NEW YORK - In the final lines of "Seabiscuit,'' jockey Red Pollard says everybody was wrong. It wasn't the owner, trainer and rider who fixed a broken down racehorse: "He fixed us. Every one of us. And I guess in a way, we kind of fixed each other, too.''

More than 60 years later, thoroughbred racing is hoping Seabiscuit can do it again.

The much-publicized film opens Friday, just in time to give racing another chance to build on its rising popularity.

Racing already has made inroads with the casual fan thanks to Funny Cide's run at the Triple Crown. And track officials have jumped on the Seabiscuit film's promotion wagon to help increase exposure for a sport that improved three spots to 11th in popularity in a 2002 ESPN poll.

"The film is a gift from the marketing gods,'' said Tim Smith, commissioner of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, formed five years ago to generate more interest in racing. "I don't know where it all will lead, but I know it's very positive and promising for the sport.''

Based on the best-selling book "Seabiscuit: An American Legend,'' by Laura Hillenbrand, the film tells the story of three lost men and the horse that brought them together, giving hope to a struggling nation during the Depression.

Until recently, racing's popularity was low. But the public started paying more attention as five of the last seven years produced a Triple Crown contender.

Funny Cide's story was the most heartwarming -- the first gelding to make a Triple try in the Belmont, a group of small-town owners, a jockey cleared of wrongdoing in his Derby ride and a secretive trainer who drew comparisons to Seabiscuit's handler, Tom Smith.

"The film dovetails amazingly with the Triple Crown story of this year,'' Smith said. "And that's another big boost to getting the interest of the general sports fan and those who aren't sports fans. The Belmont was the highest rated of any show on TV that week. Now comes Seabiscuit.''

And hopefully a full field of new fans.

"I think it's going to interest a lot of people in our sport,'' said Chris McCarron, the retired Hall of Fame rider who plays War Admiral's jockey in the film.

McCarron said the story was told with such pageantry that "a lot of people are going to go `Wow, I've never been there' or `I haven't been there in a long time, I'm going back to check it out.' It's going to have a real good shot in the arm for us.''

At venerable Saratoga Race Course, trainer John Ward was anxious to see the film -- and optimistic it will help racing.

"Once the public starts to understand the mystique of racing, of how hard it is to win a race and to train a horse and all the human elements involved, they become fascinated with it,'' Ward said. "And that's the story Seabiscuit tells. The outcome, win or lose, brings out an outpouring of emotions.''

During a recent screening, there were cheers after Seabiscuit defeated Triple Crown winner War Admiral in their famous 1938 match race, and applause at the film's conclusion.

Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, who played jockey George Woolf in the film, was moved to tears the first time he saw "Seabiscuit.'' "It's going to be a `Gone With the Wind' type of thing,'' he told the Thoroughbred Times, a racing industry newsmagazine.

Even before the film hits theaters, a positive impact is being felt in racing circles. Tracks are featuring Seabiscuit giveaways.

At Del Mar, there's Seabiscuit Day on Aug. 2 -- ceramic mugs with the colors of Seabiscuit owner Charles Howard will be given away and Stevens will sign autographs. Similar mugs will be handed out at Saratoga on Sunday.

Dozens of screenings of "Seabiscuit'' were held the past few weeks in the major racing states of California, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland and New York, with many events benefiting racing charities.

At an auction of "Seabiscuit'' memorabilia in Beverly Hills, Calif., a buyer from Virginia paid in the $150,000 range for a battered kangaroo leather saddle trimmed in lizard skin worn by Seabiscuit. Hillenbrand spent at least $17,900 on items, including $13,000 for a shoe worn by Seabiscuit in the race with War Admiral.

For its part, the NTRA has prepared a three-minute infomercial on racing that will play before the film in more than 5,000 theaters through Aug. 21. They've also partnered with Canadian manufacturer Roots and Universal Pictures, which produced the film, in selling Seabiscuit merchandise.

"If racing can't cash in on this one,'' Ward said, "we better get a new guide book."