This question lingers and we expect it will linger for years. The Seabiscuit Heritage Foundation appreciates that after 70 years, racing fans young and old, care enough to ask this question.

Seabiscuit is buried at Ridgewood Ranch in Willits, California, the property once owned by Charles and Marcela Howard where ‘Biscuit spent his final years. Seabiscuit was privately owned by the Howards, not by a racing syndicate, and when he died an untimely death at Ridgewood Ranch on May 17, 1947, the Howard family wanted his burial to be personal and private. Their sense of loss was said to be profound and long-lasting.

According to Howard family historian, Colonel Michael C. Howard, USMC (Ret.), great-grandson of Charles S. Howard, the tree that stands over Seabiscuit’s grave still stands, undisturbed, and is under no threat from development. The location of that tree remains a family secret.

Charles and Marcela Howard have both passed. Nevertheless, upon Charles Howard’s death in 1950, Ridgewood Ranch was sold to a logging concern, Welch & Welch. As part of the condition of the sale, the original statue of Seabiscuit was removed by Lindsey C. Howard, Sr. and the site where it stood was paved, permanently changing the landscape.

The statue stood for the next half-century at BingLin Stock Farm, Moorpark, Ca and was eventually donated to the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame, Saratoga Springs, NY by the Howard family.

As a memorial to the champ, in 2007, a replica of this statue was installed at Ridgewood thanks to the generosity of Chris and Anita Lowe of Wiltshire, England. The statue was publicly dedicated with members of the Howard family in attendance and with the blessing of the current ranch owners, Christ’s Church of the Golden Rule.