Let’s face it, hollywood churns out a lot of sports movies. Baseball, football, even tennis has been the subject of recent movies. It sees that in recent years, the sport of kings hasn’t gotten the cinematic treatment in quite a while.
Maybe it has something to do with the problems on the set of that HBO series Luck or maybe it’s that often times, they haven’t been that great?
So why not have a look at a few horse racing movies you’ve probably forgotten existed, or maybe you hoped you forgot them or heck maybe you love them.
The best horse racing bets are the ones you know you can win right? Well with these movies, you’re sure to walk away feeling like you took a gamble. Whether it pays off, well, I guess that’s where the luck comes in.
First up, the most recent on our list, is Dreamer.
Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, and a race horse with a broken leg are the perfect mixture for a family drama that’ll be sure to bring the tears on. At least it did for me.
Rotten Tomatoes describes it as, “…formulaic, this horse story’s saving grace is its strong performances.” I guess I can agree with that but I am a sucker for inspirational family movies and this one was pretty good. Watch it with the family.
Let’s take a trip back to the 90s for this next one. I’ll admit it has been forever since I have seen this one and it’s about time for a rewatch. The biggest selling point for this one? It’s excellent cast.
The incomparable Richard Dreyuss, the beautiful Jennifer Tilly, and Mr. Hot Hot Hot himself, David Johansen oh and dare I forget Teri Garr, all star in Let It Ride. Dreyfus is a cab driver who gets a taste of winning and can’t seem to stop gambling. I think I watched it when I was around 12 or so and I remember loving it. I’m recently grown to really love Richard Dreyfuss so I am eager to see it again.
How about a couple more family movies? I’ll admit to never seeing either of them and only knowing one of them existed.
Racing Stripes and The Derby Stallion.
Your sisters probably had crushes on the stars of both of these movies. Racing Stripes stars Sharknado 3‘s own Frankie Muniz voicing a zebra who thinks he is a race horse. I’m not sure you can think of a more adorable racing movie than that. Unless there is like a mouse as a jockey or something. A bunch of barn animals and Hayden Panettiere help this zebra race just like he was meant to. Probably best to sit the kids in front of this one.
The Derby Stallion is High School Musical era Zac Efron forced to play baseball by his dad who decides his heart is really in horses after he is hit with a ball during a game. Family tension, and look hollywood managed to stick baseball into a horse racing movie. This one is sure to be a good one to watch with the family.
Last but not least is one of my childhood favorites. I don’t know what makes me love it and full disclosure I haven’t seen it in probably 20 years, but I do know that I watched it every single time it came on TV.
Bobcat Goldthwait, Dabney Coleman, John Candy
Hot To Trot. Oh yes. Ok, to be fair, this movie has pretty much nothing to do with horse racing, BUT, it has a horse in it that knows the stock market and we all know what a race the stock market can be right?
Bobcat inherits this horse from his dead mother or something and it helps him get rich. Did I mention the horse talks? Did I mention the horse talks AND it’s John Candy providing the voice?
The movie has a whopping o% on Rotten Tomatoes so you must know it’s a winner right? I’ll probably never watch it again just so I can keep those find memories alive. Or I’ll watch it when it gets a blu-ray release. (Let’s be honest, it’s never getting a bluray.)
What do you think? Do you remember any of those movies? Gonna rush out and get your hooves on them so you can watch? See what I did there? Hooves? Because horses…
Just giddy up and go watch! Look I did it again!
Horses!
Garon Cockrell is the Founder and Editor of Pop Culture Beast and host of The Pop Culture Beast Show. He founded the site over seven years ago to have a place on the internet to write about the things he loved. Since then, Garon has become a best-selling author (Demonic and Other Tales), an award winning screenwriter (Best Screenplay 2013 Motor City Nightmares Film Festival), and a cast member on the top rated podcast, Never Not Funny.