Not all champions run for the roses.
In Summer of 2006, Kathleen and David spent the summer following the story of the smallest race track in the United States recognized by the Daily Racing Forum: Grants Pass Downs in southern Oregon. Racing first started in Grants Pass as a sideshow to the county fair in the 1950s; in 2006 the race season ran from just before Memorial Day to the Fourth of July weekend. Backstretch introduces us to the people – and horses – who race in the bush leagues, following them through triumphs and tragedies in a summer season. The purses may be tiny at Grants Pass Downs, but the passion for racing isn’t.