What do you think?
Rate this book
Dream Horse
Janet Vokes was working behind the bar in her local working men’s club in the small Welsh mining community of Cefn Fforest when she fixed upon the idea of breeding a racehorse. Why shouldn’t a working-class horse take on the wealthy high-flyers and compete in the ‘sport of kings’?
Her mind set, she bought a mare for £350, paired her up with a pedigree stallion and helped to create a syndicate of twenty-three residents from her village – each paying £10 a week – to raise the resulting foal, Dream Alliance. He may have grown up on an allotment but Dream had immediate star quality, beating all the odds to compete at Ascot, Aintree and even the Cheltenham Festival. But when a terrible injury brings his racing days to a standstill, the syndicate is forced to make a vital decision not just about his career, but his life.
Heart-warming, inspiring and incredibly moving, Dream Horse by Janet Vokes is the extraordinary story of a woman who defied the snobbery of the racing world to breed a champion, and a remarkable horse who brought a community together.
Her mind set, she bought a mare for £350, paired her up with a pedigree stallion and helped to create a syndicate of twenty-three residents from her village – each paying £10 a week – to raise the resulting foal, Dream Alliance. He may have grown up on an allotment but Dream had immediate star quality, beating all the odds to compete at Ascot, Aintree and even the Cheltenham Festival. But when a terrible injury brings his racing days to a standstill, the syndicate is forced to make a vital decision not just about his career, but his life.
Heart-warming, inspiring and incredibly moving, Dream Horse by Janet Vokes is the extraordinary story of a woman who defied the snobbery of the racing world to breed a champion, and a remarkable horse who brought a community together.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published April 4, 2019
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 26, 2024
I read Dream Horse for the Dymocks Reading Challenge 2024. I don't normally read auto-biographies so that may have gone some way towards me not loving this book.
Janet Vokes writes about her life growing up amongst the slag heaps of a Wales mining town. I actually loved this part of the story and Janet's reminiscence about all the carefree fun the local children had growing up and the family's garden allotment. It's once Janet is grown and starts breeding and showing dogs and later racing pigeons that she became self-righteous, opinionated and dare I say unlikeable.
Dream Alliance (the dream horse) doesn't come into the book until about a third way through and I would say he was the star of the book with his perseverance and resilience.
I'm sorry to say Janet Vokes comes across as judgey and possessive. Certainly not a team player.
All that being said Dream Horse is a fascinating story about believing in yourself, knowing you can do anything and reaching for that dream.
Janet Vokes writes about her life growing up amongst the slag heaps of a Wales mining town. I actually loved this part of the story and Janet's reminiscence about all the carefree fun the local children had growing up and the family's garden allotment. It's once Janet is grown and starts breeding and showing dogs and later racing pigeons that she became self-righteous, opinionated and dare I say unlikeable.
Dream Alliance (the dream horse) doesn't come into the book until about a third way through and I would say he was the star of the book with his perseverance and resilience.
I'm sorry to say Janet Vokes comes across as judgey and possessive. Certainly not a team player.
All that being said Dream Horse is a fascinating story about believing in yourself, knowing you can do anything and reaching for that dream.
November 13, 2019
3.5* Ah, I'm on the fence with this one. It's a quick and effortless read for sure, and, above all, such a great story really. But as a book? I'm not so sure. Janet Vokes clearly wanted it to be her story, for 2/3 of the book is about her, not the horse. I get it, I do. But it's called "Dream Horse," not "Janet Vokes and the Horse She Bred." No wonder I expected to read more about the horse.
Since it was published in 2019, I was surprised there was no follow-up to what happened with Dream afterwards (we get the general idea, but it was wrapped up in two sentences), or if his half-brother ever raced, and surely no mention of the 2017 fire that killed one of their new horses. But most of all it lacked what I love most about horse racing books: the actual racing parts. Since Janet Vokes never watched Dream run (bar once, for a very short while), there are no heart-stopping descriptions of the races, no turning of each page with anticipation, no uncertainty of the outcome. Not like Seabiscuit, not like Secretariat. Of course, I know it's not fair to compare anything to these two books, especially since they were flat racers to Dream being a jumper, but it's a horse race all the same, and the book does fall under that genre.
Since it was published in 2019, I was surprised there was no follow-up to what happened with Dream afterwards (we get the general idea, but it was wrapped up in two sentences), or if his half-brother ever raced, and surely no mention of the 2017 fire that killed one of their new horses. But most of all it lacked what I love most about horse racing books: the actual racing parts. Since Janet Vokes never watched Dream run (bar once, for a very short while), there are no heart-stopping descriptions of the races, no turning of each page with anticipation, no uncertainty of the outcome. Not like Seabiscuit, not like Secretariat. Of course, I know it's not fair to compare anything to these two books, especially since they were flat racers to Dream being a jumper, but it's a horse race all the same, and the book does fall under that genre.
July 11, 2019
This was a double bonus for me reading this book as both Whippets and horses were featured! A really easy read for anyone who loves horses and the National Hunt racing. Janet is an ordinary woman with all her hopes and dreams fixed on a horse she bred herself, Dream Alliance. A heartwarming story and very moving. My thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.
April 2, 2022
From time to time I like reading horse stories and this one didn't disappoint. A true story by Janet Vokes, who with her husband Brian, and a local syndicate of committed Welsh locals, raised a fairly ordinary, inexpensive horse on the slag heaps of Wales and turned him into a champion. The story of a brave woman, who was prepared to beat the wealthy and somewhat 'snobby' world of horse racing as an ordinary woman supported by local funds and beat the big boys at their own game. Great that she found a great trainer and the likes of jockeys like Richard Johnson and Tom O'Brien to ride him too. Inspiring book of a love and communication between Janet and Dream Alliance, a formidable duo.
June 9, 2019
Dream Horse that is now being made into a film with Toni Collette. A true story of a Welsh woman's determination to take on the giants of horse racing after being raised on the back of the allotments.
More than a story of a racing horse but how a small valley in Wales became to dream of a winning race horse.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dream-Horse-...
More than a story of a racing horse but how a small valley in Wales became to dream of a winning race horse.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dream-Horse-...
April 13, 2022
It's a good book but Vokes' actual knowledge of the sport seems very limited and she herself doesn't particularly come across well, I thought.
September 13, 2022
It was good to read the back story after watching the movie of how Janet Vokes' passion for horses came about. Shows how determination and being told you can't can be all the inspiration you need.
January 14, 2023
Excellent book captures the trials and tribulations of horse racing
February 15, 2026
Inspiring and heart warming story. Written in a lovely open way. The art of the possible in life. Loved it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews