All the guests at the Luray Springs Hotel are counting on the outcome of the next day’s handicap horse race to change their lives. Bookie Cuff Billings places a bet for Colly Tanner, who previously had left him for a wealthier man. Young Wesley Burt hopes to win back the $5,000 he embezzled from his company in order to keep his new wife Joan comfortable. Winnie Lloyd asks detective Lynch to protect her from hoodlum Jack Ruby and his moll, who are after her because they believe she has some of their con money. Sunny Lockwood is in love with jockey Tommy Tucker, but her father, Pop Lockwood, mistrusts Tucker and fires him to prevent him from riding their horse, “Stoutheart.” The Lockwoods are down on their luck, but Pop insists on placing a bet on Stoutheart even though everyone is sure that Mrs. Chadman’s horse, “Wingaway,” will win. Everyone places their bets on different horses; all are desperate to win. Finally the race is on, and happy-go-lucky announcer Charlie Bayne, who hopes to be a singer, announces the race. Wingaway wins. Lynch arrests Wesley for embezzlement, but when Charlie announces that Winnie Lloyd has been found murdered at the hotel, Lynch tries to arrest Ruby. Ruby resists arrest, and Wesley is shot when he intervenes to prevent Lynch from being shot. Lynch kills Ruby and out of goodwill, gives Ruby’s winnings to Wesley, advising him that he will report that Ruby stole the money from Wesley and he is simply returning it. Sunny, who, despite her father’s wishes, placed a bet on Stoutheart to place, has won, and her father’s opinion of Tucker has also improved during the course of the race. Cuff tells Colly that she won, and she reveals that she does not really need the money. She explains that she divorced her husband a year ago, and just wanted to see if Cuff still believed in her. They are reunited, and the hotel continues with its usual business. More on Wikipedia
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