Trivia
The saddle worn by Seabiscuit for most of his races is, in fact, the same saddle worn by Phar Lap, who was Australia's, if not the world's, greatest racehorse ever. Billy Elliot, who rode Phar Lap to victory in the Agua Caliente (the world's richest horserace at the time), gave the saddle to George Woolf after Phar Lap died (under mysterious circumstances) in California. See more...
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Seabiscuit (2003) - 55 mistakes
Directed by Gary Ross, starring Jeff Bridges, Tobey Maguire (add more)
Continuity: In the race for the $100,000 purse (that Rosemont wins), just after Seabiscuit takes the lead, there's a closeup of Seabiscuit's head and Pollard's right leg - Pollard is wearing the brace he made later in the movie after his leg was shattered. Obviously, the shot was taken from those filmed for the Santa Anita race later in the film.
Factual error: Two men are trying to start a John Deere Model D tractor, which backfires, startling the horse. The wrong sound effect is used; it sounds like a V8 engine being turned over by an electric starter. The tractor's flywheel, on the left side, is shown stationary. Turning the flywheel by hand is the usual starting procedure for a JD tractor of '30s vintage. For over 40 years John Deere tractors used a two-cylinder engine, which make a distinctive popping exhaust sound. The movie is right on one thing, JD tractors could backfire.
Deliberate "mistake": In the final race of the film, Seabiscuit performs a flying lead change at the gallop while crossing the finish line, in the famous shot taken underneath his neck. Horses normally only switch their leads around turns while racing; it's something done to relieve pressure on the leading foot. From taking the shot over and over again, the horse playing Seabiscuit was probably tired out and a little tender and began to perform lead changes in other places in an attempt to be more comfortable.
Other: In the hospital scene where Tom Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Howard and the groom are in the waiting room, it is mentioned that the evidence of the surgery taking time is noticeable by the light changing where Mr. Smith remains in the morning. In Seabiscuit, Mr. Howard, or Jeff Bridges, waits all night long to hear the results of the surgery, not Tom Smith.
Factual error: Pollard did not lose his sight in a fight, as the film suggests. He lost it when he was galloping a horse for exercise and a horse going in the opposite direction kicked up a clod of dirt that struck him at the base of skull and knocked out the cerebellum on his left lobe. (right side, left lobe).
Continuity: In the movie, War Admiral is described as standing 18 hands tall, compared to Seabiscuit's 15.2 hands. Although this is not historically correct (according to contemporary sources, both horses stood around 15.2 hands) the size disparity created by the movie is not carried on in the match race, where the two horses appear to be the same size.







