control normally wins. Knowing this, Pollard implored Woolf to gun Seabiscuit from the start, gear down slightly, and let War Admiral catch up. Red said, "When another horse looks Seabiscuit in the eye, he begins to run to parts unknown."

George Woolf followed the instructions to the letter. As the bell jangled to start the race, Woolf aggressively pushed Seabiscuit to the front. Seabiscuit started on the outside, but was able to clear and cross over to the rail path by the first turn and assume command. For all intents and purposes, the race was over.

My research of Pimlico Race Course from 1938 unveiled that there was a huge, stately building on the clubhouse turn. It was called the Members Clubhouse. It burned down in 1966, leaving as its only remnant the cupola and weather vane from its peak. Today, the same cupola is in the infield, and where they stage the winner's ceremony for the Preakness Stakes. The weather vane gets painted in the colors of the winning horse. Hollywood was unable to replicate the Members Clubhouse for the Seabiscuit movie, but it's clearly evident in actual photos from the Great Match Race. There's single reference to it in the movie. After the match race, trainer Tom Smith picks up a program off the ground. It was an authentic. On November 1, 1938, Pimlico used a small picture of the Members Clubhouse as the cover art for the betting program.

So I had my race and its decisive moment. It worked perfectly with my desire to include the Members Clubhouse and rickety, but accurate fencing. I included late-1930 era cars and rabid fans in their suit and ties lining the rails. In conclusion, I felt the only element missing was a portrait of Seabiscuit's head. Unfortunately, he always ran with a hood, or "blinkers" on, so no-one could see his head. I found a perfect photo of him and "ghosted" the portrait into the track.

Thank you for your time in reading my story behind the Seabiscuit painting. As it hangs in your possession, I hope this will help you better describe my thought process as I developed the piece. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call or e-mail.