Tavern owners Cincinatus and Shem Sweet (Jack Albertson) plot to outdo each other at the annual Boonesborough foot race by entering the African-American brothers Lucas (Ji-Tu Cumbuka) and Linus (Dino Washington), Hunter, but the racers have an agenda of their own.
Right out of the starting gate we know its another "Tales of Boonesborough" night, and Fess Parker might as well have just sent a still photo of himself to the set. This might have been an attempt to reward Dal McKennon for years of faithful service as Cincinatus by giving him a showcase episode, but its thin compensatory gruel and McKennon's character somewhat grates outside of small doses. Albertson performs a double helping of garrulous-senior service, and Cumbuka adds here to a lengthy resume as a 1970's TV journeyman.
At this point the series had made substantial attempts to tell more diverse frontier stories, but having the runners speak in forced slave vernacular seems somewhat regressive; we are clearly set on a slave-outwits-master storyline, but the setup motions seem archaic and not really entertaining for an episode broadcast two years after the MLK assassination.
Production values are minimal; some interaction with a visiting unnamed tribe (again, the prop master has a Great Plains fixation) is shown, but the history component is minimal if present or all. Regrettably, American slavery is given a glossy coating when its suggested that slaves were used for festive sporting events. Cincinatus is shown toting a Pilgrim (and not really, depiction stems from 19th century illustration) blunderbuss, unlikely to make it to 1780's Kentucky.
Nothing here that could not have been accomplished during laughs week on Bonanza or Gunsmoke, and simply a late-in-series filler hour.