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In
the English coastal village of Sewels in Sussex, twelve-year-old Velvet
Brown and her older sisters, Edwina and Malvolia, happily finish their last
day of school before summer vacation. While walking home, Velvet meets
young drifter Mi Taylor and strikes up a conversation with him. As the
horse-crazy girl is talking to Mi, she sees a beautiful, rambunctious
gelding, The Pie, being chased by its owner, farmer Ede, and is awestruck.
When Ede then questions Mi about his business in Sewels in Sussex, Velvet,
who is impressed by Mi's knowledge of horses, insists that he has been
invited to dine with her family.
That evening at dinner, Mrs. Brown asks Mi, whom
she has never before met, about an address book with her name written in it,
and he reveals that it belonged to his now-deceased father. Although
Mrs. Brown is deliberately secretive about her relationship with Mi's
father, she does invite Mi to spend the night in the stable. Velvet
then tries in vain to convince her father Herbert, a butcher who prides
himself on his thrift and self-control, to hire Mi as a delivery boy.
When he and his wife discuss the matter later, however, the wise, persuasive
Mrs. Brown easily changes his mind.
Later, Velvet confesses to her mother that she
has "fallen in love" with The Pie and asks her about Mi's father. Mrs.
Brown, a former swimmer, reveals that when she was twenty, Mi's father was
her devoted trainer and inspired her to swim the English Channel, a feat
never before accomplished by a woman. Mrs. Brown adds that she
declined to tell the obviously embittered Mi about his father because she
felt that it was not the proper time to do so.
Unaware that he has just stolen all of her
mother's savings from the kitchen, Velvet rushes to tell Mi the news about
his new job and home. Mi covers up his theft and accepts the job;
then, chagrined, he sneaks back to the kitchen to return the money.
Later, Velvet coaxes Mi into taking her on a
delivery to farmer Ede's and, on the way, Mi states that he was once thrown
by a horse and now hates them. As they are watching The Pie in the
field, the horse jumps Ede's wall and dashes off toward town. After
estimating the length of the horse's jump, the astounded Mi mutters that The
Pie could jump "Beecher's Brook." The Pie's subsequent rampage through
the village leads Ede to decide to raffle off the horse. Mr. Brown at
first refuses to allow Velvet to participate in the raffle but, when Mi
proudly announces that he has bought tickets for all of the children, Mr.
Brown relents. Although Velvet confidently proclaims that her number,
62, is going to be selected, another number is drawn, and Velvet collapses
with disappointment. Later, however, Velvet learns that when the
winning number was not claimed, a second number, 62, was drawn, and she is
awarded The Pie. Velvet then asks Mi about "Beecher's Brook" and he
reluctantly reveals that it is a difficult jump at the Grand National
Steeplechase course.
Velvet spends her first day with The Pie racing
through the countryside, but her joy is cut short when her father insists
that the horse earn his keep by pulling the delivery cart. As soon as
he is hitched, however, The Pie bolts and destroys the cart, causing Mr.
Brown to denounce Mi as a meddler.
Later, Velvet reveals to Mi that she wrote away
to the Aintree race course for entrance papers to the Grand National
Steeplechase. Although Mi tries to discourage her, Velvet asks her
mother for permission to enter the race, which includes an entrance fee of
100 pounds. After Mi admits that The Pie is good enough to win, Mrs.
Brown gives Velvet the 100 pounds she earned for her Channel swim, which she
has been saving in anticipation of a "breath-taking piece of folly" like The
Pie. Mrs. Brown and Velvet then entrust Mi to deliver the money to
Aintree and, although he is tempted to abscond with it while in London, Mi
carries out his assignment, impressing even Mr. Brown.
When Mi tells Velvet that he was unable to find
a jockey or a trainer in London, she persuades him to train the horse by
promising him one-half of any Grand National winnings. Over the next
several months, Velvet and Mi, a former jockey, rigorously train The Pie.
During the winter, The Pie becomes seriously
ill, and the entire Brown family worries as Mi struggles to save him.
The Pie survives and, come spring, Velvet and Mi leave for Aintree.
There they meet with Ivan Taski, a Latvian jockey whom Mi hired through the
mail. Taski's lackluster attitude toward the race convinces both
Velvet and Mi that they cannot win with him and, on the eve of the contest,
they find themselves with no jockey. Velvet then tries to convince Mi to
ride The Pie, but he tearfully refuses, explaining that during a race in
Manchester, he pushed his horse too hard and caused a collision that
resulted in the death of another jockey.
Later, however, when Mi is alone with The Pie,
he realizes he must challenge his fears in order to make Velvet's dream come
true. After riding The Pie around the track, Mi rushes to tell Velvet
that he wants to race, but discovers that she has donned jockey clothes and
is determined to ride the race herself. Although Mi tells her that she
will be disqualified, Velvet insists that Mi cut her hair and help her with
her impersonation. Claiming not to speak English, Velvet convinces the
officials that she is Taski and undertakes the arduous race, with The Pie at
one-hundred-to-one odds.
During the race, as several horses drop out,
Velvet steadily gains ground and wins, cheered on by a joyful Mi. Just
after finishing, however, Velvet collapses from exhaustion, and the track
doctor soon discovers her true sex. As predicted, The Pie is
disqualified, but Velvet is nonetheless heralded as a hero throughout
England and earns the nickname "National Velvet."
Later, back in Sewels in Sussex, Velvet is
besieged by lucrative job offers, including one from a Hollywood film
studio. Velvet is tempted by the offer until she learns that the
studio also wants The Pie. Fearing that The Pie would be made into a
sideshow, Velvet tells her father she is not interested. Mr. Brown is
angered by Velvet's decision until Mrs. Brown explains that Velvet knows
intuitively that her time in the limelight must be brief and dignified.
Soon after, as Mi is packing to go, Mr. Brown
admits that he always mistrusted him, but is now proud to have known him.
Mi leaves the Brown home without saying goodbye, but a grateful Velvet races
after him, sure that the proper time has come to tell him about his father. |
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