Max Moreton is a rising culinary star, but when almost all of the guests at a catered affair get severe food poisoning, his kitchen is shuttered and his reputation takes a huge hit. Scrambling to meet to his next obligation, an exclusive luncheon for 40 in the glass-fronted private boxes at the 2000 Guineas race, Max must overcome the previous evening's disaster and provide the new American sponsors of the year's first Classic race with a day to remember. Then a bomb rips through the private boxes, killing several of his staff and many guests. As survivors are rushed to the hospital, he surveys the ruins of the grandstand and of his career.