Popcorn Deelites is a thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 race horse much better known for his movie career than his race track exploits.

Foaled in 1998 by Afternoon Deelites out of Turquoise Gal (by Navajo), the gelding

Gelding

A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday...

 ran for six years as a low-level claimer, yet he did manage to win 11 of his 58 starts and accumulate $56,880 in earnings.

Popcorn Deelites' bloodline contains some great names: Damascus

Damascus (horse)

Damascus was a thoroughbred race horse sired by Sword Dancer out of Kerala foaled at the Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Kentucky...

, Bold Ruler

Bold Ruler

Bold Ruler was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse.Bred by the Wheatley Stable of Gladys Mills Phipps, Bold Ruler was foaled on April 6, 1954 at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky to Nasrullah and Miss Disco by Discovery...

, Secretariat

Secretariat (horse)

Secretariat was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in 25 years, setting new race records in two of the three events in the Series—the Kentucky Derby , and the Belmont Stakes —records that still stand today.Secretariat was sired by Bold...

, Ack Ack

Ack Ack (horse)

Ack Ack was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. He raced with success at age two to four, scoring wins in the important 1969 Withers Stakes and Arlington Classic. In 1971 at age five, Ack Ack blossomed into the year's most dominant horse...

, Sword Dancer, Buckpasser

Buckpasser

Buckpasser was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won he won nine of his eleven race starts for international record winnings for a two-year-old of $586,090. Buckpasser was leading broodmare sire in 1983, 1984 and 1989....

, Northern Dancer

Northern Dancer

Northern Dancer was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and the most successful sire of the 20th Century. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association calls him "one of the most influential sires in Thoroughbred history"....

, and Gallant Man

Gallant Man

Gallant Man was a thoroughbred racehorse, named for a horse in a Don Ameche movie.- Career at Kentucky Derby:Gallant Man is remembered primarily for his upset loss in the 1957 Kentucky Derby...

, all on his top line. From his dam he goes back to Bimelech

Bimelech

Bimelech was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse who won two Triple Crown races, was twice named American horse of the year, and is ranked #84 among U.S. racehorses of the 20th century. After retiring to stud, he sired 30 stakes winners and his daughters produced 50 stakes winners.-Early...

, Black Toney

Black Toney

Black Toney was bred by James R. Keene's Castleton Farm. Keene, whose health was failing , sold all his holdings in 1912 to Colonel Edward R. Bradley's Idle Hour Stock Farm in Lexington, Kentucky...

, Johnstown

Johnstown (horse)

Johnstown was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse who won two out of every three races he competed in. Bred at Claiborne Farm, he was purchased by William Woodward, Sr...

, Count Fleet

Count Fleet

Count Fleet was born and died at Stoner Creek Stud farm in Paris, Kentucky, United States. He was a Thoroughbred racehorse and Triple Crown champion in 1943....

, and the very great "blue hen" mare, La Troienne

La Troienne

La Troienne, was one of the most famous and influential Thoroughbred broodmares in twentieth century America. She produced 10 winners while at stud....

.

Popcorn at the movies

Popcorn Deelites also starred in the title role of the 2003 Oscar

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

-nominated Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit (film)

Seabiscuit is a 2003 American biographical film based on the best-selling non-fiction book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand...

. As Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse in the United States. From an inauspicious start, Seabiscuit became an unlikely champion and a symbol of hope to many Americans during the Great Depression...

, he played alongside Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges

Jeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges is an American actor and musician. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart....

 as Seabiscuit's owner Charles S. Howard, Tobey Maguire

Tobey Maguire

Tobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire is an American actor and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, and has achieved his greatest fame for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.-Early life:...

 as the jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

 Red Pollard, Chris Cooper

Chris Cooper (actor)

Christopher W. "Chris" Cooper is an American film actor. He became well known in the late 1990s. He has appeared in supporting performances in several major Hollywood films, including The Bourne Identity, American Beauty, Capote, The Town, The Kingdom, Syriana, October Sky, Seabiscuit, and...

 as his trainer, Tom Smith

Tom Smith (trainer)

Robert Thomas "Tom" Smith was an American thoroughbred race horse trainer. Born in a log cabin in the backwoods of northwest Georgia, as a young man he trained horses for the United States Cavalry and worked on a cattle ranch. In 1934, he was hired as a trainer by the wealthy businessman Charles S...

, Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 jockey, Gary Stevens as the "Ice Man" George Woolf

George Woolf

George Monroe Woolf , nicknamed "The Ice Man", was a Canadian-born thoroughbred race horse jockey and the namesake of the annual jockey's award given by the United States Jockeys' Guild....

, and Hall of Famer Chris McCarron

Chris McCarron

Christopher John "Chris" McCarron is a retired American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey. He is currently working as a racing analyst for TVG Network....

 as Charles Kurtsinger

Charles Kurtsinger

Charles E. Kurtsinger was an American Hall of Fame jockey who won the Triple Crown in 1937.Known as "Charley" but in racing received the nickname "The Flying Dutchman", Kurtsinger was born in Shepherdsville, Kentucky and learned race riding from his jockey father and from veteran rider Mack Garner...

, another Hall of Fame jockey.

Like Seabiscuit, a blood bay

Bay (color)

Bay is a hair coat color of horses, characterized by a reddish brown body color with a black mane, tail, ear edges, and lower legs. Bay is one of the most common coat colors in many horse breeds....

 with dark points, Popcorn Deelites was trained by Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

 based Priscilla Leon and owned by David Hoffmans of Henderson, Nevada

Henderson, Nevada

-Demographics:According to the 2000 census, there were 175,381 people, 66,331 households, and 47,095 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,200.8 people per square mile . There were 71,149 housing units at an average density of 892.8 per square mile...

. In the movie, Popcorn's speciality was to play Seabiscuit breaking from the gate. And because of his natural speed as a sprinter (most of his races were 6 furlong

Furlong

A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to 220 yards, 660 feet, 40 rods, or 10 chains. The exact value of the furlong varies slightly among English-speaking countries....

 events), he also played Seabiscuit in his races. Five other horses also played the Biscuit, each one chosen for their ability to do something the Biscuit did. One was cast especially to lie flat out and sleep. Sleeping was one of Seabiscuit's favorite "activities."

Almost a Fade-out

Before being acquired by Old Friends

Old Friends Equine

Old Friends is a nonprofit equine retirement facility in Georgetown, Kentucky. It is the only thoroughbred retirement facility in the United States that accepts stallions....

, a horse rescue and retirement center founded by Michael Blowen in Georgetown, Kentucky

Georgetown, Kentucky

Georgetown is a city in Scott County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 29,098 at the 2010 census. The original settlement of Lebanon, founded by Rev. Elijah Craig, was renamed in 1790 in honor of President George Washington. It is the home of Georgetown College, a private liberal arts...

, Popcorn was back running in claiming races at Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

's Arapahoe Park. Blowen bought the horse for $1,500, and he now lives at Old Friends with a number of retired racehorses, some of which, unlike Popcorn, were brilliant in their day. 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 the brilliant, but tragic, Exceller

Exceller

Exceller is widely considered one of the best horses to race in the United States not to win a year-end championship. Despite his exemplary achievements as a racehorse, and his unique accomplishment in being the only horse to ever defeat two Triple Crown winners in the same race , Exceller is now...

). In the movie, Seabiscuit, Rich in Dallas runs across the bridge and over the meadow. War Admiral

War Admiral

War Admiral was an American thoroughbred racehorse, the offspring of the great thoroughbred Man o' War and the mare Brushup. He inherited his father's fiery temperament and talent, but did not resemble him physically...

 appears twice in his pedigree, taking him back to the legendary Man o' War

Man O' War (horse)

Man o' War, is considered one of the greatest Thoroughbred racehorses of all time. During his career just after World War I, he won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 in purses....

.