Fourteen-year-old Velvet Brown is obsessed with horses. When she prays for horses, her prayer is answered - a village neighbor wills her five ponies, and then she wins the wild and beautiful Piebald in a raffle. Velvet's mother, who once swam the English Channel, has raised her to believe in herself. When she realizes that the Piebald is a remarkable jumper Velvet decides to enter him in the Grand National, the most prestigious steeplechase in Britain. With the help of her father's assistant, Mi Taylor, Velvet disguises herself as a boy and rides The Piebald in the race.
