Original subtitles

I got you, you pony. I never wanted a pony.

Tonight, on Simon and Simon's. Shame on you asking your mother for money.

Went and took that mirror after I warned you not to.

I had no choice, Jim.

We both know you're running stolen thoroughbreds into Mexico.

You should learn to curb your tongue.

You know, AJ, you don't look so good. Of course I don't look so good!

Rick!

Me.

Easy now.

I got a ding -a -ling for you.

You hear me calling you?

Been out here for an hour already.

I would have had to have been in a Soviet bloc country not to have heard

Come on. Get dressed. The day's wasting.

As I told you last night, whatever twisted mission you may have in mind,

it's going to have to be solo.

I have an appointment with Abigail at 10 .30 to get my hair cut. Oh, that. Don't

worry about it. That's already been taken care of. I called her up, told her

were going to be late.

But why you don't just cut your own hair like I do save you a lot of time and

money?

What is all that stuff?

Well, you remember when you were a kid, kid wants a pony.

Well, even though it's a little late, I got you your pony.

Ridiculous. You don't know the first thing about thoroughbreds. Horse is a

horse, A .J.

Every last sneaky thing. Oh, yeah.

Besides which, cow ponies and thoroughbreds aren't even the same

You've never even seen this beast, have you? Oh, sure. Guy had a snapshot.

Anyway, let me finish my story.

I've been in the zone all night.

I mean, I'm drawing to inside straights, filling boats, you name it. I am hot.

So anyway, it's like 4 o 'clock in the morning, right?

I've got two bullets, three beautiful ladies, and a poker face that would have

put Doc Holliday to shame.

Ends up me and this new guy I didn't know are the only ones left in the game.

He's a little bit short on table stakes, so... So he calls you with a horse. He

called me with a horse.

Why do I always let you talk me into staking for these games?

Brotherly love.

Well, at least you didn't buy the beast.

Get it on him, get it on him.

Hold him, hold him. I am holding him.

So what you're telling me, Lieutenant, is that I may never see Lady again.

Well, yeah.

I appreciate that, but it doesn't come naturally. Night school.

Community relations.

Easy! Easy!

A whole symphony would be a little more like it.

How you doing, town? All right.

You here at the track in your usual capacity, or are you here for some

work? I'm on special assignment.

Temporary swap with the county sheriff's department.

He's private heat.

What's the case?

Well, my horse was stolen.

But I sure can't afford a private vet, can I?

Too bad you can't work something out. I mean, I got a case that would like to

break my back.

The boys here could be on the case full time while there still is time.

Does that renegade belong to you?

Yeah, he's my brother.

You mean the horse?

Uh, yeah.

Come to think of it, I suppose he is half mine.

I'm not sure I care to contemplate which half.

Mr. Simon, I've got a proposition for you.

Come on, good boy.

Good boy.

You really believe you can get this glue factory reject to the races?

It's enough time. I could get a zebra to the races.

Whether it hits the boards or not, come on. That's another story.

You and Rick just concentrate on finding Lady. I'll take care of this outlaw.

Fair enough.

Why someone would want your mare in particular?

Well, if they could raise her, they'd probably earn a good living off of her,

but they'd have to do it out of the country.

This would have been her first year as a brood mare if she'd caught, which she

didn't. If she'd caught what?

Got pregnant.

Jimmy put the strong arm on an old friend of his, and the guy let me breed

to his stallion.

Who's Jimmy?

Look, AJ, I don't know exactly how to put this, but Lady means an awful lot to

me.

And the reasons go way beyond the fact that every cent I have in the world is

tied up in her.

Since I was old enough to even know what a horse was, all I wanted was to be the

best damn trainer since Sonny Jim Fitzsimmons.

So when Dad got Lady for me, she was the first step in making that dream come

true. She was so tiny when he brought her home. She'd lost her mother.

And I bottle fed her.

I broke her. I raced her.

I even slept with her in the stall when she got sick.

What did you do to get him so riled up?

I was minding my own business looking in the barn for some clues that might lead

us to your mare.

You were in Lady's stall. No, I was in Trigger's stall.

You should have... Or get you a haircut or something.

Hey, wait a minute, Rick.

What?

Was the goat...

Tommy and Lady Stoll, the night she was stolen?

Yeah.

I was picking this up when the Wonder Goat made his charge.

This is a wrapper from a ding -a -ling cupcake.

Tommy loves them.

And I don't feed them to him because he gets fat.

Well, is there any way that a thief would have known that he likes them?

Not that I know of, unless they knew Tommy from before.

I've only had him a couple of months. I got him from the Diamond Sea.

It's the biggest thoroughbred outfit in the state.

They sell goats?

Racing goats.

So watch what you're doing here, pal.

I'm real sorry, mister. I didn't know you was back there. Let me clean. I

mind.

My name's Hardy.

Hi, I'm Rick Simon. It's my brother, AJ.

Hi, Hardy.

You sure don't look much like brothers.

Funny, that's what mom always used to say.

Maybe you can help us out here.

Looking for a man named Jimmy Layton?

Sort of the farm manager here. Do you know him?

All right, what can I do for you? I'm Rick Simon. That's my brother, A .J.

private investigators.

Your goddaughter hired us to find her stolen horse.

So why'd Chris eat it?

Maybe we ought to find out some more about Mr. Jimmy Layton.

You went and took that damn mirror after I warned you not to.

I had no choice, Jim.

She was going out of season pretty soon. I couldn't wait any longer for you to

make up your mind.

Any mirror but Chrissy's. Now, I told you that. Now, back it easy, partner.

Hell, it was the best thing that could ever happen to her.

That mirror's probably in full to the number one stud in the country, okay?

Now, I'm a businessman.

So how about, say, a third?

Just for a little cooperation.

I ain't interested, Brody.

Now, where's the mayor?

Come on. You don't expect him to tell you that, do you?

Are you going to tell me of the law when you saw those two detectives Chrissy

sent over here out nosing around?

Why don't you let me worry about those two?

They're not going to be bothering anybody for very much longer.

Top of the morning to you, lads.

Good morning, Lieutenant. You got us down here bright and early, didn't you?

Well, this case has picked up a little juice since yesterday.

Some very important people don't want any of these race forces stolen anymore.

Ah, bookies, guys that sweep out stalls.

No, it's him.

Gentlemen. Morning, Mr. Mayor.

Let me know the minute you get anything, Lieutenant.

Yes, sir, you'll be the first.

The mayor has asked me to personally supervise the investigation on this

He's very concerned.

He's put you in charge. He should be.

Well, the closest we can figure is that whoever's stealing the horses off the

farms around here are taking them down south to one or two of the smaller

in Mexico.

ID numbers get blurred.

You pay for us to put in the right sweaty palms, and bingo, you're betting

sure thing.

Problem is, we don't know who or how.

You figure that's what happened to Chris's mare?

Could be.

Come on, I want to show you something.

Guys, this is Sergeant Vic Sanchez of the Third Red Race and Security Bureau.

Hi, A .J. Simon. How you doing? Rick Simon.

Pleased to meet you. Nice to meet you. You and I used to drink a little tequila

together. Oh, yeah?

That was before Lieutenant Brown acquired respectability.

Ah, turn of the century. Come on, come on. Be cool now. Vic's got a nice piece

of film to show you.

Can you hit the lights, please? Yeah.

This is the temporary stakes from a few years back.

About here.

He's just had a heart attack.

How bad was it?

Well, they put down three horses.

One jockey broke his back and another one died on the track. Anything about

this? Oh, there's more.

The man on the winner was your man, Jimmy Late.

Also, J .W. Caulfield's best friend.

This was the last race either of them ever rode.

You know, this is just like old times.

All we need is Orville to come rumbling and stumbling through that door.

You ever hear from Orville?

I saw him last spring at Santa Anita. He quit riding, too.

But he's got himself a real good job back in Pennsylvania.

He's working for some outfit called the Equine Research Center.

But you know what kind of equine research he's doing.

First he finds himself a two -legged filly riding high on the stirrups on a

stool, and then... You got his number?

I sure do. Yeah, I'd like to give that little Yahoo a call.

Get my keys out.

Well, it's probably not locked.

Did you lose your keys again?

Well, you remember last week I went out with Arlene, the gymnastics instructor?

So?

Well, she gave me a demonstration of her technique on the trampoline and with

all that bouncing up and down.

Hi,

brother.

The door was already open. I hope it's okay I come inside.

Remember, Rick?

You said soon.

Yeah, yeah, that's right. I said soon. How you doing?

Hi.

Hi. Hi.

Here you go.

Thanks, Rick.

You betcha.

Listen, we're the ones who made him angry, so we'll talk to him. Yesterday,

after you guys left yesterday, Jimmy came in and yelled at me real mean

for even talking to you guys.

Did he threaten you?

I don't know.

But he scared me awful bad.

He said if I kept running off at the mouth to everybody who

came on the place, he was going to lock me in a trunk and sell me.

Just like he did that new mayor last night.

What mare is that, Hardy?

I've never seen her before.

Some man brought her over to the ranch and Jimmy, he loaded her into one of

those little trailers right away.

Do you know where he took her?

To Nero's down in Andrade, I guess.

I used to get to go down there sometimes back when he still liked me.

Don't worry.

Jimmy still likes you.

We'll talk to him. Okay.

It's got to be a lady.

Yeah.

Where the hell's Andrade?

I don't know.

I do.

We got business with him.

Nero does no business with strangers.

Yeah, well, once we talk to him, we won't be strangers, will we?

Well, you're not talking to him. You're talking to me, see?

Let me tell you this one time, pal.

I just drove 200 miles through the desert.

I'm tired.

I'm irritable. I got just a little bit of heartburn.

Now, you put your hand on me one more time, I'm going to rip it off and feed

to you for lunch.

Comprende?

Hernando, where are your manners?

Bring our visitors over here. Introduce them to me.

You have to forgive my friend.

Each time our softball team loses a game, he acts this way.

He's just not a good boy.

What's he like when you win?

Not so different.

I see your trailer on my parking lot.

You have some horses you wish me to sell?

Well, that depends.

We understand you might be interested in some thoroughbreds. Me?

Oh, no.

There's no market for thoroughbreds among these humble people.

You should learn to curb your tongue.

If you do not wish to have it sliced out.

But then I'm told you're both young, foolish men.

Pity.

Single, unpleasant laugh.

Thought he'd never leave.

A .J., would you do the honors?

If we get out of here, remind me never to eat aged beef again.

What makes you think this is beef?

Just hold still, will you?

Away from the hands, away from the hands.

Just hold your hands still.

No, AJ, you don't look so good.

Of course I don't look so good. I'm hanging upside down surrounded by dead

animals of unknown origin.

I've got to pick up Lady.

I've got a lot to explain to you, Chrissy, about me and about your dad.

All right, honey.

Listen, I'll see you in about 15 minutes.

So you found the mare?

Yeah.

You could have at least been smart enough to change your routine.

But you're a creature of habit, and you hit her right under my nose.

What are you going to do now, Jim?

Well, the first thing, I'm going to take that mare home to Chrissy.

And I'm heading out to see John Law.

You really should reconsider.

You know, if I go down, I'll still take you with me.

Maybe it's about that time anyhow.

Don't get the hell out of my way, Brody.

Sorry, Jim.

I just wouldn't do very well behind bars.

Anyway, we got loose, and then Rick led the guys on a wild goose chase.

And I went back to the stable and checked the tattoo numbers against a

stolen horses given to us by Downtown Brown.

Got two matches.

So I guess Nero has ended up to his baseball cap.

Well, I'm very impressed.

Good.

I'm also very worried.

Jimmy should have been here two hours ago.

Well, I'd like to talk to Jimmy myself.

You try calling him back?

No answer.

Well, now what's he complaining about?

He probably wants to send his oats back to the chef.

How you doing?

It's before dawn.

Thinking about being alone.

Really alone.

You know, when you're... You're on the track circuit, you're never really

There's always lots of people around.

And that made a meet five years ago.

Good people.

Last year, the lady got so sick with the colic, she nearly died.

He kept her from going down in her stall.

He talked to her all night.

Nobody else would have done that for me.

I'm really alone now.

Lady and Jimmy are both gone.

The

man

stank of booze. Felt like he just got blitzed and fell in with the wrong

I don't buy it, Towner.

Even dead drunk Jimmy Layton wouldn't make that kind of mistake.

Okay, you tell me.

Well, we think Jimmy was involved in the theft of Chris's mare.

He had a partner.

Deal went sour, Jimmy wound up dead.

Until we have the autopsy, I've got to play by the numbers.

I'll let you know if I hear anything.

Appreciate it.

Oh, by the way, I got in touch with the state authorities down in Andrade.

Maybe they can shake something out of your friend Nero.

No, easy now. Come here.

Jimmy Layton, leading apprentice, Finger Lakes, New York, 1948.

Jimmy Layton, leading writer, Detroit, 1964.

Leading money -winning jockey, Yakima Downs, Washington, 1969.

Same thing in these wind pictures.

New York, Florida, Arizona, Florida, New York again.

Jimmy Layton sure got around.

Hey, Jack. Take a look.

Oh.

Look how young Chris is here.

Yeah.

Okay, there's Jimmy.

That must be Chris's dad.

I wonder who that is. Don't know.

Bet we'll find out, though.

So the winning photo on one side, and then the accompanying article from the

racing form on the opposite page.

Like this. Just done that throughout, right?

Right up until the last race.

And here we've got the winning photo, but the article has been ripped out.

What do you think?

Dark.

Under the heady reinsmanship of Jimmy Layton, on the sauce squeezed through on

the rail, so on, so on.

Unfortunately, the Tipperary was marred by a terrible tragedy inside the 316th

pole.

There has been some hints of the possibility of race tampering,

but to this point, no formal accusations have been made. Nevertheless, officials

are looking for a former New York equine veterinarian. I remember the rest by

heart.

I saw that race, and I watched my dad go down.

They never found that man, Brody.

I'm sorry. We had to drag up some bad memories, especially right now.

We've got a lot of pieces put together.

Is that, by any chance, Brody? No.

I never met Brody, but this isn't him. This is Buddy Blair.

He was Jimmy's valet.

Dad's, too.

He, um... He runs a bar now a few miles down the road.

Why don't you keep that picture?

I think Jimmy would want you to have it.

Here's to the best rider since Willie Shoemaker.

I just don't see what good it's going to do dragging her up

all over again.

Dr. Brody been around lately?

Now, what's Brody to you?

Buddy,

we think that Jimmy was murdered last night.

And it's very possible that it's all tied up with that last race he rode.

Please.

I want to know the truth.

Was the race fixed?

I'm sorry, Chris.

Dr. Brody, he brought some new kind of drug back from Europe that labs in this

country weren't able to trace at the time.

He hit the two favorites.

Just before post.

But he OD'd the horses by mistake.

It was pretty tricky stuff.

Was Jimmy in on it?

He owed the IRS a truckload of back taxes.

Needed the money fast.

Jimmy never could hang on to money.

He was the softest touch at the track.

It's a funny thing about this Dr. Brody. He was a pretty good veterinarian.

But he was a better.

Always in deep to the kind of guys that break heads just for fun.

Do you know whatever happened to him?

No, he just disappeared.

Chris, there's one thing I want you to know.

Nothing was ever the same for Jimmy after your daddy went down.

He told me many a night through the bottom of a glass of whiskey that he

it had been him.

When Jimmy was in here yesterday, was he drinking?

Club soda.

Well, if he wasn't drinking, why do you suppose he picked yesterday to come in?

I mean... Was he looking for somebody?

He wanted Orville Matlock's telephone number. He gave him a call.

Who's Orville Matlock?

He's, um, an ex -jockey.

Well,

hello there.

Oh, now I'm not such a bad guy, huh?

Do I know it?

It always takes animals a while before they trust him.

You know, when Jimmy first gave me that goat, I used to keep it chained up all

the time. Otherwise, he was over that hill and back at the Diamond Sea in ten

minutes. Uh, what did you just say?

What about animals trusting him? I don't know about him being back at the

Diamond Sea in ten minutes.

Well, yeah, it's just behind my place over that ride.

How long would it take you to drive over there? Say, 15 minutes?

20, 25 minutes.

Well, could you ride it in 15?

You could ride it in 10.

Let's ride it in 10.

Jimmy said he was going to pick Lady up on his way back. He's probably...

At least she was last night.

This is the last place I can think of to look.

Ladies!

Hey,

Hardy.

We're in here.

I think he knows that.

It's Brody. I think he knows that, too.

Did you be riding her? I mean, she's pregnant.

Oh, the more the better.

Boy, Brody must be crazy.

I mean, why would he do all of that just to get a free pole?

Not just any pole.

Offspring of Bone Crusher.

Third highest money winner the year he retired.

Bone Crusher's back east. How did he get him out here to stop?

Didn't have to.

Stole several hundred cc's of Bone Crusher's frozen sperm from an outfit

Equine Research.

Frozen? Why?

I was doing an analysis.

One of Bone Crusher's three -year -olds was syndicated last year for $28

million.

Well,

Mom, I guess we'll just be taking it easy for the time being.

Okay, I just talked to Carlos. He put $500 down in Vegas, so we're covered.

$500? Rick, don't you think we could have been a little less?

Enthusiastic? Come on, AJ. The Admiral's never going to go off 49 to 1 again in

his whole career. Rick, AJ, look.

I won the Daily Double. Oh, Mom, that's terrific. Listen, I'll tell you what.

Let me have 50. There's still time to get you in on this.

It's a shame on you asking your mother for money at your age. Hey, look. I'm

just trying to do you a favor.

I got some good news this morning.

Lady is in full of bone pressure, and his owner said that I could list his

horses for sire.

Good. Look.

The horses, they're all at that metal contraption.

It's a gate.

Come on,

Admiral. Come on, Admiral. Come on, Admiral.

Mom, let me have the glasses. I can't see the Admiral. Mom.

Mom.

No, wait.

Mom.

AJ, wait a minute. Where is the Admiral? I don't see him anywhere. I don't see

him any better than you do. Mom, come on. Let me have the glasses.

Wait, wait, wait.

Cover the bed. I think I had them. Do I?

You got three tickets here, Mom.

Well, I think that's a wheel. That's a wheel. Yes, he told me to get a wheel.

Three horses, they've got to come in the same kind of order, first, second, and

third. Oh, that'll be nice. Where's the admiral?