Desperate men leading desperate lives undertake a robbery of the local racetrack. Johnny (Sterling Hayden), the brains of the operation, recruits a ragtag bunch of characters for the heist, ranging from a mousy clerk (Elisha Cook, Jr.) to a musclebound chess player (Kola Kwariani). They converge on the track during a big raceday, create a distraction during the big race, and catch the guards and money men by surprise. Johnny's planning is meticulous, literally down to the minute, but the winds of fortune and chance play their hand in the scheme, and when things start to unravel, Johnny is forced to make a quick getaway.