Ned Talbot has worked all his life as a book-maker so he knows not to expect any sympathy from the punters as they count their winnings at Royal Ascot. When a man steps forward from the crowd
claiming to be his father, Ned is thrown into turmoil. He'd been told that both his parents died when he was a baby. Barely an hour later, his father stabbed by an unknown assailant. Before
dying, he warns Ned to 'be very careful.' But of whom? Of what? Ned finds himself in a race to solve his father's riddles, a race where coming second could cost him more than even money: it
could cost him his life.