Dark Horse (2015)

A sweet and heart-warming documentary that goes to show that horse racing is not only for posh people in stupid hats. Who would have thought?

This is the story of Dream Alliance - the horse that shouldn’t have won the Welsh National but, by Jove, did. The general consensus when it comes to horse racing is that millions must be invested in a thoroughbred and with the right training and the right jockey and a whole lot of luck, only then will one have a chance of winning ribbons and cups (and other things deemed worth the hassle in a dull sport that seems to only exist so one can bet money on it).

But the team behind Dream Alliance proved that consensus to be incorrect, as the syndicate of inexperienced middle-aged folk from Wales pulled off that very coup in 2009. Headed up by barmaid Jan Vokes, who gets another job in a supermarket to help save for a mare, the locals of Cefn Fforest are encouraged to put in ten pounds a week to fund the expensive Philip Hobbs stable where Dream is put through his paces. The only thing is the horse ‘isn’t very fast’…

A charming documentary of talking heads, Dark Horse is after the audience that likes to root for the underdog. Which is everyone, really. And it’s easy to get behind the syndicate and what this means to them, as director Louise Ormond nicely builds up the tension to each race, and the comedown when Dream suffers a setback. As the syndicate are only too aware of the gulf between their world and the world of Tristan Toffington-Fyfe (or some other posh name), referring to themselves as ‘commoners’, Ormond shoots them in their environment - sheds, allotments, pubs and kitchens - which gives Dark Horse an approachable and comfy atmosphere. You get to know these people.

However, the great efforts to put a personality on the horse and the love that gushes forth for the animal is hard to stomach. Because let’s face it: a living, breathing animal is reduced to a running machine with the sole purpose of it making money for its owners until it injures itself, dies or gets old. The talk of Dream Alliance ‘earning his right’ to run in the Grand National after a debilitating accident (it severs its Achilles tendon) is pure fantasy – the horse has zero input in what happens to him. But it’s interesting to see the mental gymnastics one is prepared to indulge in to convince themselves of something.