After Henry suffers an angina attack, he announces that he's retiring from the racing business. Leaving Alec to help Henry out of his depression and get him back as his trainer. He succeeds with a little ""bad trainer"" help from Pierre.

Henry and Alec meet up with a young track star who's running from his father. Bobby feels that his father doesn't listen to him and doesn't realize that he doesn't just want to run, that he has other interests as well. Henry helps his father Martin see that his son is unhappy and Alec encourages Bobby to speak up to his father. Father and son are reunited and they come to an understanding with one another.

Alec learns the meaning of tolerance and friendship when Mike, a boy with Down Syndrome befriends him. At first Alec doesn't know how to treat Mike but with the help of Henry, he becomes friends with him. Mike is Alec's only hope when the Black gets spooked and throws Alec who hits his head. Mike must figure out how to wake up Alec and get past the Black who's faithfully guarding his friend. When Alec comes to, he realizes that Mike and his horse asked the Black to move after Mike took down the fence dividing them.

Against Henry's wishes, Alec and the Black participate in a promotional event for courier Jericho Express. When Alec is purposely led off the path, he meets up with a young man named Hank, with a story to tell on the real origins of the Jericho Express and his great-uncle Jericho Coyote. Alec allows Hank to carry the journal of his great-uncle across the finish line, instead of himself.

While at the Cloverdale Rodeo, Henry and Alec meet a former rodeo champion who's trying to be the best once again after an injury. Johnny King nearly gets himself killed when he attempts to ride the Black and Alec won't speak to him. Henry tells Alec of Johnny's past and Alec and Johnny apologize to one another and come to an understanding.

When a photographer claims he was attacked by the Black, without cause, Alec is afraid the Black will be destroyed. While distraught Alec takes off with the Black, while the cops try to track him. Meanwhile, Catherine tries to prove that the photographer was in the Black's corral and was provoking him by taking pictures.

Henry and Alec visit Anne Knight, daughter of Henry's old friend, who now runs the Imperial Stables. One of her horses is running against the Black in an upcoming race and her trainer wants to make sure that their horse wins. The Black's sweet tooth creates an opportunity for sabotauge and when he wins, he's disqualified due to being drugged. Henry and Alec frantically try to figure out who drugged the Black and how. They discover that he was drugged with chocolate and Henry deduces that Greg Hill, Anne's top trainer, used the candy just as his father did long ago. Anne fires Greg and apologizes to Henry.

When Henry arranges a special race where the Black would race a famous horse named Shooting Magic, Alec is ecstatic. However, things don't go as planned when Henry meets with the rival horse's owner, D.J. Lancaster and signs a contract he didn't read. Alec is beside himself with grief and anger when they learn that according to the contract Henry signed that if the Black loses, Alec would lose him to D.J. Lancaster. Happily though, the Black wins the race and Henry and Alec mend their friendship.

A sleazy gambler attempts to blackmail Henry into throwing one of the Black's races and when Alec spies them together he grows suspicious of his friend. He questions Henry about it and Henry explains that it was not what it seemed. When the Black wins the race that Henry was supposed to saboutauge, it seems like he's in big trouble with the gambler and his buddies. That is until Henry reveals he's wearing a wear and the cops close in.

While Henry visits with his old girlfriend Martha at her farm, Alec spends some time with her asthmatic, mischievious nephew Dennis. When Dennis accidently spooks the Black, he runs away in fear, straight into a grain silo. When Alec tries to chase after the boy, they both end up stuck in the grain silo, which is filling up fast with grain, causing lots of dust that makes it hard for the the boys to breathe. With the help of Pierre and the Black, Alec and Dennis manage to escape the silo relatively unharmed aside from Dennis losing his inhaler and lack of breathing briefly.

When Alec and Henry visit with Henry's old friend and his granddaughter, Alec suspects Jackie is hiding something. When he learns she's an alcoholic, he covers for her and is torn on whether to tell. He eventually does and Jackie admits she needs help, and Henry reveals he had the same problem with her grandfather who's a recovering alcoholic.

When a stranger visits and claims to have been a friend of John Ramsey, Alec's father, no one is suspicious. They should be though, because Smythe was no friend of John's. Smythe in an attempt to recover some rare black pearls that he believes John sent home to Belle and Alec, kidnaps Alec and the Black. It's up to Henry, and the pearls, to get them back.

Alec resorts to extreme exercise and severe dieting, including diet pills and vomiting, when he thinks he'll be too heavy to jockey the Black soon. With the help of Henry, Belle and Catherine, Alec comes to his senses, but not until after a big race is scratched.

A stablehand helps thieves kidnap the Black and replace him with a lookalike that fools the security guard but not Alec. Alec and Henry desperately try to figure out what happened and when the stablehand finally confesses, it's off to France they go to rescue the Black.

Still in France, Alec finally gets the Black back after two weeks in quarantine but the stallion is not his old self. The Black has given up and it's up to Alec to take him out to the country to bring him back to his old wild spirit in order for them to be ready for the next big race. Thankfully this works and the Black wins the race. Alec and Henry decide to stay in Europe to win some more races and make enough money to fly the Black home on an airplane.

Another horse dies painfully in a race, causing Alec to consider not racing The black and accepting a scholarship to a French riding academy.

Alec becomes the target of bank robbers after he discovers stolen francs in an abandoned building, and Catherine mistakenly tells them his whereabouts.

While lost, Henry sees a glowing ghost-white stallion, but Alec questions this when the two stay at the Neuchatel Chateau.