National Velvet is a novel by Enid Bagnold (1889?1981), first published in 1935.

The novel was made into a more or less faithful highly successful film version in 1944, starring twelve-year-old Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney, with Donald Crisp, Anne Revere and a young Angela Lansbury. In June 2008, AFI revealed its Ten top Ten?the best ten films in ten classic American film genres?after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. National Velvet was acknowledged as the ninth best film in the sports genre.

From 1960 to 1962, there was a half-hour B&W American television series, with Lori Martin, Ann Doran and James McCallion. In this version her horse was named King. This aired on NBC for 54 episodes.

A 1978 film sequel, International Velvet, was made starring Tatum O'Neal as Sarah Brown, a young orphaned American living in England with her aunt Velvet Brown (Nanette Newman). Sarah and her aunt purchase the descendant of the horse Velvet rode years ago. They name him Arizona Pie after Sarah's home state. Working with the horse, Sarah is selected to represent Britain in the equine Three-Day Olympic Event. While working with the horse with trainer Capt Johnson (Anthony Hopkins), she falls for an American competitor, Scott Saunders (Jeffrey Byron). Though distracted by him, she wins the event. Later, after marrying Saunders, Sarah returns to England and presents the medal to her aunt Velvet as a keepsake and remembrance.