Christian Roberts, lanky, blond, and twenty-five-years-old, rents out small sailboats on Sarasota Bay. His peaceful life is shattered when he accepts a Thoroughbred colt from his estranged, dying father, an Ocala horse trainer. When Christian promises his father that he’ll race the colt, he’s plunged into the underworld of horse racing. To navigate his way he naively hires Ed Price, a heartless Miami trainer. And when his colt shows potential—and a surprising resemblance to Secretariat—a dubious, wealthy sheik wants to buy him, but Christian vows to keep his promise to his father. With a sizable debt still owed on the horse, Christian is forced to take out a loan, his only recourse, Vince, a New York mobster. If the money is not repaid on time, Christian’s life and that of Allie, his colt’s trainer, are threatened. To add to his roller-coaster of troubles, he also faces fraud charges since his father illegally registered the colt, and he is being stalked by a psychotic ex-girlfriend.