It is 1879--four years after a great fire ravages Independence, Iowa--when a well-dressed creamery businessman shows up in the small town, looking for a horse to buy. When Charles W. Williams meets young orphaned horse groom, Gilbert Fenny, the two find a kinship in their mutual love for horses without any idea that together, they will soon transform horse racing history.

A few years later when Mr. Williams returns to Independence to raise trotting horses, he purchases several animals that include a lame mare he intends to breed. After he offers Gilbert a job caring for his horses and a warm bed to sleep in, the horse groomer's life suddenly changes for the better. As Gilbert grows older and Mr. Williams continues to nurture his long-held dream, the two eventually raise a pair of horses, Allerton and Axtell, to become world champion stallions. But what no one knows is that they are not done yet as plans to build the fastest race track in the world begin to develop.

Gilbert and Clara find each other after several years of separation to pursue their love, despite her father forbidding it.