Jessica stops by the racetrack on her way to San Francisco to cheer on her niece Tracy, a jockey-in-training. Unexpectedly, Tracy receives a massive piece of good luck when Jack Bowen, the owner of Anchors Ahoy, chooses her as a last-minute replacement for his sick jockey. However, the sweet taste of victory quickly turns sour when she's accused first of conspiracy to fix the race and then of involvement in the death of Anchors' owner.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Ambiguously Evil: The chief of security at the track initially seems like a straight shooter, but given that he placed a bet on a rigged race, and later lied about his reasons, he might have been on the take.
- Attack Animal: Mike Gann tries to stop Jessica from telling the police and the racing commission the truth about his role in rigging horse races... by siccing a killer horse on her so it will look like an accident.
- Clear Their Name: Tracy falls under suspicion of being involved in the events somehow, and it doesn't help matters that a container of the chloral hydrate used to drug Mr. Gallegos turns up in her locker. Luckily, her aunt keeps poking around and raising questions with the authorities until she uncovers the real culprit.
- Frame-Up: As mentioned, someone puts the bottle of chloral hydrate used to poison Carlos Gallegos in Tracy's locker in order to frame her for cheating in the race.
- The Gambling Addict: Lt. Misko played the horses himself, until he lost his car, his house, his wife...he eventually managed to stop by pretend betting instead.
- Got Me Doing It: At the end, the Carpenters finally agree on a horse, using typically nonsensical reasons. Tracy and Jessica have a laugh about the superstitiousness of horse bettors, and then Jessica begins to point something out. Then she stops herself and says she's developing the same habit.
- Gratuitous Spanish: After Jessica confronts Vicky, Carlos calls her "Querida"note in a questioning tone.
- Hypocritical Humor: Mr. Carpenter dismisses his wife's superstitious way of choosing a horse to bet on and says he wishes she'd learn to do it scientifically, like him...and then reels off an explanation for why he has chosen a particular horse that is no less nonsensical than Mrs. Carpenter's.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Vicky feels this way about both killing Bowen and framing Tracy to protect herself and her husband.
- Kindly Vet: Averted, he's involved in rigging the horse races, and while not the murderer of the episode, tries to kill Jessica to prevent discovery.
- Kosher Nostra: Vince Shackman, a local made man, refers to his wife as a kvetch, Yiddish for "complain" or complainer/nag in this context.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Mr. Gunn, the veterinarian, tries to kill Jessica by unleashing an unfriendly stallion on her, hoping that the police won't find anything suspicious about a snoop getting flattened by a horse.
- Slipping a Mickey: Carlos would have recognized that Anchors Aweigh had been replaced by another horse, so Bowen slipped him something to mess up his stomach so badly he wouldn't ride and swapped in Tracy, an apprentice jockey.
- Spotting the Thread: Jessica figures out the culprit when she remembers that Vicky came back with a ticket for Frost Boy, who was struck from the race at the last minute. With how long the lines were and how soon the cancellation was announced, Vicky couldn't have gotten a betting ticket on Frost Boy unless she had done it earlier.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Downplayed. Carlos is a jockey, so naturally he's considerably shorter than average (though the actor isn't as short as some jockeys), with his wife Vicky being several inches taller.
- Violently Protective Wife: Literally, in this case. Jessica figures out that Vicky Gallegos murdered Jack Bowen. When confronted with the evidence, Vicky tells Jessica that Bowen had smuggled her husband in after he accidentally injured another jockey with an illegal move because he needed cash. Jack told Carlos he would let immigration have him if he didn't do as he said, and Vicky determined to protect her husband no matter what she had to do.
