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John "Red" Pollard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Red Pollard | ||
 Red Pollard on Seabiscuit |
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| Occupation: | Jockey | |
| Birthplace: |  Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
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| Birth date: | October 27, 1909 | |
| Death date: | March 7, 1981 (aged 71) | |
| Career wins: | Not found | |
| Major Racing Wins & Honours & Awards | ||
| Major Racing Wins | ||
| Prince of Wales Stakes (1933) King Edward Stakes (1933) Governor's Handicap (1936) Bay Bridge Handicap (1936) World's Fair Handicap (1936) Bay Meadows Handicap (1937) Yonkers Handicap (1937) Massachusetts Handicap (1937) San Juan Capistrano Handicap (1937) San Carlos Handicap (1937) Brooklyn Handicap (1937) San Antonio Handicap (1940) Santa Anita Handicap (1940) |
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| Honours | ||
| Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (1982) | ||
| Significant Horses | ||
| Pompoon, Seabiscuit | ||
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Infobox last updated on: April 1, 2007. |
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John "Red" M. Pollard (October 27, 1909 – March 7, 1981) was a Canadian-born thoroughbred horse racing jockey. A founding member of the Jockeys' Guild in 1940, Pollard rode at racetracks in the United States and is best known for riding Seabiscuit.
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Red Pollard was the grandson of immigrant, Michael Pollard, who came from Ireland in 1850. He was born there around 1834. Upon arriving in the United States, Michael made his first home in New Jersey. About 1855, he moved to Mercer County, Illinois. In 1861, he served in A Co. 9th Illinois Cavalry. In 1863 he married Bridget Moloney in Rock Island, Illinois. She was also an Irish immigrant. He moved to Grundy Center, Iowa in 1870 and stayed there until his death in 1913.
His son John A. Pollard was born there in 1875. John went to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1898. After the turn of the century, he founded the Pollard Bros Brickyard with his brother Joseph. His son, John M. Pollard, was born there in 1909.
Pollard stood 5 feet 7 inches, which is considered tall for a jockey (Eddie Arcaro, for example, stood 5 feet 3 inches). He had also been blinded in his right eye early in his career; not by the blows of an opponent during a boxing match, as the 2003 film suggests, but by a stray rock kicked up by another horse during a training ride on a crowded track that hit his skull and damaged the vision center of his brain. At that time, few jockeys actually wore helmets to prevent just such accidents.
In 1933, he rode in Ontario at Woodbine and Fort Erie Racetracks. Based in California he met with his most famous successes aboard Seabiscuit on whom he won numerous important races including the 1937 Brooklyn Handicap at Old Aqueduct Racetrack in New York, the 1937 Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs in Boston, and the 1940 Santa Anita Handicap at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.
In 1982, Red Pollard was inducted in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
Actor Tobey Maguire portrayed the adult Pollard in the 2003 film Seabiscuit.
- Hillenbrand, Laura Seabiscuit: An American Legend. "The Cougar and the Iceman." (2001) Ballantine Books
- John "Red" Pollard at the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame