That's not all. There's Nick Nolte as an aging trainer, Jill Hennessy as the track veterinarian, Richard Kind as a jockey agent, John Ortiz (Mann's Miami Vice) as a legendary but unscrupulous trainer. Even the walk-on actors will make you exclaim, "Hey! I've seen that guy before!" In the important secondary plot, four railbird degenerates (Jason Gedrick, Ian Hart, Ritchie Coster and an Emmy-worthy Kevin Dunn) go in on a high-stakes "Pick Six" wager, then explore the depths of their trust.

Sunday's pilot is a bit of a slow build as its stable full of characters is introduced, but stay with it. By early in the second episode, Luck is racing at full gallop. It boasts superb acting, exciting races, magnificent steeds — and when's the last time you saw any bad production that had horses in it?

> Email Jim McFarlin