Manabu Yazaki had left his family's home in Hokkaidō years before to go to Tokyo to earn a degree, start a company and get married. Now, divorced and pursued by creditors, he returns to his home and the family he has ignored for so many years. He loses the last of his money on a ''ban'ei'' horse race, a local sport where huge draft horses compete while pulling sleighs. Now broke, Manabu finds a job at the stable run by his brother Takeo. There he meets two women, Haruko, who helps Takeo run the stable, and Makie, the jockey who seems to have lost her touch. He also finds Unryu at the stable, the horse that cost him his money at the ''ban'ei'', and who may be heading for the slaughterhouse.