New movie sparks interest in legendary horse's home at Willits Ranch

WILLITS, Calif. (AP) -- A new Hollywood movie about the legendary racehorse Seabiscuit is drawing growing crowds of tourists to the racing icon's home at Ridgewood Ranch, about 140 miles north of San Francisco.

So far, some 1,500 fans have taken tours of the 5,000-acre ranch in Willits, Calif., where the horse lived out its final days. Ranch managers and local officials are bracing for many more as the upcoming movie renews interest in the racing legend.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would have so much interest in this area, as beautiful and as wonderful as I think it is," said Lynn Kennelly, executive director of the Willits Chamber of Commerce.

Ever since Laura Hillenbrand's book "Seabiscuit" hit national best seller lists last year, the chamber has been flooded with calls from people wanting more information about the Ridgewood Ranch, Kennelly said.

A new Hollywood movie starring Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper and "Spider-Man" star Tobey McGuire is scheduled for release next week, while Willits' old Noyo Theater will host an early premiere on Saturday.

The story of the mud-colored horse with knobby knees who became a champion captured the nation's imagination during the gloomy days of the Great Depression. The recent best seller and Hollywood movie has led to a newfound fascination in the horse's tale.

The offspring of the legendary racehorse Man o' War, Seabiscuit lost 17 consecutive races in 1935 before San Francisco automobile magnate Charles Howard saw the horse's potential and put together an unlikely team of trainer Tom Smith and poetry-loving jockey Red Pollard.

The team transformed Seabiscuit into a champion that won 33 of 89 races, making the one-time underdog the number 25 in the 20th century's top 100 race horses. Seabiscuit won a $100,000 purse at the time of his final victory at the 1940 Santa Anita Handicap, breaking the world moneymaking record.

"This is horse racing's equivalent of 'Rocky,' but Rocky with horseshoes," said Keith Chamblin, a spokesman for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association in Lexington, Ky.

After his last race, Seabiscuit spent his retirement at the Ridgewood Ranch, where thousands of fans stopped by to catch a glimpse of the living legend every year.

In 1962, the religious community Christ's Church of the Golden Rule bought the ranch. Since then, the Willits Chamber of Commerce and Willits Museum have worked with church members to accommodate tourists.

The Mendocino Land Trust is working with the church to raise $6 million to buy rights to protect the property from development and provide more public access.

Last year, Willits' government estimated the Seabiscuit ranch tours injected $100,000 into the town's ailing economy.

Ridgewood's Howard stables, where Seabiscuit lived, has taken on an almost spiritual aura for many visitors who can still see its peeling red and white paint and custom cast-iron jockey weather vanes.