The 9 year old Thoroughbred Fighting Furrari had a short and unimpressive career on the racetrack. Since then, however, he’s been a real star in five different life tracks, starting with his starring role in the 2003 movie Seabiscuit and followed by two years working at a Colorado dude ranch alongside the calm Quarter Horses that dominate that line of work.
In his current incarnation as a jumper on the Southern California hunter/jumper scene, “Fred” has won blue ribbons along with the heart of his dedicated young rider, Randi Pomrehn, whose life was turned upside down with the colic-related death of her own horse earlier this year. Along the way, Fred has picked up an entourage of friends and fans.



Fred’s remarkable likeness to the real star of the 1930s racing circuit landed him his Hollywood gig. The film’s head wrangler Rusty Hendrickson found Fred at a racing stable in Kentucky when the horse was 3 years old. Although he was one of five horses that played the role of Seabiscuit, Fred was the horse used in most close-ups and in the scenes of actor Tobey Maguire handling him.
“He has the same head and neck size, and he’s a plain bay with no white marking,” explains Candace Coder-Chew. Her job title is director of print and graphics at the Santa Anita Racetrack, but her passion for horses has led her far beyond that position many times. She first knew Fred through her husband Matthew Chew, a racehorse trainer and one of the wranglers during the film’s production.
The main difference between Fred and the real Seabiscuit is “that Fred’s legs are much better!” Candace notes. Although Candace explains that the personalities of many Thoroughbreds don’t assert themselves during the intense training years on the track, she notes that Fred’s temperament made him the best match for Maguire. “He didn’t have much of a personality, but he was agreeable,” says Candace. “He was very sensible: not spooky.”
Filming Seabiscuit took a year and after that, two of the film’s producers, Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, adopted Fred and sent him to a dude ranch in Colorado. During two years there, he was never the horse that “just anybody” was assigned to, Candace relays, but he found his place there and settled into his job.

PR Man
When the dude ranch was sold, Fred’s owners called Santa Anita to see if the track was interested in taking on the horse for public relations purposes. Santa Anita’s general manager at the time, Hall of Fame jockey and Seabiscuit technical advisor and co-star, Chris McCarron, thought it was a good idea and Candace quickly offered help in assuring Fred’s well-being.
“We’ve had carriage horses here, to pull stewards on the track,” Candace says. “But never a ‘star’ kind of horse. In my 14 years here, it’s a first.” Fred lives at Santa Anita during the track’s two seasons: late December through mid-April and late September through early November. Reprising his Seabiscuit role, Fred is the grand finale on Santa Anita’s free Seabiscuit Tram Tour and he is brought out frequently during racing festivities for meet and greets and photo ops with fans.
During the off-season, Candace arranged for him to be boarded at Encanto Farms in Duarte, just a short distance from Santa Anita. A former eventing rider and lifelong horse-lover, Candace keeps her own horses, mostly rehabbed racehorses, at Encanto Farms, and is good friends with one of the stable’s trainers, Jane Steiner. For the majority of the last three years, Fred got exercise but was not in regular training.
That was until 14 year old Randi Pomrehn entered the picture, unfortunately through the sad circumstances of losing her own horse, Tiki, to complications following a severe colic. A rider since the age of 2, Randi was in training with Jane and campaigning on the Orange County and Los Angeles hunter/jumper circuit successfully. Although devastated by losing Tiki, she hadn’t lost heart for the sport and wanted to continue. The veterinary bills following Tiki’s loss made it difficult for Randi’s family to buy a new mount right away.
“Randi lives and breathes horses,” Jane says. “We were all so upset about what happened and we wanted to find her something to ride. It was Candace (Chew) who said, ‘Get on Fred and see what you think’. So I did. I just played around with him at first, but it was like, ‘Oh my God, I love this horse!’ He’s just lovely and smooth, and he is a really good soul who wants to do his job.”
Born To Jump
Jane and Randi agree that Fred seems cut out for jumping. “It’s as if he was born to do it,” Jane says. “He sees the jump and his ears prick up.”
“He was always the cute horse across the way that we gave carrots to,” adds Randi, who lives in Monrovia. “We didn’t think he had any special talent at first, but then we saw that he really loved jumping and he had good form.”
After just a few months together, Randi and Fred, entered as “Seabiscuit,” entered their first competition, a local schooling show, and did well in a cross-rails class. In early September, the pair took a big step up to a local show at the Oaks in San Juan Capistrano. There, they came in first and second in 2’6” Schooling Jumper classes, in the second instance being runners-up only to their trainer Jane.
Randi reports that Fred easily adapted to the show environment. As word spread that Seabiscuit was on the scene, fans found him. “We had all these little girls coming ‘round to have their picture taken with him,” Randi laughs.
Sired by Mumsfurrari out of a mare by Fighting Fit, Fred seems to enjoy his celebrity, both at the track and on the show circuit. “He loves being doted on,” Randi notes.
“Randi has been doting on him all summer,” confirms Jane. “It’s so nice to see something good come out of something tragic.”
It looks likely that the young rider will be able to continue riding and competing Fred when he is not doing his PR work at Santa Anita, and she is deeply grateful to her trainer for helping her get Fred to ride. She and Jane hope to move him into higher jumping divisions. “I think he would be very solid at the 3’ to 3’3” divisions,” Jane predicts.
Candace is happy to have played her part in pairing Fred and Randi. Helping former racehorses find new lives has been an avocation of hers for many years. She has rehabilitated numerous racehorses herself, and is a longtime active member of the United Pegasus Foundation. With ranches in Hemet and Tehachapi, the non-profit United Pegasus is dedicated to giving California racehorses the chance at either a second career or a safe and healthy life in retirement. (For more information on this organization, visit
www.unitedpegasus.com).
Married to racehorse trainer Matthew Chew and working at the track, Candace has daily reminders of these horses’ value. “Every single one of these horses has something that they can give,” she asserts. “There’s a lot of us that can help find the right thing for these horses to do, and that helps everybody.”
Fred’s career flexibility is a testament to the Thoroughbred’s versatility, Candace says. “I have a wonderful 25 year old Thoroughbred and I wouldn’t give him up for a million bucks!”
As he continues to win ribbons and new fans on the hunter/jumper circuit, Fred seems poised to don yet another career cap: that of an advocate for his breed.
You can visit Seabiscuit (Fred) at Santa Anita Park during the racing seasons, Sept. 26 through Nov. 5 and Dec. 26, 2007 through April 21, 2008. The Seabiscuit Tram Tour is free, and runs each Saturday and Sunday morning at 8:30 and 9:45 from Clockers’ Corner. Also, at Family Fun in the infield on Sunday afternoons, kids under 18 are free with an adult. For information, call: 626-574-7223.