At first glance, Lyle Carter seems to have it all. A handsome millionaire with a beautiful wife and a sprawling estate in Lexington, Kentucky, Carter has built his empire on breeding and training thoroughbreds. He is in the process of selling Simpatico, a Triple Crown winner, when the story begins.

Then Carter receives a collect call from Vinnie, and a dark event from the past threatens to destroy his current success. Once a good friend of Carter's, Vinnie is now a deluded barfly living in a small town in California. He has gotten himself into trouble and calls Carter to bail him out before the truth about their past - their involvement in a horseracing scam which resulted in the ruin of an innocent man - comes to light.