Larry Silverstein This documentary tells the truly remarkable true story of the thoroughbred race horse Dream Alliance, and it is quite the Cinderella tale.In a small economically depressed Welsh mining town, a barmaid and cleaner at a local department store Jan Vokes was determined that despite all odds she was going to breed a race horse, and was the driving force behind a syndicate of local townspeople pooling and saving their money to do just that.They eventually found the mare Rewbell, who had a very brief unsuccessful racing career and was considered "mental" by her connections. She would be bred to the American stallion Bien Bien for a 3,000 pound stud fee, and this would lead to the birth of Dream Alliance.Incredibly, the horse was raised on an allotment, and would eventually be placed in the care of trainer Philip Hobbs and his assistant Johnson White. They evaluated Dream Alliance as not being very fast but having the "heart of a tiger".Well, as they say the rest is history as Dream Alliance would prove he could race and win steeplechase events among the racing elite, including the most prestigious Welsh Grand National. He would even be able to return to racing after a near fatal injury on the track, and became one of the first thoroughbreds to receive stem cell surgery.Of course, during all this time the Welsh townspeople in the syndicate were just thrilled with this amazingly improbable series of events. They seemed to particularly enjoy hobnobbing with the gentry at the racetracks and causing them all kinds of consternation.All in all, here in the States every once in a while a horse will come along with less than elite breeding, be backed by blue collar folks, and upend racing tradition by being hugely successful. This is one of those true stories and the film can be a feel-good tale for viewers of any age.

Bob Rutzel This is a true storyIn 2001, Jan, a barmaid in a local English pub decides she wants to breed a race horse. She convinces 30 of her townspeople to invest in this venture. They do and name the horse Dream Alliance. Jan and her group pay the hefty costs of getting a known trainer, Phillip Hobbs, to train Dream Alliance. To the amazement of all Dream Alliance wins races, but in one race was kicked by the hoof of a horse in front of him and a tendon was sliced. Stem cell surgery saves him and he is able to race again. This is - without a doubt - some story. It is a documentary and starts out like a Ken Burns documentary with still pictures and narratives. After a while the still pictures go away and we see actual footage of Dream Alliance in races and posing for pictures with the owners. The narratives continue throughout with interviews of the owners. Many of these personal quips are pure gold and some are truly funny and there are too many to relate here, but you will enjoy them. There are 2-things that I didn't understand: (1) we never see trainer Hobbs with Dream Alliance; we do however, see him talking about Dream Alliance; and (2) we never see or hear any jockey with Dream Alliance. I thought these were huge oversights. Okay, one other thing; we never hear or see news blurbs about Dream Alliance, but we do see the headlines. Also there are never comments from the rich owners about Dream Alliance. One would think they would say something whether good or bad and maybe they declined comment for this production. Who knows?In any event this is a beautiful, most delightful and unbelievable true story. Yes, there may be times you will need a box of Kleenex at the ready. You will get the feeling that Dream Alliance knew what was expected of him and he did all he could to do his best. If he could talk I am sure he would have said that. (9/10)Violence: No. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.

Carlo Fiorletta This movie is about a bunch of human friends who do not have movie star looks nor a lot of money. They chip in to syndicate the birth of a race horse. They go into the financial details and negotiations in a good humored way. The mating process happens and the horse born is a beautiful creature. The connection of this horse to the owners might be more sentimental than average because they are not rich people. They are not experienced but hire an experienced trainer.Some of the discussions take place at a pub table. There is some digression, mostly humorous. The background music is simply beautiful classical.If you have gone to a race or ridden or touched a horse you know they have a personality. You get that from this movie. You might feel greater things about your pets.The horse is not perfect. I will not divulge any race results. We all have our own first and last races. I won't mention how much they invested nor if they gained or lost money. In the end, this is a movie about working friendships and collaboration between humans and animals. A beautiful movie which evokes emotions and memories. This is a great movie about great relationships with a great animal. And we are all imperfect even the great.

asc85 It's a definite feel-good movie, and in addition to that, it's one of those movies that if it was a fiction piece rather than a documentary, you'd say that something like this couldn't happen. As I live in the USA, I was completely unfamiliar with this story, as there's not exactly a lot of coverage here regarding thoroughbred racing in Wales. But that's a good thing, because I had no idea where this story was going to lead, and how it was going to end.My only small criticism of this movie is that like many documentaries, there are a number of re-enactments of what occurred at earlier times. I'm not a big fan of those, but other than that, it's an enjoyable experience seeing this film.