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Author Interview
James "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons
Transcript: At a race in Maryland that Seabiscuit was competing in, Seabiscuit was in the paddock. He was getting ready to be saddled. Tom Smith was standing by his head getting ready to throw the saddle over him, and an old man came out of the crowd and walked toward them. He was stooped over, and Smith recognized who it was.
It was "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons, Tom Smith's idol, and Seabiscuit's first trainer, and he came up and introduced himself to Smith as if Smith didn't know who he was, and he said, "I hope you wouldn't mind if I could just hold the horse's head while you saddle him, I'd be honored." And Smith for the one time in his career choked up, and he started to cry, and he just quietly handed the reins over to Fitzsimmons, and he saddled the horse, and then Fitzsimmons solemnly handed the reins back and walked back into the crowd.
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