It’s almost as if there was a whole scene or two that was cut (maybe something around the time that Red asks for the $10 loan?). After seeing two scenes with his parents and then a flashback when he is on the bridge, the whole rest of the family (parents, siblings) are never heard from again, despite Red’s fame.
Anyone know – either from reading the book or knowing something about the making of the film – what the story is here?
I just saw the movie this afternoon and had the same question. I have done around an hour of googling around for info and came up with a biography of Pollard that mentioned his marriage and a daughter named Norah. And in a link to a photo that was supposed to be from the LA Times, but now seems unavailable, a nephew of Pollard(also named John) was mentioned. But other than that I have found nothing, and that’s odd. I too would be interested in what happened to the rest of the family. But maybe it was so sad or so private Pollard chose to not talk about it. He did seem to have a solid marriage though, getting hitched to a private nurse that helped take care of him after one of his many injuries. They were married for forty years according to the one account I read.
That whole “abandonment” thing was pretty much an invention of the movie. The real Red Pollard’s family lived in Canada and was hit hard by the depression. They got him a job at a racetrack while he was still young and from there he started drifting around as a jockey but he wasn’t really “abandoned” as such by his family he just left Canada. The book says that he continued to write to them his whole life but that he never again returned to Canada.
For the basic facts of Red Pollard’s life, look here:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/seabiscuit/mammalsevents/m_pollard.html
As Diogenes notes, the big scene in which the Pollard family abandons Red as a child, during the height of the Depression, is made up. In reality, Red was born in 1909, making him an adult when the Depression hit- and in truth, he’d been on his own long before the Depression struck (he’d been a jockey since he was 15).
Interesting fact about Red Pollard the movie DOESN’T show (perhaps because they knew it would seem like a movie cliche and nobody would believe it!): while he was in the hospital recuperating from the accident that kept him from riding in the match race against War Admiral, Red fell in love with a nurse who was treating him, and he married her. They were together for 40 years.
Thanks for the link. I saw the movie on Saturday and I was also wondering about his family. Great movie!
CJ
I have been thinking, whatever did happen(since the abandonment was made up), there still must have been some kind of serious estrangement in the family.
I mean, he was allowed to leave home at 15, albeit with a guardian, to be a jockey. That’s pretty young. And although he was supposed to have kept in contact by letter, he never did go “home” to Canada, and no mention of his family(at least his parents) coming to visit him is made.
Whatever the real story was, it sounds depressing.
I loved the movie. Yesterday I looked up Seabiscuit and Red Pollard online. All in all, considering the revisions that were made (Pollards family situation, how he was blinded, the way the last race at Santa Anita played out) the movie was pretty true to Seabiscuit’s career and the impact he had. I have to admit, I was getting into the tension in the races, and I was a little weepy at times.
I believe his father did come to the US once to watch his young son race, but was never able to afford the money to make a second trip.
I knew I would find the answer here! Thanks! Wonderful movie. 
I think this is true. And according to racing rules, Red was not even allowed to look over at his dad, he had to remain looking straight ahead as he rode past.
I am glad to see a bit of discussion about Seabiscuit here; I tried once before and gave up.
Not only that, but the movie skips his first major injury (the chest crushing), does not mention (for obvious reasons) that Pollard became something of the Jesse Orosco of jockeys (continuing on much lesser rides on much lesser circuits, well past his usefulness), and doesn’t get into the almost interminable game of scratchings between 'Biscuit and the Admiral’s handlers (discussing in incredible detail in the book).
It is a very good movie though, IMHO.
Also, what’s with War Admiral being 18 hands tall in the movie? War Admiral was not that big (and, the horse used in the movie to play him isn’t either) in fact, he was considered to be on the small side.
Now Seabiscuit was tiny for a racehorse at 15 hands, but In fact War Admiral was only 15 hands 3 inches which is only 3 inches taller than Seabiscuit at the shoulder.
The wierd thing about this change, is that only horse people would even know what they are talking about, and horse people would also know it’s not true.
On the whole an excellent movie, of course.
JohnM. (Red) Pollard was my uncle. He married Agnes and had 2children. He often visited his parents in Canada and my father his brother in California.
Red was my uncle. He married Agnes and had 2 children. He often visited his family in Canada. He also visited my father in California.
Totally cool!
John Pollard, thank you so much for your post. I espect you and other members of your family limit your discusions on John M (Red) Pollard on internet media, however any chance you or anyone in the family has or will write a book about your Uncle and his family’s life. I am very interested on how they lived, how he managed his health, what his and his families life was like, how he managed, and other things.
Thank You