Plot
Hugo Z. Hackenbush (Groucho Marx) is a veterinarian who is hired as chief of staff for the Standish Sanitarium, owned by Judy Standish (Maureen O'Sullivan), at the insistence of her most important patient, the rich Mrs. Upjohn, (Margaret Dumont), who insists on being treated only by Dr. Hackenbush. The Sanitarium has fallen on hard times, and banker J.D. Morgan (Douglas Dumbrille) is attempting to gain control of it. Judy hopes that Mrs. Upjohn will make a large donation and stop that from happening.
Meanwhile, Judy's boyfriend, singer Gil Stewart (Allan Jones), has taken his life's savings and bought a horse with it, instead of paying for vocal lessons to further his career as a radio singer. His hope is that the horse, Hi-Hat, will win a big race, and the money will save the sanitarium. Unfortunately, he now has no money to pay for the horse's feed, and he and Tony (Chico Marx), who works for the sanitarium, and Stuffy (Harpo Marx), Hi-Hat's jockey, have to resort to trickery to fend off the Sheriff (Robert Middlemass). Tony raises some money by scamming Hackenbush in the "Tutsi Fruitsy Ice Cream" scene, in which Tony gives Hackenbush a tip on a horse, but all in code, so that Hackenbush has to buy book after book from Tony to decipher the code.
At the Sanitarium, its business manager, Whitmore {Leonard Ceeley) – who is Morgan's stooge – attempts to rattle Mrs. Upjohn's faith in Hackenbush by having her discover him in a compromising situation with a floozie, (Esther Muir). Hackenbush is saved by Stuffy and Tony, who pose as house detectives and then as paperhangers, who first paste the vamp to the wall behind layers of wallpaper and then hide her under the sofa. Next, Whitmore brings in the eminent Dr. Steinberg (Sig Ruman), who exposes Hackenbush as a quack.
Hackenbush, Tony, Stuffy and Gil hide out in Hi-Hat's stable, where Judy soon joins them. Morgan finds them and is about to have them arrested when the horse sees him and bolts, running for the racetrack, where he jumps the fence and enters the ongoing race, with Stuffy riding him and spurring him on by showing the animal a picture of Morgan.
Read more about this topic: A Day At The Races (film)
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