Popcorn Deelites

Popcorn Deelites (foaled April 19, 1998) is a thoroughbred race horse who is best known for his movie career.

Foaled in 1998 by Afternoon Deelites out of Turquoise Gal (by Navajo), the gelding ran for six years as a low-level claimer, yet he did win 11 of his 58 starts and accumulated $56,880 in earnings.

Popcorn Deelites' bloodline contains some great names: Damascus, Bold Ruler, Secretariat, Ack Ack, Sword Dancer, Buckpasser, Northern Dancer, and Gallant Man, all on his top line. From his dam he goes back to Bimelech, Black Toney, Johnstown, Count Fleet, and the "blue hen" mare La Troienne.

Movies

Popcorn Deelites also starred in the title role of the 2003 Oscar-nominated Seabiscuit. As Seabiscuit, he played alongside Jeff Bridges as Seabiscuit's owner Charles S. Howard, Tobey Maguire as jockey Red Pollard, Chris Cooper as trainer Tom Smith, Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens as the "Ice Man" George Woolf, and Hall of Famer Chris McCarron as Charles Kurtsinger, another Hall of Fame jockey.

A blood bay with dark points like Seabiscuit, Popcorn Deelites was trained by Phoenix, Arizona-based Priscilla Leon and owned by David Hoffmans of Henderson, Nevada. In the movie, Popcorn's speciality was to play Seabiscuit breaking from the gate. Because of his natural speed as a sprinter (most of his races were 6 furlong events), he also played Seabiscuit in his races. Five other horses also played Seabiscuit, each one chosen for a special ability. One horse was cast especially to lie flat out and sleep.

Retirement

Before being acquired by Old Friends, a horse rescue and retirement center founded by Michael Blowen in Georgetown, Kentucky, Popcorn was back running in claiming races at Colorado's Arapahoe Park. Blowen bought the horse for $1,500, and he now lives at Old Friends with a number of retired racehorses. When not acting or racing, Popcorn enjoys long trots in green pastures and a good carrot.

Another Seabiscuit "star", the 10-year-old Rich in Dallas, lives at the Linn Farm through the combined efforts of Hallie McEvoy, Cathy Riccio and The Exceller Fund (named for Exceller). In the movie Seabiscuit, Rich in Dallas runs across the bridge and over the meadow. War Admiral appears twice in his pedigree, taking him back to Man o' War.

References

• Popcorn Deelites pedigree
• Rich in Dallas'pedigree
• Old Friends official site
• The Exceller Fund
• Our Mims Retirement Haven
• Ex-racehorse adoption
• Rescuing California racehorses
• E.P.O.N.A. The Equine Protection of North America, rescuing horses of all breeds