Taunton Barr

Winston Blake was once a fearless merchant banker, part of a financial empire built on risk and speculation. He suddenly retired to look for his daughter missing for some years in Australia, he had an idea. He would find a horse that could win the Melbourne Cup, an event he knew his daughter was fond off, he had attended the event with her, he liked it. He wished his efforts would bring her from her hiding place, or at least he felt better trying. Years of gut feeling and indulging in risk beyond reverence he found a foal in Ireland, destined for nothing he observed what he considered to be traits of a champion. Not exemplary bloodline, or majestic majesty, but a sparkling eye, fearless posture, stout indignation and an air of determination. He purchased the foal and put his years of negotiation to work on convincing the right people to become involved. The horse, 'Flaxmead', became the fastest stayer on the planet and brought a nation together as a petite young female teenage jockey eventually took the black beauty to a crushing win in the Melbourne Cup.
A key part of Flaxmead's success was his initial trainer, a horse whisperer, Blake's neighbor in the town hamlet of Flax Burton in Somerset England. His name was Roger Palmer, it was some years since 'Flaxmead' had retired. Winston Blake looked no older than he did a decade back. He was somewhat lost and in need of direction, horses were still trained by Blake's organisation now the biggest on the planet, it was a business run by Palmer's daughter Kalika, well that's whom she thought she was. Roger Palmer would again become the catalyst to bring down the establishment, a battle to control something Palmer and Blake detested, the British Grand National. In a heartbeat, the task falls on Blake's shoulders. An epic battle of cat and mouse to put a champion with a petite woman on it's back between the starting markers of the most controversial horse race on the planet, the British Grand National. One would think that murder mystery and mayhem moves among the most maligned members of society, as the cards play out on the table, Blake faces his biggest foe, his past.