Seabiscuit is a Depression-era racehorse that no one wants. People call him lazy or defiant or too spirited to handle. He is passed around from owner to owner and is about to be put down, when a wrangler named Tom Smith and a wealthy car collector named Charles Howard take him in. Though everyone else says that Seabiscuit is worthless, the two decide to race Seabiscuit under jockey Red Pollard. Their horse is too small and their jockey is too big, but Red and Seabiscuit's chemistry and strangely parallel lives give them a bond that makes them unbeatable on the racetrack. Both overcome similiar hardships and injuries, and against all odds both turn out to be champions. The underdog duo gives Americans hope in the midst of Depression, when those on the bottom come out on top and give the nation something to believe in.