A while back we asked a selection of “horsey” people and others to give us their favourite horse movies. Here are the movies they chose that are about racing horses in one form or another. These are in date order of when the movie was first released.
National Velvet 1944
The first and oldest of our horse movies also proved to be one of the most popular and the oldest of the horse movies on the list is National Velvet which stars a young Elizabeth Taylor as Velvet Brown and Mickey Rooney as Michael “Mi” Taylor. This film won 2 Oscars and was nominated for 3 others.
International Velvet 1978
International Velvet is an American film directed by the British director, Bryan Forbes. This horse movie stars Tatum O’Neal, Christopher Plummer, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Nanette Newman. It is a sequel to National Velvet.
Phar Lap 1983
The next horse movie, Phar Lap, is Australian and starred Tom Burlingson, Martin Vaughan, Ron Liebman, Judy Morris and James Steele. It is about the champion Australian racehorse after which the film is named.
Champions 1984
Champions is a horse movie about the champion jockey Bob Champion, who was diagnosed with cancer, and how he overcame this to win the Grand National riding Aldaniti. It stars John Hurt, Kirstie Alley, Edward Woodward and Jan Francis. The director, John Irvin, was nominated for an award at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. John Hurt won an award at the Evening Standard British Film Awards in 1985 for his role in this film.
Shergar 1999
Shergar is a movie about the abduction of the racehorse, Shergar, from a stud in Ireland in 1983. The movie stars Mickey Rourke, Sir Ian Holm and Billy Boyle.
Seabiscuit 2003
Seabiscuit is based upon a best selling non-fiction book by Laura Hillebrand. It is loosely based upon the life and racing career of the successful (despite being undersized and overlooked) racehorse Seabiscuit. The film stars Tobey MaGuire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Gary Stephens and William H. Macy. Seabiscuit was nominated for 7 academy awards.
Hidalgo 2004
Hidalgo is based upon the legend of Frank Hopkins, an American distance rider, and his mustang Hidalgo. They raced in Arabia in 1891against Bedouins riding pure-blooded Arabian horses. The movie stars Viggo Mortensen, Zuleika Robinson and Omar Sharif.
Racing Stripes 2005
A family animated comedy movie about an abandoned zebra, Stripes, who believes he is a racehorse and dreams of training for, and competing in, horse races. Starring Hayden Panettiere, Bruce Greenwood, Wendy Malick and M. Emmet Walsh, it also has the voice talents of a whole gamut of others including Joshua Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, Frankie Muniz and Snoop Dog.
Secretariat 2010
The final movie in our list is Secretariat, which is also based upon a book, this time by William Nack. The film shows the life of the race horse, Secretariat, winner of the Triple Crown in 1973. This film stars Diane Lane, John Malkovich, Dylan Walsh, James Cromwell, Kevin Connolly and Scott Glenn. Secretariat won a Christopher Award for Feature Film and a MovieGuide Award for Best Film for Mature Audiences in 2010. The soundtrack on this film is excellent.
That takes us over the finish line with these 9 racers. Which of these movies are your favourites? Do let us know via the comment box below. We look forward to bringing you further articles on horses in film and TV.
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