Champion the Wonder Horse series; he was one of several horses that Autry rode in that production. After learning about the horse through stunt man and movie horse wrangler Tracey Layne, Autry paid $75 for the original Champion, whose sire was a Morgan trotting horse from Ardmore, Oklahoma. Trained to perform numerous tricks, Champion could untie knots, fall, roll over and play dead, come at Autry's whistle, bow, and shake his head yes and no. In one film he pushes Autry into the arms of his leading lady June Storey. By 1939 his reported worth was $25,000. The original Champion died in 1943, at
Al Autry the major leagues. Al Autry Albert Autry (born February 29, 1952) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. Autry was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the fourth round of the 1969 amateur draft, and started playing minor league baseball with Winnipeg in the Northern League. On September 14, 1976, he was the starting pitcher for the Atlanta Braves against the Houston Astros at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium. He pitched five innings, gave up four hits, three earned runs and struck out three and was credited with the win in a 4–3 Braves victory, in what would be his