The first Saturday in May will be "Run for the Roses" at Churchill Downs, with NBC's coverage of the 150th Kentucky Derby, the first race of the 2024 Triple Crown, beginning at 2:30 pm ET on May 4 (streaming on Peacock) [For example, "National Velvet" in 1944, "Black Stallion" in 1979, "Black Beauty" in 1994, "Flicka" in 2006, and "War Horse" in 2011 But we would opt for the real-life drama of these horse films and documentaries

The greatest racehorse of all time deserves the greatest rewatchable horse movie of all time The ferocious Penny Chenery, starring Diane Lane, takes on the Boys Club of thoroughbred racing in the early 1970s After the death of her beloved breeder father (Scott Glenn), this business-minded housewife refuses to sell her prized colt Big Red (aka Secretariat) to cover Virginia estate taxes, instead selling future breeding rights

Like Big Red, everything in this 2010 film is built to last The cast is perfect, including John Malkovich (as the comical trainer Lucien Laurin), Margo Martindale (as the no-nonsense secretary who appoints Secretariat), and the late Nelsan Ellis (as the kind-hearted groomer) The standout Secretariat's personality is larger than life You'll get chills knowing that Bid Red made his mark on history by winning the Belmont Stakes by a whopping 31 lengths Every time

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At the end of the film, nominated for Best Picture in 2003, jockey Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire) says 'But not us He fixed us All of us And in a way, I think we fixed each other" Writer-director Gary Ross's slow-burn script doubles as a history lesson that sets the stage for the Great Depression: the diminutive and overlooked Seabiscuit is a small horseman, an equally small horseman, soulful trainer Tom Smith (Chris Cooper), grieving horse owner Charles S Howard (Jeff Bridges), and to the betting crowd hoping for a victory for the diminutive horse, he becomes a symbol of hope for the up-and-coming horseman

The racing scenes are thrilling The bedridden Red tells the other jockeys how to handle Biscuit in the "race of the century" with War Admiral, and later, Red and the injured Biscuit lounge together in the field while he recovers and returns to the winner's circle Randy Newman's music enlivens the film

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We don't often think of horse racing dramas as intimate, but this 2020 charmer certainly is: 2009 Welsh Grand National Champion Dream Alliance, the colt's The story is about her and her couch potato husband, Bryn She and her couch potato husband Brian (Owen Teale) partner with disheartened desk jockey Howard (Damian Lewis) to form a syndicate and share the cost of Dream's steeplechase training Cue the party bus

Most horse films are about second chances Dream's story is not well known, so I won't spoil its significance here Just know that the dark turn is a happy ending, and that you will want to hear the cast sing along to Tom Jones' "Delilah" all the way to the credits

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Loosely inspired, but it counts Writer/director John Gatins came up with the idea for this 2005 family drama after hearing about the miraculous comeback of Mariah's Storm, a thoroughbred who broke her leg in 1993 and was able to race again with the help of her father and son trainers In the film, humble trainer Ben Crane (Kurt Russell) saves a promising mare, Sonador, from disposal after suffering the same injury His plan to eventually get her bred proved ill-fated, but another development reveals that Sonador's racing career was not over after all Ben's daughter Cale, then 11-year-old Dakota Fanning, believes that Sonador should run in the Breeders' Cup Classic

In fact, Mariah's Storm's return was not as prestigious or triumphant as Sonador's (although Mariah's Storm was a successful broodmare and produced Giant's Causeway) I'm not sure why, because, like Cale's mother (Elisabeth Shue), I'd like to see the feisty teenager's passions stirred and Ben's strained relationship with Cale and his gray-haired horse-owning father (Kris Kristofferson) healed Another bonus point is that Sacrifice, who played Sonador, appears in the credits

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If you like your horse movies with romance, this 1991 coming-of-age film is for you Inspired by the life of Sonora Webster Carver, this gentle, G-rated drama tells the story of a horse diver in the 1930s who became an Atlantic City legend She rode her running horse atop a 40-foot tower and together they jumped into an 11-foot-deep pool The film (and Carver's memoir) quickly establishes that no horses were ever injured in the act Sonora, played by the energetic Gabrielle Anwar, suffers a detached retina and loses her sight As the film shows, she then continued diving for another 11 years

Popular actor Michael Sheffling of "Pretty in Pink" and "Sixteen Candles" stars as Al Carver, a handsome trainer at odds with his unsympathetic showman father (Cliff Robertson) 88 refreshing minutes of adventure, respect and love seeking It is long enough to immortalize Sonora, her perseverance in holding on to her dreams, and her bond with her most trusted vehicle, Lightning

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Horses become part of the family This theme of "Dream Horse" and "Dreamer" is elevated to new heights in this 2015 documentary about Cinderella's horse, named Snowman In 1956, Dutch immigrant Harry Delayer was working as a riding instructor at a girls' school On his way to a last-chance horse auction, he gets a flat tire and arrives just before the unclaimed horses are loaded onto a truck headed for slaughter He laid eyes on an 8-year-old Amish plow horse and bought it for $80 Delayer reluctantly sold the gentle giant horse to a neighbor to fulfill his promise But to his surprise, Snowman jumped over the five-foot fence and returned to Delayer Reunited, the DeLyers turned this hidden world-class jumper into a two-time Horse of the Year and a media darling Snowman also became a pet of the DeLyer family, swimming with the children and serving as a diving board

The photos and videos of Snowman's rise to prominence in high-society sports are truly fascinating, not to mention his emotional 1969 retirement ceremony at Madison Square Garden Nor are the 85-year-old Delayer, who recounts how his family hid Jews in Holland during World War II, or the others, nicknamed "Old Galloping," who detail the driving forces that led to their divorce An honest portrait of both horse and man, the story of their last moments together before Snowman's death in 1974 will break (and warm) your heart

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Another gripping film is the 2011 documentary about Buck Brannerman, who was the inspiration for Robert Redford's performance and his double in 1998's The Horse Whisperer See The film, winner of the Sundance Audience Award, follows Buck as he holds clinics for ranchers and horsemen to learn his methods: instead of intimidating and "breaking" horses, he uses patience to "start taming" them Empathy is Buck's true gift Having grown up with an abusive father and having felt his own life was in danger, he can imagine and express how frightened and confused a young horse might be He has learned to control his emotions and work with his horses, not against them His technique for calming the horse is beautiful to watch, as is his willingness to share his own upbringing

The documentary, which also includes interviews with friends, family, and Redford, helps us understand what Buck means when he says, "I help horses with people's problems more often than I help people with horse problems Some horses are so compromised by their troubled owners that even Buck's valiant efforts are beyond their reach The situation will haunt you, but by listening and heeding Buck's words of wisdom, you will be a better person

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