The film was produced by Andrew A. Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Lloyd Phillips and Edward L. McDonnell, based on a script written by David Schmidt, Steven P. Wegner, Kirk DeMicco and Du Chau.

The film tells the story of Stripes, a circus plains zebra who is accidentally abandoned in Kentucky and raised on a farm next to a racing track.

The film stars Hayden Panettiere, Bruce Greenwood, Wendie Malick and M. Emmet Walsh, with the voice talents of Frankie Muniz, Mandy Moore, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jeff Foxworthy, Joshua Jackson, Joe Pantoliano, Michael Rosenbaum, Steve Harvey, David Spade, Snoop Dogg, Fred Dalton Thompson, Dustin Hoffman and Whoopi Goldberg.

The foal is rescued by widower and former racehorse trainer Nolan Walsh, and is taken to his farm, where his 13-year-old daughter, Channing, names him Stripes.

Three years later, an adult Stripes meets an Arabian filly named Sandy and develops a crush on her after losing to the mailman in their usual race.

As night approaches, Channing, remembering her first ride on horseback with her late mother Carolyn, completes a lap around the track with Stripes.

They are approached by Woodzie, a racetrack gambler and old friend of the family, who encourages Channing to sign up her and Stripes for a tryout race the next day.

Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Lloyd Phillips and Edward L. McDonnell produced the film with the budget of $30 million, for release in 2005.

On November 22, it was announced that Bruce Greenwood, Hayden Panettiere, M. Emmet Walsh, Wendie Malick, Gary Bullock, Frankie Muniz, Dustin Hoffman, Whoopi Goldberg, Mandy Moore, Jeff Foxworthy, Joe Pantoliano, Fred Dalton Thompson, Joshua Jackson, Michael Rosenbaum, Snoop Dogg, Michael Clarke Duncan, Steve Harvey and David Spade joined the film.

Sam was more well-behaved, and "kind of wanted to be a horse", according to Tim Rivers, who trained him at the Animals in Motion farm near Citra, Florida.

On July 27, 2003, other cast members were announced, such as Hayden Panettiere, who would star opposite the voices of Dustin Hoffman, Whoopi Goldberg, Joe Pantoliano, Mandy Moore, and Patrick Stewart.

[citation needed] The film's score was composed by Mark Isham, who also produced and cowrote "Taking the Inside Rail" with Sting; "It Ain't Over Yet", heard when Channing and Nolan train Stripes, as well as at the end of the film, was written by Bryan Adams, Gretchen Peters and Eliot Kennedy, and produced by Adams.

The site's critics consensus reads: "Racing Stripes might be good for a few laps with younger viewers, but it's too blandly predictable to truly recommend for an all-ages audience.