Gary Ross has been obsessed with horse racing since childhood. He even asked his parents to hold an adult ceremony for himself on the racecourse of Racecourse . His wife, Alison Thomas, who is also an executive producer, is a frequent visitor to Racecourse. The two later discovered an article "Four Good Legs Between Us" by Laura Hillenbrand in a publication called "American Tradition." After the novel was published, a fierce battle for filming rights broke out, and Rose decided to get in touch with Hillenbrand.
Rose and Hillenbrand talked freely on the phone for two hours. Horse racing is a common interest of the two. Rose specifically mentioned the legend in his eyes, the 1973 The Treble horse racing "Secretariat". Hillenbrand certainly perceives Rose's passion for horse racing, and more importantly, she thinks they love this story for the same reason. She explained: “Many of my readers say that they have never seen horse racing or don’t like horses, but they are deeply moved by my story. I think it’s because of the characters in the story, which is my focus. It is also the reason why I replaced the head of a horse racing horse with the face of a character on the cover of the novel."
Hillenbrand knew that as a writer, he could only tell stories, but he could not present them to the world. Through conversations with Gary Ross, Hillenbrand believed that he was the only person at the helm of the film. The challenge of adapting Hillenbrand's novel is daunting, which means that to choose between difficult choices, Gary Ross must condense the 400-page novel. In his view, the part in the story where the three heroes overcome hardship and gather the courage to fight together is the most noteworthy part of the story. "Pollard has lost his family, Howard has lost his son, Smith has lost his way of life," Ross said. "They are all broken and could have given up, but they helped each other to form a unique family."
"Any good adapted screenplay must be faithful to the spirit of the original," Ross said. "Although I changed some details and added some fictional elements, I grasped the essence of the story and the intention of the novel. Laura is a great one. Collaborator, she is very open, and every change I make will win her approval."
