National Velvet Page #8

Here they come, a beautiful sight

as they soar over the pit water!

Come on, Pie!

She made it!

Taken like a champion!

- It's still not done!

- That's a girl, Velvet!

Hang on!

Starting around the last lap.

Blue Tommy still leads,

Ebony Star second.

Duke Arthur's losing ground.

They're tiring. It's a long, hard race!

Come on, Pie!

My horse, Ebony Star,

is doing jolly well.

I hope it wins.

I've got fifty quid on him.

Blue Tommy, the favorite, is down!

Blue Tommy's out! He's out!

That leaves my horse,

Ebony Star, in the lead.

Jolly good, what?

Where's 28? Where's The Pie?

Where's 28?

Somewhere out there. I don't know.

They're at Beecher's Brook again.

A bad spill at Beecher's. They're

piling up!

Six of them! Others refusing.

Beecher's took a toll today!

Who's over? Who's over Beecher's?

Where's 28?

Ebony Star's over and doing well.

Keep it up, old boy!

Where's The Pie? Where's 28?

- I don't know.

- Has she fallen?

Really!

Sorry.

Here they come again to the Canal Turn.

It's now Ebony Star, Ragaway,

... Silver Puff, Tantibus...

Ebony Star, Tantibus. Wait!

A horse coming up fast on the far side!

I can't see who it is.

It's number 28...

...The Pie! A hundred to one shot!

The Pie in fifth place!

What was that number

you were interested in?

28!

It's still up.

Just saw him take the jump.

Doing jolly well. In fourth place.

What?

Ebony Star still leads,

Tantibus second.

Faithful Lad and The Pie

are neck-and-neck in third place!

Come on, Velvet!

Hang on, Velvet! Come on, Pie!

Approaching the 30th, the last jump!

It's Ebony Star, Tantibus, The Pie!

Is he badly hurt?

The Pie won!

The Pie won the Grand National!

Repeat:
As The Pie passed the post,

the rider slid to the ground.

This is a rules infraction and an

objection will surely be launched.

Wait! Something's wrong!

Objection flag is up.

Rule 144 states the winning jockey

must not dismount...

...before reaching the enclosure.

Will the objection will be sustained?

Put your screens around!

Constable, run for one of the stewards.

- Is she all right, sir?

- She only fainted, exhausted.

She? What do you know about her?

Urgent Bulletin!

Astounding rumor circulating track!

Is winning jockey a girl?

It seems absurd but

the rumor's gaining credence.

Excuse me, sir.

Read it.

The head steward reports

for your information...

...that the doctor finds

the winning jockey...

...is an adolescent female.

I'm a doctor, sir, and

believe me, that's a girl!

A girl! A girl clutching the neck

of a bandy-legged outsider...

...crossed the line to win the

greatest race in Turfdom.

A girl wins the Grand National!

Objection sustained,

The Pie is disqualified.

Ebony Star wins, Tantibus second,

Faithful Lad third.

Put down Velvet!

Hurrah for Velvet!

- Nice going, Velvet!

- Good old Velvet!

Goodbye, Velvet, and good luck to you!

Velvet and The Pie, they're here!

It's our own Velvet Brown!

Mother...

...we won!

Were we the best in the world?

Yes, dear...

...the best in the world.

I say, Brown...

...what's the bow tie for?

Lord Darby wears one just like it.

He's got a couple of champion race

horses too.

Has he got a daughter

going to prison for fraud?

You'll be surprised to learn

there won't be charges.

Englishmen treat their heroes better.

They were satisfied to disqualify her.

And she forfeits the money!

Would you expect them

to be both forgiving and generous?

Tell us more about your sister...

...when she was a little girl.

Sometimes she doesn't wash her neck.

Tell us something nice.

Yesterday I caught a stinging ant.

I ate it.

What?

It said I could eat it.

Take my picture.

All right.

Smile.

You've lost a tooth.

I swallowed it in my suet pudding.

See?

I thought you said you'd swallowed...

About these telegrams.

Decisions must be made!

Cablegrams too.

It's become international!

Offers for Velvet and the horse:

Cinema, American Wireless, music halls.

Our daughter's famous!

Famous.

There's fortunes of money in this!

Are we in need of money?

Am I to understand you've taken

to despising money?

Did I ever say a man need worship it?

But then, need he despise it?

- There's making too much too quick.

- You'd rather make too little too slow?

Let Velvet decide.

Let a child make

such an important decision?

- It's in her to do right.

- You'd sway the child!

Put it to herself, Mr. Brown.

Would you come down a minute?

You want me, Mother?

Now then, it seems you're famous.

All the excitement,

you liked it, didn't you?

Yes!

There'll be more of it.

More?

Want to go to America

and act in the cinema?

Leave here? Leave school

and Donald and everybody?

And Mi and The Pie?

They'd bring The Pie.

They want him too.

It'd be fun for us to see me

doing things in the pictures.

Donald would love it.

But The Pie...

...he wouldn't understand.

No, he's better here,

safe in the fields.

What good is that?

You didn't run the National alone.

They want the horse too.

To stare at?

Do they want me to pretend he's a human

and knows how to be funny?

Is that it, Mother?

It's your father talking to you.

Is that it, Father?

If a horse and rider do something

never done before...

...is it strange or wicked

for people to stare...

...or newspapers to write?

I can't drag him about

for people to stare at.

You saw he did for me,

he burst himself for me!

When I asked, he burst himself more.

I asked him again and he doubled it.

Would it burst your heart to stare

at an account of 5000 pounds...

...in a solid bank?

I can't help it, Father.

I'd sooner have that horse happy

than go to heaven.

Run along now, Velvet,

and change your dress.

Your mother says to run along,

so it's all right.

It's all right!

Your braces, Velvet.

Now, Mrs. Brown...

...I put it to you calmly.

Is that a good reason to

throw away a fortune?

Unwilling for people

to stare at a horse?

That's a dispute till the end of time.

To do the right thing

for the wrong reason...

...or the wrong thing

for the right reason.

You packing?

I thought to find you unpacking.

I'm going, I'm leaving.

Leaving? But why? Where?

Nowhere special.

You're taking to the roads again?

My pa gave me every road in the kingdom.

I'm ready to see them.

I'll be back one day.

I don't understand you.

And then again, perhaps I do.

Perhaps you are right, Mi.

That's the first time

you've ever called me Mi.

It's been "my boy" or "my lad"

but never my name.

I get your meaning, Mi...

...but there's character to consider

when a man takes a stranger in.

Rightly so.

Because there was a certain

watchful sharpness about you.

But I was wrong and I'm sorry.

No, you were right.

I was waiting for my big chance,

to see how I could use you.

I don't blame you.

These days a lad must look ahead.

I meant something different.

To be frank, I thought

you'd steal that hundred sovereigns.

I nearly did.

Goodbye, Pie.

You did, huh?

Why didn't you steal them?

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