There used to be horses in that barn.
At least, that's what my grandfather says.
We're probably the only horse farm in Lexington, Kentucky,
that doesn't have one horse.
Not one.
It might rain.
Pat said it'd be a good day for me to come down to the diner.
Yeah, well...
Just be breakfast and lunch, three days a week.
If you're working at the diner, she comes home from school to nobody?
Well, Pop lives right next door.
I know you two don't talk much, but he and Cale get along real well...
...and... - And what?
You've been promising her for months you'd take her to work with you.
And I will, Lil. But not today, honey. I got a big race.
What do I tell her?
Tell her I was late, and I just didn't have time to wait for her.
- You tell her. - Honey, I'm going to work.
All right, get in. I don't want to be late.
There you go.
Fifty-eight and one.
Send Sonya. Don't let her out. I just want to watch her action.
I like him.
Her.
I like her, too.
Can I get a bucket of multigrain in stall number three, please?
- Good morning, sir. - Good morning.
Balon, you remember Cale?
Sure. She doesn't come around anymore.
Wow, honey, you've gotten so big.
Eddie, let's look at Goliath's Boy.
- That means good morning. - Morning.
He's got legs like steel. Take him in.
Whoa. What do you got there? You got some candy?
Hey, Sonya. There you go, Sonya.
Yeah. That's Sonya. She likes candy.
- Sonya likes Twizzlers. - Yeah?
Well, who's this?
Got a new jockey?
Manny, this is my daughter Cale.
Manolin Vallarta. The greatest jockey in the world.
- Fattest jockey in the world. - Fat?
Chacho, I'm too tall to race.
Look at you, man. Look at these clothes. This is a barn, not a disco.
He likes the way I dress.
Now, you see your daddy?
You see how he's feeling the legs? You see that?
We just want to make sure the horse is sound and healthy.
Your daddy always say you listen to a horse, he'll tell you how he feels.
OK. Thanks, Mark.
Boy, I'll tell you, I don't know.
The leg feels fine, but she keeps jumping at that.
She wants to get back in her stall.
- She never does this, ever. - She going to race today?
Of course she's going to race today.
Hello, Mr. Palmer.
Nice to see you. Wasn't sure you were coming today.
I don't believe I've ever met...
Prince Tariq Abal.
Well, Sonya is just as pretty as she is fast.
Sir, I'll meet you at our box after I talk with my staff.
- What's the story here? - She's acting funny.
Some heat in that right front this morning.
I'm not sure she wants to run today.
I don't feel any heat. What'd the vet say?
The vet and the paddock judge both passed her as fine, but...
Well, good. That's all that matters.
Sir, I'm just saying I don't think she should go today.
Prince Tariq flew his personal 737 8,000 miles for what?
I don't know, to win the Jansen Handicap, I guess.
To beat his brother Sadir.
Tariq only flies in to see one of his horses
run against one of his brother's horses.
We're messing with a champion who's won her first two races.
This'll make three.
She's a star, no doubt about it.
She's a lot more than a star, Everett.
I'm listening to the horse. She's saying she could do better with rest.
You'd do better by listening to me. Look, she's a nice horse.
But I've spent millions on a stable of horses for Prince Tariq
so he can beat his brother.
Now, I know you got big plans, but just do your job.
OK?
Daily maintenance, overseeing the workouts, your job.
Picking her races, my job.
Are we good?
- Yeah, we're good. - Good.
She's morning-line favorite.
Let's go. Tell one of the Mexicans walk around to settle her.
OK, Mark.
You heard the boss. Let's go.
You own a horse, sweetie?
This is just for owners.
Cale.
See her, honey? Number five, right there.
That's our girl.
Think she'll win?
I got ten dollars that says she's going to win.
From the Wishman Stables, here's Rapid Cat.
Dark Fire on one of the outside gates.
Here we go, baby.
And away they go.
Easy. Nice and easy now.
Yeah, she's fourth. Come on, sweetheart.
Go, Sonya.
Maybe this is your day, honey. Come on.
Bring it home, baby.
Come on, Sonya.
Hold her down, man. It's OK. I got it here.
Cannon bone. Look, I'm sorry, Ben, we got to put her down.
She all right?
Easy, girl. Easy.
Not here. Take her back to her stall, but not here.
- Come on. - Attagirl.
Ben, I can't put her down until you sign this.
No, I want some X-rays taken.
Cale, come here. Stay out of the way.
What's the point? She's finished.
I do not believe this. I told him.
- What? What'd you tell me? - I warned you she wasn't right.
- You saddled her. - What? Wait a minute.
It's sad when these things happen.
- Sad? - Yeah, sad. This is an athlete.
Well, then you just knowingly killed a $750,000 athlete.
Fellas, we need to make a move here.
- Tell me. - It's her cannon bone.
You pushed her. She'd have run in the Breeders' Cup. She was special.
Now she got a broken leg and it's over. Let it go.
You don't care about anybody, do you? Horses or people.
I do, Ben. That's why I'm giving you the opportunity to find a new job.
- You firing me? - That's right.
Take your Mexicans with you.
They're men, Palmer. They got names.
You owe me money.
You'll get your check first of the month.
You pay me now. 9,000 for the last three months.
Here's six.
Six. Take it or leave it.
I'll leave it. We agreed on nine.
- Wait for a check. - I'm not waiting.
Please put that horse down!
Dan. Dan, wait.
I'll take the 6,000 and the horse.
$6,000 and a dead horse and I never hear from you again?
- That's right. - Take your money.
Sedate her, Dan. Put her down heavy for the night.
It'll cost you 400 to dispose of her body.
Hook up a trailer.
You got a hard head, just like your old man.
Go out to the truck.
Living in that horse farm with no horses.
Manny, take her out to the truck.
Delusional. It's a disease with you Cranes. Get out before it rubs off.
Manny. Go get the old man.
Tell him it's an emergency.
Balon, need the heavy winch and the tow and easy sling to get her in this stall.
- OK, where's that? - It's in the back stall there.
Oh, OK, I got it.
Where have you been? God, I've been so worried. Honey.
- What's going on? - I had a horse go down.
Oh, my God.
- Anything else, boss? - Give Balon a hand, will you?
What can you geniuses be calling an emergency at night in the rain?
This about a horse?
Good night.
I never ask you for anything.
I haven't heard from you in months. That's why your business is so great.
I got a filly in there with a broken cannon bone, Pop.
Thoroughbred?
Racer?
Put her down.
You had a horse with a shattered cannon bone once.
You harnessed it up, the leg healed and that horse was fine.
That was a long time ago. You were just a little boy, Benjamin.
But I remember it. It worked.
He was an old lead pony.
Healed just enough to walk around for a few more years
before I finally put him down.
Which is what you'd do if you had any sense at all.
Let's get her in the stall.
- Cale. - I need to help them.
Cale, I'm spending the night with her. You go on inside with Mom.
- All right. - Right up there.
Get up on higher.
Let's hook it up. Come on.
Was it a hard fall?
Hard enough. She didn't get bumped or anything. She just went down.
That's the one from the track. And my X-rays confirm it.
It's a spiral fracture of the cannon bone.
But it is nondisplaced.
She'll never race again?
No, honey. But she might walk again.
There's a chance. It's up to her.
Try and keep her calm. Stable rest.
That cast I put on her should hold.
We'll go really easy on her.
- Let's stay close on this. - You got it.
All right, let's pull all the harness stuff.
The straps, pulley in the tack room.
Ben, when Mr. Palmer fired you, us yesterday, well...
We all don't have no jobs.
I'm sorry, guys. I forgot. Here.
There's 1,000 each.
What's wrong?
Well, we train racehorses, right?
She's not going to race no more, so...
Why we hanging around to help you get a broken racehorse to walk?
You know who this horse was sired by?
Dreamcatcher.
You know who that was?
Pop, who was Dreamcatcher?
Won the Dubai World Cup in '96.
Won seven of 11 graded stakes and over $3,000,000.
We get her healed enough to breed her to a decent stud,
sell that yearling for, I don't know, maybe...
If it's a colt with good confirmation, maybe 300.
$300,000.
You two be interested in a piece of $300,000?
Yeah.
How about it, Pop?
OK. Looks good to me.
Well done.
Take it up.
Got it?
Good girl.
Good Sonya.
Easy. Easy, girl. Easy, girl.
Come on, girl.
One, two, three.
OK, that's good. That's good.
She's great.
She's OK.
- You all right? - Fine.
You OK? She kick you?
Come on. It's OK, honey.
- How is she? - She's OK.
What were you doing? She's not a pet, Cale.
She's what I do for work now, so you'll have to leave her be, all right?
I'm sorry.
- You sure you're all right? - Fine.
- Here you go. - Thank you.
You make all that money and eat as much pie as you want?
Yeah, I can't find a better job.
Manny's taking me to watch him ride a racehorse.
Then I'm mucking out Sonya's stall.
I'm thinking about painting it.
Nice to have a horse, huh?
Especially after Dad said
"There will never be another horse in this farm as long as I live."
Did Pop tell you that?
Don't you listen to everything Pop says. There's two sides to every story.
Pop said Dad's the best horseman. Says he has a gift.
Well, that's true.
We all know that's true.
- Hey. - Hello.
Whoa, Zephyr. Whoa, boy.
Thanks, Mike.
- What'd you think about that? - That was fast.
Nice boots.
Thank you. I exercise a couple of horses for a few owners.
- Pretty cool, huh? - Yeah.
You ever ride in races?
Couple of times I did.
- But no more. - Why?
I have bad dreams.
Three years ago I got my first real race.
I ran fifth.
What was the name of the horse?
Downtown Swing.
- It was amazing. - Did you ever ride him again?
Yeah. In our second race, I was flying into that first turn.
And then I looked under my arm to see if I was clear on the rail.
When I looked back up, there was a horse swerving into me.
My left foot came out of the iron, I fell to the ground
and I got run over by three horses.
Broke both shoulders, sternum,
four ribs, punctured a lung.
You never raced again.
You know, at night, when I fall asleep,
I dream I'm in a big race on a very fast horse.
And I look to my left foot, it slips out of the iron and I begin to fall.
But before I hit the ground, I wake up.
But you still exercise racehorses.
Yeah.
Just...
It's just me and the horse alone on the track...
...free.
No one to bother us. It's much better that way.
I'm sorry about your nightmares, Manny.
It's OK.
It's God's way of telling me no more racing.
Good night.
From Mom.
I'm good. Just put it down there.
Cale?
Will you grab that roll of wire underneath the fence?
You can just hang on to it there.
Pop said this farm used to be beautiful.
This farm was beautiful.
Two hundred acres. One of the nicest in Versailles.
- See all that over there? - Yeah.
Well, that was ours.
Pop's owned some really nice race mares.
Big, beautiful female horses.
Waveland, Blue Jezebel and Miss Moffett.
That's right.
Pop said he built those stalls and filled them with horses.
Yeah, he made a good living selling yearlings.
But you wanted to keep the yearlings and race them, right?
Well, it got kind of hard watching horses born on this farm
go on to win big races for somebody else.
You got Pop to keep some yearlings so you could train, race them.
You don�t just keep them, Cale, they're not free.
I'm going to brush down Sonya.
- Cale Crane. - Yes, ma'am?
- Are you working on your assignment? - Yes, ma'am.
What's your story about?
It's about a king and his castle...
...and a magic horse.
Easy.
Bye.
She can stand on it. Not for long but she can stand on it.
I'll run more tests but I don't see any reason she can't breed. She looks good.
You helped her, Cale. She's going to have a baby. Yeah.
I'll see you Friday.
Well, I'm going to call in a favor.
Go, Cale.
Go.
So where you going?
Going to go see an old friend.
About a stud for Sonya?
Yeah. About a stud.
You want to come?
Yeah. I'll come.
Fusaichi Pegasus. He won the Kentucky Derby.
Do you see him? That's Fusaichi.
Giant's Causeway.
Johannesburg. He won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
You learn all that from Pop, too?
He's a beautiful horse.
Hey, Bill.
It's good to see you.
- Good to see you. - This is my daughter Cale.
- Nice to meet you, Cale. - Nice to meet you, too.
Ben, you call me two months ago
saying you got a race mare needs to be covered,
then I don't hear from you.
It's been a long road with that filly, but she's ready now.
So you still going to be able to help me out?
Right over here.
All right, ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for the world's greatest stud?
Come on, Todd. Bring him on out.
That's not...
- What is that? - This here's Thunder Pants.
Honey, Thunder Pants is a teaser pony.
He's going to help Sonya get ready to go into the breeding shed with a stallion.
Thanks, Bill.
Hey, Cale, want to meet the stallion I picked for you?
Cale, meet Grand Slam.
Grand Slam?
Unbelievable.
So, what do you think?
Well, I think it's Grand Slam.
Everyone at Ashford has a lot of respect for your family.
I explained your situation and they want to do you the favor of a lifetime.
I don't know what to say.
Say you'll have your filly here first week in May.
That week's the only shot you get. He's booked till next year.
And you got to send me half of the 15,000 by the end of the week.
That's 15,000...
Well, Grand Slam's normal stud fee's 200,000.
We're waiving that. The 15 doesn't even cover our cost in insurance.
No, Bill, it's an amazing offer. I just didn't...
I'm wondering, though, if maybe I couldn't give you a share in the foal,
maybe to cover all the expenses, whatever they are.
We just don't do that. Not in a case like this.
Are you saying you want to call it off?
No, Bill, I just...
Bill, I don't have the money.
I'm sorry, Ben. I didn't fully know your situation.
Bill, listen, I really appreciate the try.
I'm going to call. All right? Thanks.
Let's go, honey.
I've never seen Grand Slam up close.
He's got muscles everywhere.
What'd he say?
- He's a horse. - I know. What'd he say?
"I am a great champion."
"When I ran, the ground shook. The sky opened and mere mortals parted."
"The way to victory. And I met my owner in the winner's circle."
"Where he put a blanket of flowers on my back."
You remembered that.
Sport of kings, you know that?
They call horse racing the sport of kings.
So when you taking me to the races?
I don't go anymore. Haven't been in years.
So I can take the Racing Form and The Blood-Horse, right?
Your dad doesn't want me teaching you about horses.
So I should leave them?
You should stuff them under your shirt.
OK.
- Cale, in the cabinet above the sink... - Yeah.
...is there a coffee can?
- Bring it to your dad, would you? - Sure.
- Good night. - Good night.
- Pop wanted me to give this to you. - Thanks, hon.
- I'm eating my dessert in the barn. - All righty.
- What the hell is this? - Coffee can.
- You expect me to use it? - Only flavor I got.
You're unbelievable. There's almost $20,000 there.
You watched me sell this farm off bit by bit till there was nothing left.
Why are you doing this?
Damned if I know.
Breed the horse, Ben.
Picking up that filly was the gutsiest thing I've seen you do in years.
I took the biggest swing I could and I struck out.
- And you gave up. - I'm broke, Pop.
- What do you expect me to do? - I expect you to take the money,
trust your instincts and breed the horse.
- You told me to put her down. - But you didn't.
- You're a horseman. - Don't blow smoke...
Will you spend your life shoveling horse squat for sheiks?
Or will you get back in the game?
I know what's going on here with you and Cale.
It's in her blood, Ben. Cale's a beautiful kid.
Stop filling her head with horse stories.
Horse stories are all I got.
Keep them to yourself. I'll pay you back when the foal sells.
Any chance you'll keep the foal? Race him or her?
No, we're going to sell the foal but still have Sonador.
Sonador?
Yeah. It's her full name. Sonador.
Sonador.
I think it's Spanish. Spanish for "dreamer."
Good night, Dreamer.
- OK, I got it. - I'm going to Pop's.
Lil, how many days they give you down at the diner?
I got Monday, Wednesday and Friday. But I could take more.
Palmer called around. Shut me out everywhere. I can't find any work.
I'll have to take down the sign.
The real estate sign?
It's all been sold. Only land we got left to sell, we're sitting on.
Here's the first letter of foreclosure.
- Morning. - Hello, Cale.
- Hey, Doc. - Balon. Manny.
Sonya will make us some money, huh?
This horse will make a special baby, huh?
- Is Ben around? - I'm right here.
All right. Just got off the phone with Bill. We're back on.
Going to breed her to Grand Slam.
Ben, I've completed my tests and I've got some bad news for you.
What?
She's infertile.
She won't have a baby now?
No, honey, she's never going to have babies.
I'm sorry, guys.
I'm sorry, Sonya.
It's OK.
It's almost dawn.
You've been up all night.
What was I thinking, Lil? Trying to breed that horse?
Cale loves that horse.
That's good, because that little filly just ruined us.
That little filly is the best thing that's ever happened around here.
Come on, Lil.
Since she's been in that barn, we have a family.
For the first time in years.
I'll work seven days a week at the diner if it means you'll spend time with Cale.
Can't you just see how much she wants to be with you?
And I know that your dad disappointed you,
but that does not mean that you have to disappoint her.
- It's nothing to do with my father. - It's everything to do with him.
You're wrong. The truth is if Cale hadn't been with me that night
I'd have left that horse on the track and let them put her down.
And I'd still have my job.
Cale...
Cale?
Come on, Cale.
Honey, can I come in?
Let's just give her some time.
Cale? Come on, honey. Open the door.
Please?
She'll come downstairs when she's ready.
We're going to run away.
We're going to run far away.
There you go.
We're going for a little walk.
Cale...
Stop, Sonya!
Sonya, stop!
Hang on, Cale.
Cale!
Dad, she won't stop!
I can't make her stop!
Cale, hang on!
Please...
Cale!
Jump.
Jump!
I got you. I got you. I got you.
You all right? You OK?
I got you, sweetie. I got you.
- Is she OK? - She's all right. I got her.
It's all right, baby. It's OK.
Are you OK, honey?
- Huh? - Yes, I'm OK.
Hey, Ben?
- How's Cale doing? - She's all right.
- She OK? - Yeah. She's fine.
OK. Could we talk to you for a minute, boss?
How's Sonya?
She was running back and forth along the fence and...
- We were following her in the truck... - Did she break down? How bad is she?
Well, in the truck it said that she's about a quarter mile. And, well, she...
She was getting faster and faster.
Yeah. She's looking pretty strong, sir.
What are you...? You saying she should race?
You can load her up, Joe.
Mariah's Storm broke her leg the same way as Sonya.
Same fracture, same location.
Who's Mariah's Storm?
She was a great racehorse. Made a big comeback, too.
Beat Serena's Song in the graded stakes.
When I saw Sonya's X-rays I thought I ought to show them to you.
- That bone is healed. - That leg's good.
Now, getting her back into racing shape, that's up to you. Good luck.
Thanks a lot, Doc.
Thank you. Goodbye.
Well, she's not favoring that leg.
How's she look?
She looks big.
- Big as in strong? - No, big as in fat.
That's mean. That's mean. You shouldn't say that.
Must've been eating too many Popsicles.
- What? - What?
You didn't know I knew about that, did you?
- 37 and two. - 37 two.
Thirty-six.
What do you think?
Well, in five weeks,
best she's done is three furlongs in 37 seconds.
Not fast enough to win much, is it?
Maybe a cheap claimer at Bluegrass Downs.
She was a graded stakes horse.
Now she's a claimer.
It might be a good idea to run her in one.
See if she perks up in a real race.
I been thinking about that.
You don't think anybody would claim her, do you?