In the tradition of National Velvet, the 1944 film starring Mickey Rooney and a young horse-crazy girl Elizabeth Taylor, Keegan tells the story of Dean Hostler, the fender repair guy who surprisingly wins the auction at the Longacres horse sale for a thoroughbred filly orphaned at birth for his son Ricky's 17th birthday. When Dean is hours late for the family dinner party, however, Lorraine refuses to let him in. The Nashua trailer that was their home is repossessed and Dean is stuck sleeping in a barn with a horse he is unable to return. Lorraine is beside herself and worried that Ricky will once again be held back in school because of the effect this marital separation will have on his Attention Deficit Disorder. Under orders from his wife not to let Ricky ever see this horse, however, Dean discovers that his not yet divorced wife is now seeing another man. And that is only one of her secrets, the darkest being the truth about who is Ricky's real father. Meantime, Dean finds a stall for Orphan on the backside of the Longacres racetrack and Ricky finds his way to Orphan, where he learns to ride and is licensed as an apprentice jockey who can ride Orphan on a real track.