Factual error: The Pimlico race track has a modern electronic scoreboard. It's visible when we see the race course in the morning before the race starts as well as after the race. (01:35:00 - 01:42:00)
Factual error: In the shot where Pimlico racetrack is shown and the dateline shows November 1, 1938, the Maryland flag is upside down. The black and gold squares should be at the inside top and they are not. (01:35:10)
Continuity mistake: Before the match race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral, Charles and Mr. Riddle take their seats. They exchange a few words, then Riddle turns away to talk to his seat neighbor, but when the camera cuts to Charles we see Riddle in the background still looking at him as he did before. (01:37:20)
Continuity mistake: When Seabiscuit races War Admiral he has a white snip on his nose and no white markings on his feet, but in the final race of the movie there is no white snip on his nose and that horse has white socks (coloring) on his front feet. (01:43:45 - 02:09:55)
Continuity mistake: When Tick Tock McGlaughlin watches Seabiscuit being prepared for racing again he pretends to be reading a newspaper. When Charles and Tom talk to him he is holding the newspaper open with both hands, but at the end of the conversation he is suddenly holding the folded newspaper in one hand. (01:54:15)
Factual error: In the shot with Howard and Red riding in the thirties vintage Buick, Howard flicks on the car radio, and the sound is instant. In those days, car radios were vacuum tube type, and needed several seconds to warm up before you would hear anything. (01:57:35)
Continuity mistake: Before his first race after his accident Red puts a leather brace on the injured leg. He ties it in front, but when he walks over to Seabiscuit the brace is tied on the side. (01:59:20)
Factual error: During the end credits, some newspaper typesetting material is shown. The type should be shown in reverse with the letters backwards. However, the type is not reversed and you can read the words. (02:07:50)
Factual error: In the shot of the infield at the Saratoga racetrack several Canada geese are shown landing. However, the calls inserted on the soundtrack are the quacks of mallard ducks not the honks of Canada geese.
Factual error: Many of the main characters are using modern-day binoculars (black, plastic) throughout the entire movie.
Revealing mistake: After William Macy interviews Jeff Bridges and when the narrator is describing Seabiscuit's fans (the scenes are about an hour apart), you see shots of people in trees. They are the same shot.
Factual error: Two men are trying to start a John Deere Model D tractor, which backfires, startling the horse. The wrong sound effect is used; it sounds like a V8 engine being turned over by an electric starter. The tractor's flywheel, on the left side, is shown stationary. Turning the flywheel by hand is the usual starting procedure for a JD tractor of '30s vintage. For over 40 years John Deere tractors used a two-cylinder engine, which make a distinctive popping exhaust sound. The movie is right on one thing, JD tractors could backfire.
Factual error: Pollard did not lose his sight in a fight, as the film suggests. He lost it when he was galloping a horse for exercise and a horse going in the opposite direction kicked up a clod of dirt that struck him at the base of skull and knocked out the cerebellum on his left lobe. (right side, left lobe).
Factual error: Statements are made in the movie that War Admiral was "almost 18 hands" tall, when in reality, War Admiral was only 15.3 hands tall. War Admiral's nickname was "the giant killer." Seabiscuit stood 15.2 hands tall. Both horses were considered very small as racehorses.
Factual error: When Red Pollard is showing the doctor his homemade brace, his bare leg shows no sign of having been nearly severed or undergoing multiple surgeries. There are no scars, atrophied muscles, or discoloration of any kind. In reality, Pollard's leg was permanently disfigured.
Revealing mistake: In one scene we get a view of people standing beside a vintage automobile. A license plate is mounted on the vehicle's rear fender and we get a clear view of the back of the license plate. The plate appears to be made out of aluminum and pressed into the plate is a relief image of an antique automobile. What we are seeing is a modern license plate issued by some state for a vintage automobiles. (In Iowa a car must be at least 25 years old to qualify for such a special plate.)
Other mistake: When Marcela and Howard are viewing Seabiscuit for the first time (when he's weaving all over the place) it looks like it was done before as Seabiscuit follows a thin ribbon of disturbed ground that is weaving in and out. Its unlikely any other horse would be weaving like that.
Factual error: Pollard never told Smith and Howard he was blind in one eye. He kept it a secret, presumably until the eye paled or his fame had dropped off and no one really cared any more if he was blind or not.
Factual error: When Frankie Howard died he was not alone - he had two friends with him who were either thrown clear or managed to get clear after the crash. Also, it was not his father that was the first one on the scene. Frankie's friends headed off and summoned a man called Doc (I can't remember his surname) with limited medical knowledge he used for the local lumberjacks.
Factual error: In the final race, Red Pollard is shown with a number 9 on his sleeve, indicating Seabiscuit's starting position. In fact, Seabiscuit had the number 1 starting position (this can be seen on historical footage).
Answer: Red asked for $10 because he needed to see a dentist, and Howard gave him $20.