There’s No Stopping Kayak’s Neigh-Sayers

Laura Hillenbrand, perhaps suffering from BCS syndrome, misses the point entirely concerning the battle between Kayak II and Seabiscuit in the 1940 Santa Anita Handicap [Jan. 19].

By own admission, there are mountains of viable evidence that Kayak had more to give in the race but Buddy Haas, the jockey, didn’t ask it of him. Hillenbrand spends all her time projecting how futile such an effort would have been, noting all kinds of anecdotal information.

She reads like the media’s recent rapture over Peyton Manning and his run through the playoffs approaching the AFC title game. But, as the Patriots and Panthers showed, athletic competition is not conducted on paper. It is done on the field of play.

And the most important rule is: Never give up. One never knows what might happen next. As the saying goes, that’s why they play the game.

Eric Hainline

Santa Ana