***SPOILER ALERT*** The bad blood between Kentucky thoroughbred horse-breeders the Goodwins and Dillons date back to the early days of the Civil War. That's when the Dillons decided to join the Union against the Confederate South that the Goodwins fought and died for. In fact it was Thad Goodwin Sr., Russell Hicks, who was gunned down by Capt. John Dillon Sr, Douglas Dumbrille, a then officer in the Union Army as he, under order from President Lincoln, had Goodwin's prized thoroughbred horses forcibly taken away from him.
Now some seventy five years later, in 1938, the feud was reignited when banker and horse breeder John Dillon Jr, Moroni Olsen, turned down a loan to Thad Goodwin Jr, Charles Wladron, who desperately needed the cash to saved his beloved Elmtree Farm. It's at Elmtree where Goodwin bred his champion, over the years, thoroughbreds. The loan was turned down after Goodwin won a gentleman's bet, rolling dice, over Dillon to have a choice to pick any three year old colt at the Dillion Whistle Ranch Farm. To make thing even more complicated Goodwin playing the commodities market heavily invested in cotton futures, hedging his bets, that crashed! This caused him to literally drop dead on the sidewalk from a massive heart-attack.
It's when Dillon's son John, Richard Greene came back from England after studying to be a banker, like his dad, that things started to heat up in the Blue Grass of Kentucky. John wanting to be a horse trainer instead of a banker also got romantically involved with the late Thad Goodwin's daughter Sally, Loretta Young, whom he kept his identity, of being a Dillon, from to win her over.
Using the name Mr. Bossman Jack talks Sally and her Uncle Peter Goodwin, Walter Brennan, into letting him stay at their horse farm and train their only racehorse Bessy's Boy to run in the upcoming Kentucky Derby. It turned out that Bessy's Boy broke down when Sally rode him, after her car broke down, to get help for her dying mom Grace, Leona Roberts, leaving the Goodwin's with no horses for Jack to train.
Finding the note that Old Man Goodwin got from John Dillon, on their bet, about getting one of his prize Three Year Olds Sally together with her Uncle Peter picked up this jet black colt at the Dillon Farm whom they named Bluegrass; And the rest is movie horse-racing history. Great horse racing action sequences coupled with beautiful Technicolor photography makes "Kentucky" a stand out of a movie despite it's schmaltzy and predictable storyline.
Jack's cover, as Mr. Bossman, is blown when Sally finds out he's actually a hated Dillon from the racing secretary as she tried to talk to him before the big race that Bluegress was entered in. It's when Bluegress won, on a foul, that Sally began to realize that Jack, despite being a Dillon, was on the up and up not like, in her mind, his greedy father who, which was a real stretch on Sally's part, drove her dad to his death.
**MAJOR SPOILER** With the big race-the Kentucky Derby-next Jack who had by then confessed to Sally who he really is, a Dillon, tells her not to have Blurgrass hit by his jockey during the race. It will only have him quit and end up the track by the time the race is over. Going against her Uncle Peter's orders, who wanted Bluegrass whipped in the stretch run, both Bluegrass his jockey and Sally ended up in the Churchill Downs Winners Circle. But ironically the old frail, and having a bad ticker on top of all that, Uncle Peter who all his life dreamed in owning a Derby winner wasn't there with them! Uncle Peter left the scene, or this plane of existence, just as the big race ended with his heart, the excitement was just too much, giving out on him.
Superior horse racing movie not only because of the great racing in it but because the acting of Academy Award winning Walter Brennan as Uncle Peter Goodwin as well as the rest of it's top flight cast. There' also the added attraction of having guest appearances in the film of such greats of the American Turf as Man O' War and his 1937 Triple Crown son the speedy War Admiral. There's also making a guest appearance in "Kentucky" the 1935 Triple Crown winner Omaha the only offspring of a Triple Crown winner in horse-racing history who's sire was 1930 Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox who's incidentally also in the movie!
P.S At the start of "Kentucky" we see Uncle Peter asleep on his easy chair with the newspaper, that's covering his face, headline Seabiscuit, who also makes a guest appearance in the film, to face War Admiral at New York's Belmont Park in $100,000.00 Match Race. The Match Race between he two champion horses actually took place at Pimlico, known as Old Hilltop, outside of Baltimore Maryland not in New York's Belmont Park.
Now some seventy five years later, in 1938, the feud was reignited when banker and horse breeder John Dillon Jr, Moroni Olsen, turned down a loan to Thad Goodwin Jr, Charles Wladron, who desperately needed the cash to saved his beloved Elmtree Farm. It's at Elmtree where Goodwin bred his champion, over the years, thoroughbreds. The loan was turned down after Goodwin won a gentleman's bet, rolling dice, over Dillon to have a choice to pick any three year old colt at the Dillion Whistle Ranch Farm. To make thing even more complicated Goodwin playing the commodities market heavily invested in cotton futures, hedging his bets, that crashed! This caused him to literally drop dead on the sidewalk from a massive heart-attack.
It's when Dillon's son John, Richard Greene came back from England after studying to be a banker, like his dad, that things started to heat up in the Blue Grass of Kentucky. John wanting to be a horse trainer instead of a banker also got romantically involved with the late Thad Goodwin's daughter Sally, Loretta Young, whom he kept his identity, of being a Dillon, from to win her over.
Using the name Mr. Bossman Jack talks Sally and her Uncle Peter Goodwin, Walter Brennan, into letting him stay at their horse farm and train their only racehorse Bessy's Boy to run in the upcoming Kentucky Derby. It turned out that Bessy's Boy broke down when Sally rode him, after her car broke down, to get help for her dying mom Grace, Leona Roberts, leaving the Goodwin's with no horses for Jack to train.
Finding the note that Old Man Goodwin got from John Dillon, on their bet, about getting one of his prize Three Year Olds Sally together with her Uncle Peter picked up this jet black colt at the Dillon Farm whom they named Bluegrass; And the rest is movie horse-racing history. Great horse racing action sequences coupled with beautiful Technicolor photography makes "Kentucky" a stand out of a movie despite it's schmaltzy and predictable storyline.
Jack's cover, as Mr. Bossman, is blown when Sally finds out he's actually a hated Dillon from the racing secretary as she tried to talk to him before the big race that Bluegress was entered in. It's when Bluegress won, on a foul, that Sally began to realize that Jack, despite being a Dillon, was on the up and up not like, in her mind, his greedy father who, which was a real stretch on Sally's part, drove her dad to his death.
**MAJOR SPOILER** With the big race-the Kentucky Derby-next Jack who had by then confessed to Sally who he really is, a Dillon, tells her not to have Blurgrass hit by his jockey during the race. It will only have him quit and end up the track by the time the race is over. Going against her Uncle Peter's orders, who wanted Bluegrass whipped in the stretch run, both Bluegrass his jockey and Sally ended up in the Churchill Downs Winners Circle. But ironically the old frail, and having a bad ticker on top of all that, Uncle Peter who all his life dreamed in owning a Derby winner wasn't there with them! Uncle Peter left the scene, or this plane of existence, just as the big race ended with his heart, the excitement was just too much, giving out on him.
Superior horse racing movie not only because of the great racing in it but because the acting of Academy Award winning Walter Brennan as Uncle Peter Goodwin as well as the rest of it's top flight cast. There' also the added attraction of having guest appearances in the film of such greats of the American Turf as Man O' War and his 1937 Triple Crown son the speedy War Admiral. There's also making a guest appearance in "Kentucky" the 1935 Triple Crown winner Omaha the only offspring of a Triple Crown winner in horse-racing history who's sire was 1930 Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox who's incidentally also in the movie!
P.S At the start of "Kentucky" we see Uncle Peter asleep on his easy chair with the newspaper, that's covering his face, headline Seabiscuit, who also makes a guest appearance in the film, to face War Admiral at New York's Belmont Park in $100,000.00 Match Race. The Match Race between he two champion horses actually took place at Pimlico, known as Old Hilltop, outside of Baltimore Maryland not in New York's Belmont Park.