Racing Lady (1937)

• 57%
• 1937
• Drama
• Romance
• Wallace Fox
• Ann Dvorak
• Smith Ballew
• Harry Carey

In a film advertised and sold as a Damon Runyon story, but actually combined elements from his "All Scarlet" and another story written by J. Robert Bren and Norman Houston called "Odds Are Even", horse breeder Tom Martin, in a streak of bad luck, is persuaded by his daughter Doris to enter a mare in the feature race at the county fair. There, Martin rejects a tout's proposition to throw the race, and he also meets his old friends, the "Judge" and the "Warbler". The race starts and the mare, just short of reaching the wire and winning the race, is crowded into the rail and ruined as a racer. The Martins return home, where Ruth busies herself in training a colt, Katydid. She enters the horse in a claiming race at Santa Anita, where she gets lots of publicity as a novelty girl trainer.Wealthy, amateur horseman Steve Wendall offers her a job as trainer of his stable, but she refuses. Katydid wins but is claimed by Bradford, Wendall's trainer, on behalf of Wendall, who has done so simply to get Ruth to accept his job offer. She does, and goes East and then to Europe, winning time and again with the Wendall horses she has trained. But there is a falling out between Ruth and Wendall, who doesn't think Katydid can win the Santa Anita, and Ruth who thinks Wendall has had the horse kidnapped to keep it out of the race.