Dream Alliance, the horse that famously won the 2009 Welsh Grand National against all odds, has died aged 22.
‘Dreamy’, as he was affectionately known, was raised on an allotment in Wales by Janet Vokes and owned by a syndicate of friends paying £10 a week.
His incredible story has been covered by a 2015 documentary and more recently the 2020 film Dream Horse.
“We have had to say a heart-breaking goodbye to our amazing Dreamer,” owner Claire Sandercock posted on Facebook.
Since the end of his racing days in 2012, Dream Alliance had been living out retirement in Somerset with former groom Sandercock, who had looked after him during his career at trainer Philip Hobbs’ stable.
Vokes, who was working in a supermarket near the former Welsh mining town of Blackwood, had a decade of experience breeding pedigree whippet dogs, but in 1998 she and her husband Brian decided to breed a racehorse of their own.
After buying a mare named Rewbell for £300 at a yard in Llanelli and finding a stallion in Oxfordshire with a racing pedigree, Bien Bien, they bred Dream Alliance.
Vokes persuaded locals at the working men’s club in Blackwood, where she also worked as a barmaid, to form a syndicate to pay £10 a week for the horse’s upkeep and training.
Dreamy was raised on an allotment in Cefn Fforest before being sent to be trained by Hobbs aged three.
He made his racing debut at Newbury in November 2004, claiming his first win in January 2006 over the hurdles at Chepstow, adding the Perth Gold Cup in April 2007.
Disaster struck in 2008 when he severed a tendon in a leg. It was an injury that under many owners might have led to a horse being put down, but Vokes and the syndicate refused to give up, paying £20,000 for pioneering stem-cell treatment.
After a lengthy convalescence, Dreamy returned to action and repaid their faith as Tom O’Brien rode the then eight-year-old to Welsh Grand National glory the following year at odds of 20-1.
Dreamy’s winnings over his career amounted to £138,646, the 23 syndicate members made only £1,430 each after vet bills, stabling and trainers’ fees, but the fame and romance of his Welsh National triumph is likely far more precious.
“Many will know and remember Dreamer from his racing days and I know I will never forget the thrill of riding him on the gallops every day,” Sandercock said.
“I was so so proud of him when he won the Welsh National and I remember telling him afterwards that I didn’t care if he ever won another race again as long as he came home safe and sound.
“After he retired from racing the syndicate gifted Dreamer to me and I have owned him for nearly 11 years. Alongside my mum Debbie we have felt privileged to care, ride and love this very special horse.
“Dreamer has always been a gentle and kind horse, but since his retirement from racing his personality has changed so much, he gained a cheeky sense of humour.
“He could always tell what you were thinking and if you wanted a quiet plod round the lanes then that is what he gave you, but if you wanted a gallop then he would step it up and be more than up for it.
“He leaves a huge hole in our lives…. thank you for everything my darling Dreamy, you will never be forgotten.”
