Red Pollard

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 21 May 2004, 11:31

Just watched a documentary on the legendary racehorse Seabiscuit last night on PBS' American Experience. (I haven't seen the movie - it's on my DVDs-to get list). In the documentary Seabiscuit's almost-as-legendary jockey John "Red" Pollard is described as "a hard-bitten ex-prizefighter."

Wasn't able to find any matches in the BR database for a Jnh (or "Red") Pollard of that are - Red was born in 1908, so would've probably been fighting in the 20s.

Anybody know anything about his boxing career?

Here's a link to the show transcript, if anyone is interested:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/seabiscuit ... re/pt.html

Broncano · Post by **Broncano** » 21 May 2004, 12:27

I remember reading that Red was also known by the nickname "Cougar". Try to do a search including that, as it was common for fighters back then to be known by their ring names only.

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 21 May 2004, 14:37

I just left the 1st-name field blank and looked at all the Pollards that came up. Found no "Cougar" Pollard, but did find a "Speedy" Pollard from Yakima WA with one lightweight bout (loss) listed in 1925 and a "Tiger" Pollard, also listed as being from Yakima, with one bout (loss) at weight-unknown in 1930. Could it be one of those two? Might they both refer to the same guy?

crooked nose · Post by **crooked nose** » 21 May 2004, 16:04

I've tried to find Pollard's fight record too. No luck. I figure most if not all of the bouts were non-sanctioned backroom affairs or under a complete alias.
Viking, I'd recommend the full length book by Laura Hillebrand over the movie. Hollywood makes silly changes in these stories, thinking they are improving it. The PBS documentary was very good, but the book fills in details. The life of a jockey is not much different than the life of a prizefighter - weight issues, training, injuries, cheated out of money. In '38 when Seabiscuit was at his peak, the other biggest sports star in America was Henry Armstrong.

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 21 May 2004, 16:11

Thanks, crooked_nose - agreed on the interesting (and unexpected) similarities between fighters and jockeys - I'll bet the risk of serious injury and death is similar for both. Funny - I haven't heard a lot of people calling for horse racing to be banned.

zojo · Post by **zojo** » 23 May 2004, 09:00

Only PETA