Legacy

In the spring of 1881, the horse-farming Logans of Kentucky are a tight-knit and prosperous clan. The family includes widower Ned Logan, the family patriarch, sons Sean and Clay, daughters Alice and young Lexy. There is concern among the family members about Ned's plans to bring a 12-year-old orphan into the family.

The Logans sift through the rubble of the recent tobacco barn fire searching for clues as to how it happened. Jeremy Bradford, the first on the scene of the fire, claimed he had seen two people flee on horseback. When he tells Clay Logan that he couldn't quite make out who they were, an increasingly suspicious Clay tells his brother Sean he doesn't trust Jeremy's story.

Ned Logan is highly suspicious when Regine, the sister of his late wife Libby arrives at the farm unannounced. Ten years earlier, Regine had tried to take his daughters Alice (Lea Moreno) and Lexy away from him when Libby died. A true Boston blue blood, Regine always resented Ned for taking her sister off to Kentucky.

"The Logan family learns that adopted son Jeremy is not an orphan after all. When a letter arrives informing Jeremy that his mother, Emma, who suffered from consumption for three years, has been released from St. Mary's Sanitarium in New York. Jeremy asks Ned Logan (Brett Cullen) if his mother can join them in Kentucky until she's well again.

Cut off from her highly addictive medicine, Jeremy's mother Emma has fled the Logan farm in a horse and buggy, taking young Lexy hostage. Emma is headed to New Orleans in a desperate search for the drug she craves. Ned Logan, along with Clay, Jeremy and trusted farm hand Isaac set off in pursuit.

At the urging of his son Clay, Ned Logan buys Gauntlet, a young colt with a fast future. Ned is surprised when the horse sells cheap until he learns about a financial crisis in town. Asa Winters is forced to close down his bank after his reckless son William gambles away the town's savings. The sudden closure angers the townspeople, who are smugly dismissed by Asa on the steps of the bank.

With his mother back in a sanitarium, Jeremy withdraws from the family and takes comfort in riding his favorite horse, Chicory. Ned Logan can see that Jeremy is also still feeling guilty about his mother's thwarted abduction of Lexy, and decides that he will spend more time with the unsettled young man.

As the Kentucky state assembly election approaches, two candidates emerge: the hardworking and honest newcomer Gerald Clancy, and William Winters, whose ethics are questionable. The big issue during the political campaign: the tobacco farmers are outraged when the Winters' foreman John Turner offers just 5 cents a pound for their tobacco down from last year's 8 cents a pound.

Lexy asks her father Ned about her mother Libby, who died when she was born. Ned tries his best to describe his late wife to his youngest daughter. The next day, distracted by memories of Libby, Ned is kicked to the ground and knocked unconscious while trying to corral a wild horse with Isaac.

Always looking to promote his horse breeding business, Ned Logan invites horse jumpers from all over Kentucky to take part in the First Annual Logan Farms Jumping Competition. And if the youngest Logan, Lexy, can convince her father she's ready, she'll be riding, too. While the farm is being readied for the event, Tom Stanton, a handsome college chum of Sean's, arrives.

When a gambling house opens in Lexington, Jeremy can't resist getting himself a piece of the action. However, his beginner's luck quickly runs out when a card shark named Dugan cleans him out. And when Dugan discovers that he's been shortchanged $100 on his winnings, Jeremy becomes the prime suspect.

As the 14th annual running of the Lexington Stakes draws near, the Logan's prize thoroughbred Gauntlet remains the horse to beat. News of Gauntlet's impressive practice times has even reached as far away as Europe.

State Assemblyman Gerald Clancy asks Sean Logan to negotiate with the railroad to buy land to build a public hospital. Sean meets with railway negotiator Henry Langston, a handsome and well-educated black attorney and offers him $5000 or $100 an acre, the total set-aside for the project. While he considers the offer, Henry becomes attracted to Sean's black assistant Marita.

Georgina Winters is furious when she learns she has been written out of her dying husband's will. Forgetting all about her ailing husband Asa, she hatches a plan to align herself with Lexington's most eligible bachelor, Ned Logan. Georgina proposes she and Ned throw a birthday party to celebrate the success of the yearlings in Lexington.

Ned and his son Sean come to the rescue when a woman crashes her carriage by the side of the road. Charlotte Bentley was apparently travelling from Richmond to Chicago when she lost control of her carriage. Ned gallantly takes her back to his farm and invites her to stay with his family for as long as she needs to recover. Meanwhile, Georgina is up to her old schemes.

Eager to strike out on his own, Sean Logan makes a deal to buy an abandoned warehouse in downtown Lexington. He plans to use the warehouse to store tobacco, cutting down on transportation costs and cutting out the middleman. In order to pay for the warehouse, he needs to borrow a thousand dollars from his father, Ned Logan.

Jerry and Molly set out a romantic buggy ride around Lexington. But when the driver suffers a heart attack, Jeremy has to scramble out of the coach to bring the horses under control. It turns out that the late driver was also the owner, leaving the town's carriage taxi business up for grabs. Jeremy, looking to establish himself as a business man, sees an opportunity.

Ned Logan is so in love with his mysterious new bride Charlotte that he's planning a Masquerade Ball in her honor. What he doesn't know is that Charlotte already hides behind a mask of deception. While her early morning rides remind Ned of his beloved first wife, the wily Charlotte is really riding off to be with her lover, John Turner.