Pride of Maryland

At the turn of the twentieth century, horse-trainer Frankie Longworth loses the last of his money when his friend Knuckles is defeated in a boxing match held in a racetrack stable. Secretly watching is a young boy named Stevie, who befriends the men when they discover his hiding place. To Frankie's surprise, Stevie turns out to be the son of his former sweetheart Christine. Though sorry to learn that Christine is married, Frankie, who has raced a little and aspires to do more, admits his admiration for her husband, the successful jockey, Steve Loomis. As Christine and Frankie are becoming reacquainted, Christine's father, Walter Shannon, shows up. Although Shannon had contrived to separate them years ago and orders Frankie to stay away from his happily-wedded daughter, the affable Steve is unthreatened by Frankie's presence. After Frankie assists in the birthing of Steve's foal, which they name Pride of Maryland, and saves the life of the mare, he arranges with his backer, Col. Harding, to hire Frankie as a horse trainer. Steve is also interested in Frankie's idea of a new "crouch" riding style that would increase the horse's speed by cutting down wind resistance and taking the stress off the horse's spine. Against the wishes of his family and the colonel, Steve tries the technique, but because of a previous knee injury, falls from the horse and is killed. When hiring a jockey for the next race, the colonel passes Frankie by, because he has little actual racing experience. However, just before starting time, the new jockey is discovered missing, having been tied up by Knuckles, without Frankie's knowledge. Knuckles convinces the colonel to give Frankie the opportunity to race, but the colonel, still unwilling to experiment, orders Frankie to ride in the traditional style. During the race, Frankie disobeys and switches to his crouch style, and the horse speeds up and wins. Frankie and Knuckle's rejoicing is short-lived, for when the missing jockey turns up and exposes Knuckes, Frankie is fired. Almost immediately Frankie is approached by Sir Thomas Asbury, who is impressed with Frankie's ideas and would like to develop the new riding style in the United States before taking him to race in England. Winning races for Sir Thomas, Frankie becomes well-known in racing circles and would be wealthy, but he is sending his money to Shannon to help raise and train Pride of Maryland. When Shannon writes him for more money, Frankie tries to raise it by betting on himse