Seabiscuit scandal.

• Author: Peters, Charles
• Position: Tilting at Windmills

Laura Hillenbrand is one of the most gifted writers around. She appears, however, to have yielded to a temptation I understand, because I face it in a book I'm now writing. The temptation is to downplay a fact that would otherwise distract from the climactic point of your book.

In Hillenbrand's case, the moment was the 1940 Santa Anita Handicap--then the country's richest race. Seabiscuit won. There is, however, impressive evidence that he was allowed to win by the jockey riding his stablemate, Kayak II. Before the race, the owner of the two horses had said he wanted Seabiscuit to win. This desire appears not to have been ignored.

During the race, as the horses entered the stretch, Kayak II had surged from last place to third. Seabiscuit and another horse were neck and neck for the lead. When Seabiscuit moved ahead, Kayak II's...