Movies like The Rocking Horse Winner (1997)
The best movies like The Rocking Horse Winner (1997) are The Black Stallion (1979), 50 to 1 (2014) and Christmas in the Heartland (2017). If The Rocking Horse Winner hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSweet Smell of Success (1957)7.6/10 from 616 votes
- NewestOn Swift Horses (2025)Released 2025
The Black Stallion (1979)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this50 to 1 (2014)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas in the Heartland (2017)
Kara and Jessie are two teenage girls from very different worlds, but with a little Christmas magic, they find they have much more in common than they ever imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoliday (1938)
Johnny Case, a freethinking financier, has finally found the girl of his dreams — Julia Seton, the spoiled daughter of a socially prominent millionaire — and she's agreed to marry him. But when Johnny plans a holiday for the two to enjoy life while they are still young, his fiancée has other plans & that is for Johnny to work in her father's bank!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJoe's Apartment (1996)
A nice guy has just moved to New York and discovers that he must share his run-down apartment with a couple thousand singing, dancing cockroaches.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisAdventures of Dally and Spanky (2019)
A girl inherits a miniature horse that develops an unlikely friendship with her half-sister's Jack Russell Terrier, who takes to riding on the horse's back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDream Horse (2021)
The inspiring true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely race horse bred by small town bartender, Jan Vokes. With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbors to chip in their meager earnings to help raise Dream and compete with the racing elites. Their investment pays off as Dream rises through the ranks and becomes a beacon of hope in their struggling community.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSweet Smell of Success (1957)
New York City newspaper writer J.J. Hunsecker holds considerable sway over public opinion with his Broadway column, but one thing that he can't control is his younger sister, Susan, who is in a relationship with aspiring jazz guitarist Steve Dallas. Hunsecker strongly disapproves of the romance and recruits publicist Sidney Falco to find a way to split the couple, no matter how ruthless the method.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLet It Ride (1989)
An average kind of guy who has a slight problem with gambling goes to the track, and mystically, it seems as though he can't lose, no matter how he bets; and he has an incredible day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRide Like a Girl (2019)
The story of Michelle Payne, the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOn Swift Horses (2025)
Returning from the Korean War, Lee wants to begin a new life with his wife Muriel in California. But when his charismatic brother Julius arrives, their lives begin to change. Julius’s rebellious streak rubs off on Muriel, who secretly steps into the world of race horse gambling. Here she meets a new lover, a fellow woman looking to break free from her restrictive life. Meanwhile, Julius travels to Las Vegas, where he falls in love with a young man he meets at the card tables.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpirited (2022)
Each Christmas Eve, the Ghost of Christmas Present selects one dark soul to be reformed by a visit from three spirits. But this season, he picked the wrong Scrooge. Clint Briggs turns the tables on his ghostly host until Present finds himself reexamining his own past, present and future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA River Runs Through It (1992)
The Maclean brothers, Paul and Norman, live a relatively idyllic life in rural Montana, spending much of their time fly fishing. The sons of a minister, the boys eventually part company when Norman moves east to attend college, leaving his rebellious brother to find trouble back home. When Norman finally returns, the siblings resume their fishing outings, and assess where they've been and where they're going.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFactotum (2005)
This drama centers on Hank Chinaski, the fictional alter-ego of "Factotum" author Charles Bukowski, who wanders around Los Angeles, CA trying to live off jobs which don't interfere with his primary interest, which is writing. Along the way, he fends off the distractions offered by women, drinking and gambling.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tender Bar (2021)
JR is a fatherless boy growing up in the glow of a bar where the bartender, his Uncle Charlie, is the sharpest and most colorful of an assortment of quirky and demonstrative father figures. As the boy’s determined mother struggles to provide her son with opportunities denied to her — and leave the dilapidated home of her outrageous if begrudgingly supportive father — JR begins to gamely, if not always gracefully, pursue his romantic and professional dreams, with one foot persistently placed in Uncle Charlie’s bar.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this27 Dresses (2008)
Altruistic Jane finds herself facing her worst nightmare as her younger sister announces her engagement to the man Jane secretly adores.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSabrina (1995)
After her return from school in Paris, a playboy finally takes notice of his family's chauffeur's daughter Sabrina, who's long had a crush on him, but he questions his more serious brother's motives when he warns against getting involved with her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRacing Stripes (2005)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlicka (2006)
Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets her mind to tame a mustang and prove to her father she can run the ranch. But when tragedy happens, it will take all the love and strength the family can muster to restore hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRamona and Beezus (2010)
Ramona is a little girl with a very big imagination and a nose for mischief. Her playful antics keep everyone in her loving family on their toes, including her older sister Beezus, who's just trying to survive her first year of high school. Through all the ups and downs of childhood, Ramona and Beezus learn that anything's possible when you believe in yourself and rely on each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Rocking Horse Winner?
The closest matches to The Rocking Horse Winner are The Black Stallion (1979), 50 to 1 (2014) and Christmas in the Heartland (2017). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Rocking Horse Winner?
Start with The Black Stallion (1979), the closest match to The Rocking Horse Winner.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Rocking Horse Winner?
Sweet Smell of Success (1957), rated 7.6/10 by 616 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Rocking Horse Winner?
On Swift Horses (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Rocking Horse Winner?
Yes: The Black Stallion (1979), 50 to 1 (2014) and Christmas in the Heartland (2017).
How are movies similar to The Rocking Horse Winner chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Rocking Horse Winner, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.