Cover Up - John Francome

What's the worst way to die? At the end of a rope driven by your own shame and despair? Or savaged in the jaws of a black-hearted stallion who has hated you for years? If only the bankrupt gambler and the stable girl were alive to give us the answer...

For a jockey they say there's no thrill like riding a big winner but Rob Harding has found something better - that's breeding one. His two-year-old colt Goldeneye is the product of Rob's own stud farm and, as the horse takes the July Stakes at Newmarket in some style, it seems he can lift Rob's failing business out of the mire. But no amount of prize money can deflect the tragedy that's waiting round the corner.

Rob's head girl Ivana, a horse-mad beauty from the Czech Republic, would also revel in Goldeneye's triumph except for the terrifying reappearance of her sadistic ex-lover Milos. She's run a long way to escape from him - but it looks like she hasn't run far enough