A new film dramatising the true story of a Welsh barmaid and group of friends who trained a racehorse that went on to win the Welsh Grand National, will be released in April.
Dream Horse, stars Oscar-nominated actress Toni Collette as bartender Jan Vokes, a cleaner and bartender, who recruits her initially reluctant husband Brian and local accountant Howard Davies to help her bring together a syndicate of local people to breed a foal – which they name Dream Alliance.
On the racetrack, he proves himself to be more than a match for the multi-million pound racehorses he comes up against – a true working-class champion, taking on the establishment at their own game. But much more than this, Dream begins to alter the lives of everyone in the syndicate, not least Jan’s. He is everything to her: friend, confidant and an escape from a life of always putting other people’s needs first.
Dream Horse is being called “a classic story of triumph against adversity, and a tale of how a woman strives to make her dream a reality in a place where hope is thin on the ground”
Already the subject of the 2015 documentary Dark Horse, Dream Horse also stars Damian Lewis, Howard Davies, Joanna Page, Nicholas Farrell, Peter Davison, Siân Phillips, and Owen Teale.
The film premiered at the Sundance Festival last month, and according to its leading lady, “it couldn’t have gone better. I was blown away, and it was very emotional,” said Collette to Collider.
Shot on location in South Wales, Walesonline.co.uk says Dream Horse, “looks to have the kind of winning formula to guarantee it performs like a thoroughbred at the box office. What is more, the Welsh accents – from Aussie actress Collette, in particular – look good to firm”.
