One of the youngest winners of the Grand National, Nick "Foxy" Foxton's dream of a career as a world-class jockey was cut short by a tragic accident. Years later he returns to the Aintree as a spectator, only to find his American colleague Herb Kovak shot at point-blank range. Who could possibly want to kill such a gentle soul? But when Nick finds a crumpled note with a threatening message in Herb's coat and also discovers he has been named Herb's beneficiary, he begins to wonder what exactly has been going on.