Lydia Hall leaves the hills of Rockcastle County, Kentucky to find a new life in Louisville. The year is 1876. Her family is concerned that 19-year-old Lydia needs protection. Theysend Will Hart, the young man who is secretly in love with her. Both Lydia and Will get caughtup in the excitement of the first Kentucky Derby and the beginning of Churchill Downs Horse Park. Will's abilities as a horse trainer get the attention of Merriwether Lewis Clark, who thensends him to England to write a training manual. Only then does Lydia realize what she has lost."