Best movies like Ruffian

Horse-breeder Howard Chamberlain has many superstitious quirks but his primary one is that he believes orphans are bad luck and a jinx to be around. This is bad news when 'Gimpy", an orphan, shows up at Chamberlain's horse-ranch in search of a place to stay. But Howard's soft-hearted wife, Madeline, allows the young boy to stay on and work in the barn with the horses. And "Gimpy" breaks Chamberlain's "orphan-jinx" in a big way.

The lives and loves behind the scenes at the racetrack are detailed in this thoroughbred soap opera. An ambitious young trainer, Joel Tarrant (Ty Hardin), enters into an illicit affair with the stable owner's wealthy wife, hot-to-trot Laura Rubio (Suzanne Pleshette), in the hope that someday he'll have enough dough to buy his own horses and stable.

An ex-gambler hooks up with an old flame after his old habit resurfaces and drives off his wife.

Mi Taylor is a young wanderer and opportunist who finds himself in the quiet English countryside home of the Brown family. The youngest daughter, Velvet, has a passion for horses and when she wins the spirited steed Pie in a town lottery, Mi is encouraged to train the horse.

A shrewd millionaire who owns races horses for publicity for his automobile business, claims ownership of a female horse trainer's thoroughbred in order to get the trainer.

Shattered illusions are hard to repair -- especially for a good-hearted zebra named Stripes who's spent his life on a Kentucky farm amidst the sorely mistaken notion that he's a debonair thoroughbred. Once he faces the fact that his stark stripes mark him as different, he decides he'll race anyway. And with help from the young girl who raised him, he just might end up in the winner's circle.

Young lovers Jack and Sally are from families that compete to send horses to the 1938 Kentucky Derby, but during the Civil War, her family sided with the South while his sided with the North--and her Uncle Peter will have nothing to do with Jack's family.

A nosy reporter (Nugent) befriends the dumb Coughlin and pushes the Governor to commute his sentence. Now, Coughlin can ride his family's pride and joy in the Kentucky Derby. BUT, the mean old Warden cancels all paroles--and the idiot decides to escape (even though he's only got 10 more months to serve). So, the reporter has a hunch and goes to see if he can find Coughlin--and the Warden deputizes him!! At this point you might wonder if the boy will make good and win the big race

Posing as relatives, Ralph and Helen Gordon visit Col. Moncrief Gordon's Kentucky mansion, hoping to marry Helen to the colonel's son, Donald. The colonel agrees, but Donald balks at the suggestion, then reveals his secret marriage to Alice Brown. The colonel turns them out, and Ralph conspires with Bob Thurston to frame Donald for theft of Colonel Gordon's wager money and to shanghai him. After 3 years Donald discovers the source of his misfortune, returns, finds his wife, hears of a plot against his father's best racehorse, wrings a complete confession from Thurston, and saves the Derby for his repentant father.

This rare John Ford silent is a charming, sweetly sentimental tale of the relationship between humans and animals told largely from the point of view of a racehorse who observes as her breeder (Henry B. Walthall) is forced to sell her when he loses everything in a poker game. Several of the era’s most famous racehorses make appearances, including the legendary champion thoroughbred Man o’ War.

While traveling with his father, young Alec becomes fascinated by a mysterious Arabian stallion that is brought on board and stabled in the ship he is sailing on. When it tragically sinks both he and the horse survive only to be stranded on a deserted island. He befriends it, so when finally rescued both return to his home where they soon meet Henry Dailey, a once successful trainer. Together they begin training the horse to race against the fastest ones in the world.

Steve Raleight wants to produce a show on Broadway. He finds a backer, Herman Whipple and a leading lady, Sally Lee. But Caroline Whipple forces Steve to use a known star, not a newcomer. Sally purchases a horse, she used to train when her parents had a farm before the depression and with to ex-vaudevillians, Sonny Ledford and Peter Trott she trains it to win a race, providing the money Steve needs for his show.

The true story of jockey Bob Champion who overcame cancer to win the 1981 Grand National

Housewife and mother Penny Chenery agrees to take over her ailing father's Virginia-based Meadow Stables, despite her lack of horse-racing knowledge. Against all odds, Chenery - with the help of veteran trainer Lucien Laurin - manages to navigate the male-dominated business, ultimately fostering the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years.

Casey's family raises and trains race horses, and their latest undersized foal named Casey's Shadow does not seem to have a lot going for it, but may turn out to be a champion.

Set in Paris, Under My Skin stars John Garfield as a washed-up jockey who has stolen money from a crooked gambler (Luther Adler).

Ben Crane believes that a severely injured racehorse deserves another chance. He and his daughter Cale adopt the mare and save it from being sacrificed by the owner.

A lovesick girl and her grandfather groom their filly for the Kentucky Derby.

An alcoholic former horse-trainer perceives in a fifteen-year-old boy a unique gift of horsemanship and makes it possible for the boy to conceive his dream and pursue it.

True story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of their nation.

There's only one way to win a race, and a million ways to lose it." Chasing the Win follows the meteoric rise of a rookie trainer, a down-on-his-luck owner, and their imperfect racehorse after an unprecedented victory thrusts them into the global spotlight of horse racing. Success and fame are followed by the hard-hitting reality of what it means to survive in the Sport of Kings

Bob Hamilton gets into trouble when crooks cause the defeat of his father's horse in the Derby, and it is reported he is in with the crooks. The old man disowns him and his sweetheart, Patricia , breaks their engagement. So Bob and "Skipper", the also-suspected trainer, head for the western tracks, taking with them the horse Hamilton Senior forced them to buy, determined to make good and prove they are on the level.

Cricket West is a hopeful actress with a plan and a pair of vocal chords that bring down the house. Along with her eccentric aunt, she plays host to the local jockeys, whose leader is the cocky but highly skilled Timmie Donovan. A young English gentleman comes to town convincing Donovan to ride his horse in a high stakes race.

David Palmer, a young chemist, returns to his father's Indiana farm, to marry a local school teacher, Ruth Treadwell. David meets again his father's horse-trainer, Ben Lathrop, whose daughter, Cissy, has left high school to help her father. Palmer marries and becomes wealthy through an invention, and is able to indulge his socially-ambitious wife. His father dies and Palmer returns to Indiana, where his interest in harness-racing is rekindled, as is his interest in Cissy Lathrop.

Jimmy Easter is a jockey who gets shook up when he is responsible for the death of a fellow rider during a race. He gets back down to business, however, when the daughter of his ex-boss shows her faith in him.

Little Johnny Jones is a jockey who is in love with his all-American sweetheart, Mary Baker, and also his career as the rider of thoroughbred horses. But he almost loses both when he is tricked by a showgirl, Vivian Dale. His story of vindication swings from the racetracks of America to England and the historical National Derby, with plenty of red-white-and-blue bunting waving behind the little patriot.

A dog and a horse become unlikely allies when they attempt to thwart a crooked gambler from rigging a race.

A young man is determined to turn his beloved racehorse, which is blind, into a champion.

A Native American man trains a horse for the Kentucky Derby.

A boozy former veterinarian and a teenage orphan team together with dreams of entering a broken-down horse in the big race.

When a gambler is accused of murder, the pretty orphanage employee he loves sets out to prove him innocent of the crime.

This is the story of the foundation sire of the Morgan Horse Breed.

When a friend of Charlie's is found kicked to death by his own race horse on board a Honolulu-bound liner, the detective discovers foul play and uncovers an international gambling ring.

A young orphan girl wants a small-time gambler to be her father.

Bookmakers try to fix a horse race.

After the sudden death of her father leaves a teenage girl without a family, she becomes lost in her own anger and sadness. Her family doctor (Daryl Hannah) informs her that her father had a secret, that the mother she never knew (Claire Forlani) was alive and well. When she travels to meet her, she befriends a horse trainer (Louis Gossett Jr) and discovers that in caring for the horse, she is able to overcome her hardships and emotional trauma. Together they begin to win many races and upset the favorites, owned by an egocentric mogul (Eric Roberts). Through the victories and new friendships she forms, she learns to find her way back to happiness.

A jockey tries to overcome the reputation of his father, who once threw a race.

College student Jimmy Shaw inherits a racehorse, named Lightning Lad, and sells stock to fellow students in order to obtain funds for racing the horse. Lightning Lad wins very race he is entered in. Marion Braddock, a spoiled rich girl who owns a racing stable offers to buy Lightning Lad, but Jimmy refuses to sell. The day of the big handicap-race arrives and Jimmy and his fellow stockholders are on their way to the track. But a group of gamblers, betting on Lightning Lad to lose, have some skullduggery plans to ensure Lightning Lad does not win the race.

Katie O'Doone is left a worthless, run-down estate and a thoroughbred race horse. She mortgages the property in order to get the money needed to enter her horse in the Derby. Dennis Reilly, a wealthy sportsman, also has a horse in the race and his jockey accidentally runs Reilly's horse into Kate's horse, causing her horse to lose. She swears vengeance on O'Reilly. She is forced to go to work for a crooked bookie, Jake Trumbull, and a crooked competitor of Reilly's,Tod Cuyler, who plan on switching a dead-ringer horse for Reilly's favored-to-win horse, and clean up betting against Reilly's horse.

A horse breeder's granddaughter falls in love with a gambler in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Growing up among horses at her parents' stud farm, Zoé dreams of becoming a jockey and forms a deep bond with a young horse. A terrible accident threatens to end their racing careers, but they fight to reach victory together.

A misfit group of New Mexico cowboys find themselves on the journey of a lifetime when they learn their crooked-footed racehorse qualifies to run in the Kentucky Derby. Based on the true story of Mine That Bird, the cowboys must overcome impossible odds even before they reach Churchill Downs and the land of Kentucky's blue bloods.

An agent for horse jockeys faces his greatest challenge.

Horse trainer Shawn O'Hara and his lovely niece, Margaret, come to America to escape the memory of an accident involving Margaret's brother, Danny. Working with thoroughbreds in Kentucky, Shawn takes a liking to a yearling named Seabiscuit, and fights to convince the horse's owner that the tiny horse with big knees will become a top-notch racehorse. Meanwhile, Margaret begins a tentative relationship with jockey Ted Knowles, but is haunted by her brother's death in a steeplechase spill. Written by Ray Hamel

A champion jockey is banned from racing so spends his time helping a young lad to become the next champion.

A horse with great potential is reluctantly sold by the breeder and by chance passes through multiple hands who do not treat him well.

A tomboyish juvenile delinquent, Paschal Draney, is sent to live in a foster home run by a well-known horse breeder where he befriends a Thoroughbred seemingly crippled by a congenital eye defect.

Juanito, a boy from Puerto Rico, finds himself in Kentucky and drawn to a thoroughbred horse. He believes the horse can win the Derby and eventually others around him start to think it's possible.

Good-natured gambler Marty Black falls into ownership of a booking joint but soon falls on hard times. His one out is a marker for half-ownership in a young thoroughbred, which he quickly calls in. He discovers the other owner to be a young woman from an old horse racing family who wants to protect her colt almost as much as Marty wants to rush him into big races for a fast buck. While they clash, Marty soon comes to understand the human bond with the horses and what it means to be a thoroughbred.

The story revolves around a colt born in Kentucky and named "Blue Grass". and the training of the colt to win the Kentuck Derby. and how all of that affected the lives, fortunes and, relationships and romances of the people associated with the colt's race-track career.