John Ford directed this sentimental horse opera set among the racing crowd in Kentucky. Henry B. Walthall, of Griffith's Birth of a Nation fame, starred as Beaumont, a horse breeder losing everything he owns on the horse Virginia's Future. His upwardly mobile wife (Gertrude Astor) having deserted him in favor of a more financially stable neighbor (Malcolm Waite), Beaumont can only watch as trainer Mike Donovan (J. Farrell McDonald) nurses Virginia's Future back to health and then is forced to sell her colt, Confederacy, to a foreign junk dealer, who mistreats him. When Confederacy enters the Kentucky Futurity with young Danny Donovan (Winston Miller) in the saddle, Beaumont and Mike bet every thing they own on the horse, which wins handsomely. Using part of his winnings to buy back Virginia's Future, a satisfied Beaumont puts the horse out to pasture. Among the racehorses featured in this film was the famous champion Man o' War.
by Hans J. Wollstein
synopsis
