In which the curious customs and covert schemes of Indian horse-racing are revealed through the tale of Shackles, a stubborn and singular brute of a horse, whose own way of winning defies conventional training and testing. Against a backdrop of gambling fervour and the echoing whispers of a haunted racecourse, the anxieties of a weary jockey and the intrigue of a carefully crafted race unfold with all the complexity of human and equine foibles.