Hopper: All's 'good right now' despite cancer

By By GREG RISLING | Associated Press Writer

Comments (0) |

E-Mail

Text Size:

tool goes here

Prostate cancer couldn't keep Dennis Hopper away from the Breeders' Cup on Saturday.

The 73-year-old actor and artist attended the Breeders' Cup in support of The V Foundation for Cancer Research, the official charity of the year-ending thoroughbred championships Saturday at Santa Anita Park in Southern California.

It was revealed last month that Hopper had been diagnosed with cancer, although he said Saturday he's been battling it for the past nine years. He's started a new, experimental treatment at the University of Southern California that he says he hopes will help.

"It has great promise," Hopper said. "Everything's good right now."

Hopper recently canceled his appearance at an exhibition of his artwork and photography at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne. He was hospitalized in New York last month and treated for dehydration.

Hopper is one of racing's biggest and best-known fans. He's been to five Breeders' Cups, including last year when he said he cashed a $17,000 trifecta ticket in the Classic, the signature race on thoroughbred racing's championship day.

He's disappointed horse racing has lost some of its luster among the public but he believes the sport carries its own style and swagger that is alluring.

"It would be a drag to see the industry come down," Hopper said. "It's such a great tradition. I hope it gets well and goes on forever."

Hopper wouldn't say who he was going to choose in the Classic, only to note that Zenyatta, a 5-year-old mare, is a formidable foe for her male rivals.

"You can't count her out," he said. Zenyatta ended up winning the $5 million race to improve her record to 14-0.

The "Easy Rider" star recently finished shooting the second season of "Crash," a TV version of the Oscar-winning 2004 film. Hopper also has several film projects in the works.

About comments

Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.

What you should know about comments on SanLuisObispo.com

SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.

Here are some rules of the road:

Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and leave him a public message.
Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.

You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.