The year 1914. The Lasarte racetrack announces a race with a never-before-seen prize for the winning horse. Eight of the best horses and mares in the world have registered. Fans and heavy betters from all the continents gather to participate in the great event: the Half Million Grand Prize.
Juan Martin, a young boy from San Sebastian, decides to spend the summer in a remote hillside farmhouse to improve his Basque. But there he discovers that the language they use has little in common with his classroom learnings.