The Boy from Indiana (1950)

This is not a story about a farm-boy raising a horse to be a champion. It is about a happy-go-lucky young man from Indiana, Lon Decker, who has aspirations of becoming a sportswriter. During his wanderings around the middle-and-southwest sections of the U.S. he meets a shrewd old man, "Mac" Dougal, who has more than a touch of larceny in him, and likes to ensure his bets on Quarter-Horse races by doping a horse or two here and there. He leaves a lot of race tracks in a hurry. The old man also owns a quarter-horse (horses bred to run in quarter-mile races only), who appears to have seen better days. But 'Jo'Jo" the horse is a champion racer, although his owner prefers not to let that be known, especially when setting up a race with an established thoroughbred, for big money. He intends to relieve rancher Zelda Bagley of some of her money in just such a race. But "Jo-Jo' gets gored by a bull. Will 'Jo-Jo" recover in time for the Big Race?