Ben Claybourne grew up dreaming of one day breeding and racing his own thoroughbreds. On his twenty-first birthday, he struck out to prove his own merit. During the first race of the 1886 season, he met his soul mate, he was betrayed by a friend, and he discovered his colt had been compromised. Discovering the possibility that he had been duped and used by a con man, Ben took it upon himself to surreptitiously investigate. By the end of the racing season, two deaths, five races lost, and a tragic engagement shattered his world.
