Based on a story by Peter B. Kyne, the long-lost John Ford silent Shamrock Handicap begins in Ireland. Because he refuses to collect rent payments from his impoverished tenants, kindly Irish nobleman Sir Miles Gaffney is in danger of losing his estate. He is forced to sell off part of his racing stable to a wealthy American, who takes along Gaffney's jockey Neil Ross (Leslie Fenton) as part of the bargain. When Neil is crippled in a racing accident, Sir Miles and his daughter Sheila (Janet Gaynor) sail to America with their prize horse "Dark Rosaleen" in tow. The Gaffneys hope to win the $125,000 Shamrock Handicap, thereby earning enough money to square their own debts and to take care of the incapacitated Neil. For all of its Irish blarney, the biggest laughs in Shamrock Handicap were sparked by the Yiddish humor of supporting player Georgie Harris.