Before the two champions and the Black enter the starting gate, the Black gets into a fight with one of his opponents, wounding his leg. Alec does not see the wound until he is in the gate. As he dismounts, the bell rings and the horses take off. Alec desperately tries to stay on his horse and trying to stop him. He falls behind, but the Black won't stop. When Alec regains his balance, the Black is well on his way to catch up with his opponents. Alec now encourages the Black to run as fast as he can, remembering the wild rides on the island, as they catch up. The Black eventually wins by two lengths. Cass Ole, a champion Arabian stallion, was featured in most of the movie's scenes, with Fae Jur, another black Arabian stallion, being his main double. Fae Jur's main scene is the one where Alec is trying to gain the trust of the Black on the beach. Two other stunt doubles were used for running, fighting and swimming scenes. El Mokhtar, an Egyptian Arabian racehorse, was the producers' first choice to portray the Black, but they were unable to secure his services for the film from his owners, who declined any offers. He does appear in "The Black Stallion Returns", alongside Cass Ole, by which time the studio bought out the syndicate of owners in order to secure El Mokhtar's services. Napoleon was portrayed by Junior, who previously appeared in "National Lampoon's Animal House" as Trooper, Niedermeyer's horse. The film received two nominations for the Academy Awards: In addition, Alan Splet was awarded with a Special Achievement Award for sound editing. Carmine Coppola was nominated for Best Original Score at the Golden Globe Awards. He later won the award in this category for his score of "Apocalypse Now." Caleb Deschanel was nominated for Best Cinematography by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards. The film received two awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards for Best Cinematography (Caleb Deschanel) and Best Music (Carmine Coppola). The film also won the 1979 National Society of Film Critics award for Best Cinematography. In 2002, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Also, the film is recognized by American Film Institute:  The film was followed in 1983 by a sequel, "The Black Stallion Returns", which also starred Reno.