The $1,000,000 Derby

"The $1,000,000 Derby" is the first episode of Top Cat season one. It aired on September 27, 1961 on ABC. It was produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the creators of the series and the founders of Hanna-Barbera Productions.

When Benny the Ball brings in a camera-loving horse as a new pet, his leader Top Cat tries everything he can to get rid of the animal. After it nets the gang a million-dollar debt, he later changes his mind to exploit the horse's shock-induced abilities in a horse race.

Characters

 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Top Cat
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Arnold Stang
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Choo Choo
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Marvin Kaplan
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Brain
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Leo De Lyon
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Fancy Fancy
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Spook
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Leo De Lyon
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Benny the Ball
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Maurice Gosfield
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Arabelle
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Rin Tin Tin
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Arabelle's father
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Officer Dibble
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Allen Jenkins
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Sergeant Flanagan
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Dockmaster
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Head zookeeper
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Gertrude
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Horse buyer
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Horse buyer's wife
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Horse buyer's children
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Reporter #1
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Reporter #2
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Senator Flubb
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Reporter #3
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Billy Blabbermouth
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Mayor
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Reporter #4
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| J.J. Flitney
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Racetrack announcer
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Hal Smith
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Tea Biscuit
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Froufrou
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Barmaid
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Cucamonga
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Lucky Lady
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Miramar
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Senator Flubb
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Reporter #3
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Billy Blabbermouth
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Mayor
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Reporter #4
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| J.J. Flitney
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Racetrack announcer
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Hal Smith
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Tea Biscuit
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Froufrou
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Barmaid
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Cucamonga
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Lucky Lady
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Miramar
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Tea Biscuit
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Froufrou
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Barmaid
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Cucamonga
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Lucky Lady
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Miramar
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Lucky Lady
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Miramar
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Miramar
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A

Organizations

 * New York City Police Department
 * Bugle (mentioned)
 * The Tribune (mentioned)
 * Derby Committee

Locations

 * Earth
 * United States
 * New York
 * New York City
 * Manhattan
 * Hoagy's Alley
 * Holland Tunnel (mentioned)
 * Madison Square Garden (mentioned)
 * Macy's (mentioned)
 * Central Park
 * Central Park Zoo
 * Acme Foundry
 * Broadway (mentioned)
 * Chateau de Rou
 * Brooklyn (indirectly mentioned)
 * Carnasie (mentioned)
 * Airport
 * New Jersey (mentioned)
 * Jersey City (mentioned)
 * Washington, D.C. (mentioned)
 * The White House (mentioned)
 * Africa (mentioned)
 * Australia (mentioned)
 * Asia (indirectly mentioned)
 * Arabia (mentioned)

Objects

 * Bugle newspaper

Vehicles

 * S.S. Africa
 * Ambulance

Music
The music was composed by Hanna and Hoyt Curtin.

Release
Dates are in order of release:


 * United States: September 27, 1961 at 8:30 pm on ABC
 * United Kingdom & Ireland: June 6, 1962 at 5:10 pm on BBC TV

Behind the scenes

 * Top Cat refers to Benny as Zorro when taking a photo of the horse.
 * Tea Biscuit is a parody of the famous racehorse Seabiscuit.
 * In the UK, this was aired as the fourth episode, and was the last time the series was aired under the Top Cat name before being renamed to The Boss Cat due to a cat food brand called Top Cat in the UK. The cartoon wasn't called Top Cat again until April 6, 1999.

Errors

 * The back sides of a couple of horses are seen which could've belonged to either Tea Biscuit, Froufrou, Barmaid, Cucamonga, or Lucky Lady, but those horses seen aren't explicitly identified by name.

Home availability

 * In the United Kingdom & Ireland:
 * May 19, 1986: The Video Collection releases Top Cat: Volume 2 on VHS.
 * November 3, 1986: The Video Collection releases Top Cat: Volume 2 on VHS.
 * September 4, 1989: The Video Collection releases Top Cat: Volume 2 on VHS.
 * October 8, 2007: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat: The Complete Series (HMV exclusive) on DVD.
 * October 8, 2007: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat: Volume 1 on DVD.
 * April 1, 2008: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat: The Complete Series on DVD.
 * May 28, 2012: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat and Friends on DVD.
 * 2019: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat: The Complete Series (Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection edition) on DVD.
 * In the United States:
 * December 7, 2004: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat: The Complete Series on DVD.
 * January 10, 2017: Warner Archive Collection releases Top Cat: The Series on DVD.
 * June 6, 2017: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat: The Complete Series (Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection edition) on DVD.