When a baby zebra is abandoned by his traveling circus, he finds himself lost and alone in the Kentucky heartland. But a kind farmer and his daughter rescue him and bring him home to their barn. There he lives among the farm animals, believing he's a horse like any other. His name? Stripes, of course! Stripes grows up believing he's born to run. But he is teased about his unusual appearance by the snooty thoroughbreds at the horse farm next door. Determined to prove himself, Stripes begins to train for the greatest race in the world... the Kentucky Derby.