[1] [2] He was purchased for $6000 by the racing partnership of Hollywood film director and producer Howard Koch and actor Telly Savalas who named the horse for his father.
[3] Bred by Ken Dodd and trainer Mel Stute, Telly's Pop was sired by Bold Combatant, a son of the outstanding Champion stallion and U.S.
[4] In his outstanding two-year-old season, in addition to a win in the Haggin Stakes Telly's Pop won the 1975 Del Mar Futurity at Del Mar Racetrack followed by the Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita Park, and then the California Juvenile Stakes at Bay Meadows Racetrack, all Grade II events that comprised the California Triple Crown for his age group.
Telly's Pop made his three-year-old debut with a win in the March 13, 1976 Grade II California Derby at Golden Gate Fields.
[5] The win made him the favorite for the March 28 Santa Anita Derby, California's most important race for three-year-olds.