Red Pollard stood and weighed , which is considered big for a jockey. In 1933, Pollard rode in Ontario at the Woodbine and Fort Erie racetracks. Early in his career, he lost the vision in his right eye due to a traumatic brain injury suffered when he was hit in the head by a rock thrown up by another horse during a training ride. Because he would not have been allowed to ride had the full extent of his injury been known, he kept his vision loss a secret for the rest of his riding career.