Dick Francis: Blood Sport (1989)

Cleveland teams with an insurance investigator in the search for a stolen $6 million dollar horse in the Canadian Rockies.

Director:

Harvey Hart

Writers:

Dick Francis (novel), Andrew Payne (screenplay)

Stars:

Ian McShane, Heath Lamberts, Lloyd Bochner

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ian McShane	...	David Cleveland
Heath Lamberts	...	Walt Prensala
Lloyd Bochner	...	James Culham Offen
Kenneth Welsh	...	Harry Teller
Patrick Macnee	...	Geoffrey Keeble
Carolyn Dunn	...	Lynnie Teller
Jennifer Dale	...	Eunice Teller
Timothy Webber	...	Matt Clive
Laurie Paton	...	Yola Clive
Cameron Graham	...	Peter Teller
Barbara Franklin	...	Eva
R.D. Reid	...	Hagstrom
Louis Tripp	...	Hagstrom Boy
Lawrence King-Phillips	...	Mike
Tom Heaton	...	Wrangler

Storyline

Jockey Club investigator David Cleveland journeys to Canada to apprehend a notorious horse doper and while there is coaxed by his supervisor to help rich horse breeder Harry Teller. Teller has been trying to find Chrysallis, his $6 million dollar stud bay stallion, mistakenly kidnapped by hijackers and presumed dead. Although Cleveland initially resists the case, an attempt on Teller's life convinces him the horse is still alive. Cleveland is intrigued further by Teller's hard-drinking, lonely and curvaceous second wife as well as his nubile blond daughter, both of whom are attracted to him. He teams with an overweight insurance investigator to track down the animal as clues take them to dude ranch in the Canadian Rockies.

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Plot Keywords:

horse | insurance investigator | stallion | dude ranch | horse racing | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Details

Country:

Ireland Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 October 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blood Sport

Filming Locations:

Ontario Jockey Club, Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Axel Springer/Multimedia Productions, Comedia Entertainment Inc., Dick Francis Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

David Cleveland gets Walt Prensela to enlarge a still from the video that Peter Teller shot of the attack on his father. From an image that consists of a mere 10x10 pixels, Prensela is able to resolve detail that was not present in the original, and end up with a recognisable photo of the attackers' faces. Technology is not that good.

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Quotes

James Culham Offen: When it comes to horses, Mr. Cleveland, there's no such thing as a certainty - on or off the track.

User Reviews

Never seen it, but I have some audio books on tape

The character of David Cleveland wasn't in Blood Sport - he was in Slay-Ride.

In the book of Blood Sport, David Cleveland is called Gene Hawkins.

I've never seen this production, so I can't say how faithful the story of the series was to Dick Francis's book - but I can tell you that they have put the wrong lead character in the story.

I'm not a fan of racing - but Dick Francis did write some good books on the subject - mostly about various racing scams.

Some seemed to have little to do with racing on the surface - the majority of the characters through whose eyes the stories are told are jockeys or trainers - somebody dies and the jockey or trainer turns detective to get to the bottom - putting their own life in danger.