The plot of this novel spans two worlds: merchant banking and racehorse breeding. The narrator is Tim Ekaterin, great grandson of the founder of the family bank. Though only in his early thirties, Tim clearly has the family gene for money making. He s both a risk-taker and a careful assessor of risk.Tim s adventurous streak causes him to look kindly on an offbeat investment. Breeder Oliver Knowles has asked the Ekaterin bank for a loan of five million pounds to buy a racehorse for stud. Not just any horse, but Sandcastle, a famous champion who will take Knowles from middling to top breeder.