The Pie

The Pie is Velvet Brown's horse.

Biography
The Pie originally belonged to Mr. Ede, who dubbed him "a pirate not deserving of a name". He escaped from his pen twice, the first time, Velvet Brown stopped him and called him "The Pie"; the second time destroying property in Sewels. Mr. Ede then put the gelding up for raffle due to the high costs of owning such a wild horse. When the number is drawn, it is discovered that the number was not purchased. In the redraw, #62, Velvet's number, was picked. She then begins to think her horse, who jumped a bush the same size as Beecher's Brook, could win the Grand National. After a lot of discouragement from her father, Herbert Brown, her mother begins to support her. However, The Pie becomes sick from being overworked, and almost dies. He recovers, and is ready to go back to training. Mi Taylor and Velvet head off to Aintree. There, Mi interviews the jockey, Ivan Taski. Velvet disapproves of him, as he does not believe The Pie could win. It is thought that they would have to go home and just quit, but Mi summons up the courage to ride again. Velvet, though, wants to ride as the jockey herself, but cannot due to the fact that only men are allowed to race. With Mi's help, she disguises as Ivan Taski by cutting her hair short. The Pie is #28 in the race, and Velvet gets stage fright before the race. Mi encourages her to ride anyway, and she does it. At first, The Pie lags behind. He progresses on the far side, soon reaching 4th place. In the final 100 meters, he wins the race, but Velvet passes out due to exhaustion from the long race. Because the jockey cannot dismount until they have reached the paddock, the thought-to-be Ivan Taski is disqualified. The doctor tending to "him" discovers that "he" is a "she", making a large headlining story in the news - "GIRL WINS GRAND NATIONAL". Upon arriving home, the Brown's receive many letters from Hollywood offering to pay money for Velvet and The Pie to appear in a movie, but she downturns all the offers, claiming that The Pie wouldn't want to be stared at.

Traits and Appearance
The Pie is a hard working horse that Velvet said would do anything for her. He is a chestnut gelding with a white blaze running from his nose to his forehead. He is quite tall, as Velvet needed assistance getting up onto him when it was the day of the Grand National. In "International Velvet" The Pie is bay. He's retired and sires his son Arizona Pie.

Trivia

 * The Pie was played by King Charles.
 * Velvet claimed that The Pie would do anything for her.
 * After filming National Velvet, King Charles was given to Elizabeth Taylor as a present for her birthday.
 * King Charles was the grandson of racing legend Man-O'-War.
 * In the book The Pie is a piebald horse.
 * In the TV series The Pie's name is King.
 * During the events of "International Velvet" The Pie retires from racing and sires his last foal Arizona Pie.
 * The Pie's son Arizona Pie is Bay just like him. Arizona Pie belongs to Velvet's niece Sarah Velvet Brown.