In this chapter, Hillenbrand introduces Red Pollard, Seabiscuit’s future jockey, as well as his close friend and fellow jockey George Woolf. Pollard (whose given name was Johnny) grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, in a large family that was well off until floods destroyed the family’s brick factory when he was a young boy. After that, the family struggled to make ends meet. His parents instilled in their children a love of books and reading but, while Pollard devoured books, he felt stifled by school and did poorly. He was restless and loved riding his horse, Forest Dawn. As a teenager, he wanted to leave for the riding circuit to become a jockey. His mother was against it, but his father agreed, if he went with a family friend. The two arrived in a small Montana town in 1925, and the friend promptly disappeared, never to be seen again. Pollard, barely 15, was on his own.

It was a tough environment to start out in, with few rules enforced on the track, but some of the locals took a liking to Pollard and let him ride in a few races. He worked hard but won no races.