Horse racing might not be the sport of kings, but in most countries it’s the pastime of the rich, given the cost of breeding and maintaining a potential champion. In Great Britain, racing is historically rooted in the aristocracy who kept stables on their estates and raced for pleasure long before betting on the horses became an industry and a public spectacle.
Dark Horse is a documentary on a Welsh barmaid determined to crash the upper-class party. Living in the coal town of Cefn Fforest, located in a depressed mining region, Jan Vokes was seized by an idea while serving pints at the local workingman’s club: Let’s get a horse of our own in the running. She knew nothing of horses but drew from her father’s experience in breeding champion racing pigeons. Horses are a more expensive breed but Vokes hurdled that obstacle by forming an ownership syndicate of townsfolk who contributed 10 pounds a week to the project. With some hard bargaining, they acquired at reasonable price a thoroughbred mare and stallion and got to work.
Filmed on location and assembled largely through interviews with Vokes and friends, and punctuated with footage from the races, Dark Horse follows the career of the horse they reared, Dream Alliance. He was a quirky, willful beast who won many races—until a life threatening track injury (altogether too common when horses are pushed to their limits) stopped his career. The veterinarians counseled putting him down, but the townsfolk were determined to keep him alive.
Dark Horse is a heartfelt against-the-odds story of what can happen when ordinary people pull together in a common cause.
Opens June 3, Downer Theatre.
Dark Horse
Directed by Louise Osmond
Rated PG
