In the Stretch

Bookmaker Stewart Warner is so impressed with exercise boy Phil Scovelle that he promises to make him a jockey in exchange for future favors. After winning his first race against big odds, Phil begins throwing races for Warner, but the Jockey Club becomes suspicious, and Phil refuses to cooperate further. Warner, desperate for cash to cover his bets, has the horse doped, resulting in its death and Phil's dismissal from racing. Jack Milton, the son of a minister, loses heavily to Warner while, at the same time, his fiancée Mary Stevens, who is the daughter of the district attorney, is saved from a runaway by Phil. When the D. A.'s men raid a gambling parlor, they find Jack there, after which Jack is warned to stay away from gambling. Phil meanwhile overhears a plot hatched by Warner to kill Stevens, and he goes to the D. A. to warn him. Stevens is then able to position his men outside of a Chinese restaurant and capture the gang before they kill him. Thus Phil is exonerated and reinstated as a jockey. On the day of a big race, Jack steals money from his father to make one last bet to cancel his debts. When Mary learns that Phil will be riding another horse, the favorite, she borrows money to bet on his horse and wins. Mary is then able to return the money to Jack's father. They forgive Jack, who has learned his lesson, and Phil finds that he has plenty of friends as well as favorites to ride.