THE opening of Seabiscuit (on the Palace circuit this week) marks a return of the Sport of a Kings to Hollywood. While several releases have included horse racing scenes or figures from the racing industry, the last major release to be centred around horse racing was the 2001 comedy On The Nose. That film, which starred Dan Aykroyd (Coneheads) and Robbie Coltrane (Nuns on the Run) tells the tale of a head in a jar which correctly predicts horse racing results.

Seabiscuit is far from such frivolity. It is based on the non-fiction bestseller by Laura Hillenbrand and chronicles the real life and times of an unlikely champion racehorse which, at his peak, was arguably the most popular sports figure (man or beast) of his time. Seabiscuit won Horse-of-the Year honours in 1938, and as Americans struggled through the Great Depression, earned their rapt attention. This despite having knobbly knees, a half blind jockey (played by Spiderman's Tobey Maguire) and a trainer taken from a wild west revue (played by Chris Cooper, see Player Profile).

Seabiscuit is in fact only the latest in a long line of horseracing movies, stretching back to the 1930s. With its colour, close quarters competition and the added excitement of "beating the odds", horse racing and Hollywood were tailor-made for each other. Among the more celebrated four-legged features of recent times are:

Phar Lap (1984): This horse, an Australian contemporary of Seabiscuit (and whose story possibly inspired Hillenbrand to undertake the book), was written off as useless, but won a staggering number of races before succumbing to injury.

Run For the Roses (1978): Set, as racing aficionados would know, in the famous Kentucky Derby, it tells the heartwarming story of a young Puerto Rican who rides his favourite horse in America's best known race.

The Horse Whisperer (1998): Robert Redford does double duty as director and star of this tale of a man with a unique gift for taming troubled horses.

The Black Stallion (1979): Produced by Francis Ford Coppola and directed by Carol Ballard, while not a direct horse racing film, this is nonetheless a visually stunning adaptation of Walter Farley's classic novel about the adventures of a young boy and his love for a black, Arabian stallion.

Champions (1983): - the true life story of great British jockey, Bob Champion (played by William Hurt in the movie), who is diagnosed as having cancer and is given only eight months to live. Through chemotherapy and extraordinary will power, however, he conquers the disease and makes a victorious comeback, winning the 1981 Grand National Steeplechase.

Blood Sport & In the Frame (Dick Francis): Unquestionably the best-known writer of racing-themed fiction, Dick Francis was himself a champion jockey before turning to books. The two above-named are but a sample of the numerous adaptations (for cinema and TV) of his novels.

A Horse for Danny(1998):

A eleven year-old girl and her trainer father set their sights on a potential champion and wind up in the midst of a bitter political struggle in this inspirational family drama.

With our rich racing history, how is it a Jamaican horse racing story hasn't made it to the big screen? Well, even with long odds there's always hope.

PLAYER PROFILE: SEABISCUIT'S Chris Cooper

Born: Missouri

Film debut: in 1980's Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession, by Nicholas Roeg

1st Big Break: In 1987, director John Sayles cast him as coal miner in Matewan. Subsequently re-teamed with Sayles in City of Hope and then Lone Star, for which he won great acclaim.

Previously worked with horses in The Horse Whisperer (1998) alongside Robert Redford.

Career highlights: won Oscar award 2002 for his performance opposite Meryl Streep in Adaptation.

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