Factual error: When Frankie Howard died he was not alone - he had two friends with him who were either thrown clear or managed to get clear after the crash. Also, it was not his father that was the first one on the scene. Frankie's friends headed off and summoned a man called Doc (I can't remember his surname) with limited medical knowledge he used for the local lumberjacks.
Factual error: In the final race, Red Pollard is shown with a number 9 on his sleeve, indicating Seabiscuit's starting position. In fact, Seabiscuit had the number 1 starting position (this can be seen on historical footage).
Factual error: In the final race, one of the horse's saddle pad flips up in the wind and reveals a synthetic-type foam rubber lining. This was unavailable in 1938.
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.
Continuity mistake: Early in the movie when Seabiscuit is shown getting "whipped as many times as possible" to break him, he is being whipped on the right side. Later, Red tells Wolfe prior to the match race not to whip him on the left side because that was where he was whipped as a baby.
Other mistake: 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.
Continuity mistake: In Seabiscuit's first race under Pollard, at the start the announcer says, "Pirate Cove breaks first with Geronimo on the outside. Silver Treasure is third followed by Seabiscuit." But when it cuts to Seabiscuit, there are six horses in front of him, placing Seabiscuit seventh. Seabiscuit would have to be barely moving to lose that much ground that fast.
Factual error: During the times where Red is in the hospital, they show Red several times with a cotton blanket with a certain type of weaving they didn't use until the 1960's. In the 30's they were still using single weave blankets. Kind of hard to explain, but older nurses could tell you.
Factual error: The license plates on the cars were dated TX 1937. I don't recall the movie ever happening in TX and they had not reached 1937 on the time line, yet.
Factual error: During the end credits, some newspaper typesetting material is shown. The type should be shown in reverse with the letters backwards. However, the type is not reversed and you can read the words. (02:07:50)
Factual error: In the scene where the Seabiscuit Special is headed East, they make a stop in Albuquerque. If you look closely, in one shot there are palm trees in the background. There are no palm trees in the vicinity of the Albuquerque train station. (01:21:10)
Factual error: In the shot with Howard and Red riding in the thirties vintage Buick, Howard flicks on the car radio, and the sound is instant. In those days, car radios were vacuum tube type, and needed several seconds to warm up before you would hear anything. (01:57:35)
Factual error: There is a scene at Saratoga where the grandstand is viewed from the backstretch. In the 30's the grandstand was not that large. Since then, there have been several additions to the grandstand. You can plainly see the new clubhouse (the white area on the left) which was just added recently. In fact this particular view should have shown the "Wilson Mile" chute which is no longer in existence but was in the 30's. (00:48:25)
Factual error: Orange twine was shown to tie bales of straw, twine of that type wasn't used until the late 70's or early 80's.
Factual error: When Seabiscuit and crew are returning by train to California after the big match race in Baltimore, the locomotive seen is a distinctive model used only by railroads in Canada.
Factual error: In a scene that is captioned: Tijuana, Mexico 1932; Jeff Bridges is being driven in a 1936-7 Buick.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where everyone is waiting for Red to get out of surgery, a nurse walks by with a stethoscope around her neck. This is a mistake for a couple of reasons. Number 1, it is a modern style Littman stethoscope that wasn't used until the 1970's. The old stethoscopes of the 30's look really different than they do now. Also, back then, nurses didn't routinely carry stethoscopes like they do these days to do assessments.
Factual error: The Pimlico race track has a modern electronic scoreboard. It's visible when we see the race course in the morning before the race starts as well as after the race. (01:35:00 - 01:42:00)
Factual error: In the scene where Red is with the Mexican girl and half the screen goes dark to show that he's blind in one eye, it should actually be less than half the screen. The visual fields of the eyes overlap to allow for depth perception. You can see for yourself by putting a pencil vertically at the tip of your nose and closing one eye - if you look straight ahead you can still see things on the other side of the pencil. Red should be able to see slightly more than half of what's in front of him. (00:32:45)
Continuity mistake: When Tick Tock McGlaughlin watches Seabiscuit being prepared for racing again he pretends to be reading a newspaper. When Charles and Tom talk to him he is holding the newspaper open with both hands, but at the end of the conversation he is suddenly holding the folded newspaper in one hand. (01:54:15)
Answer: Red asked for $10 because he needed to see a dentist, and Howard gave him $20.