It's been a summer of changes for July Carter, who has left the high stakes racing season at Saratoga with not only a young filly to call her own, but also an unexpected boyfriend. Change, it appears, is good.

But as the Thoroughbreds return to Belmont Park for fall races, July is caught up in all of those summer changes. With Kali struggling at her new barn, college applications to write, and her relationship with Beck frustratingly undefined, July doesn't know what to tackle first. On top of it all, her mother is back in New York to ride Lighter, the barn's most...