Five years ago, a fire destroyed a stable in the forest of Chefn. During the fire, Rodney the horse died, and the unlikely union’s hopes of repeating their incredible success were dashed.
You may not know Ian and Brian Woakes by name, but you probably know the story of their horse Dream Alliance, the Welsh Grand National champion, who was bred on land and funded by a syndicate of friends who pay just £10 a week to realize an impossible dream. reality. After successfully breeding pigeons, Ian (now 69) and Brian (now 75) trained racehorses and took home several top prizes.
The story has since been adapted for the big screen, starring Toni Collette and Owen Teal as the couple, and the Dream Alliance’s sensational journey has become folklore. But in 2017, a barn fire killed their “star in the making” Rodney, who was due to start training in the spring in hopes of following in Dream Alliance’s footsteps.
The fire also seriously injured Rodney’s mother, Hattie, who was running as Juvirea. Hattie had to go to the vet 24/7 and Ian and Brian were back on track when it came to finding a new racehorse.
However, half a decade after the fire, they have new hope in the form of Getty’s daughter: a horse, aptly named Phoenix Dream, born after the terrible fire, who prepares for the races. “We were all upset [after the fire]Jana told WalesOnline, but my husband Brian was completely devastated.
(Image: Janet Vokes)
“He almost lost the will to live, and I kid you not. Our vet advised us to get another foal; He said it would be good for Brian and the mare [Hettie] have something else to focus on.”
Jen said she didn’t want to give up after the fire because she didn’t think it was fair for Hattie to give up after so much effort. But Brian wasn’t so sure and he didn’t want to rebuild the barn.
After everything that happened, Yana still works as a cleaner at the school. But Brian missed a valuable part of his routine when Hattie went to the vet.
Ian explained: “Brian wanted to quit, he was convinced this was it. Because he didn’t have to go up and feed the horse, he didn’t see anybody all the time… it was harder for him to go and look people in the face because the first thing people would say was, ‘I’m sorry.’ about horses’, and the plan backfires.”
(Image: Janet Vokes)
But Hattie made a wonderful recovery under the watchful eye of Llantrisant vet Ron Williams. Janet thinks that if another vet had been on the premises, Hattie would have been strangled, so she declined and asked Ron, and despite initial concerns that Hattie would bleed after inhaling the smoke, he didn’t reject her.
“He brought our dream [Alliance] In the world, said Ian, we never took our horses to another veterinarian. She had Hattie for three months, and for the first two weeks she worked day and night with her daughter. He said we could come every day and he called us every day…at that point he didn’t care if Hattie survived from the inhalation and not so much from the trauma and burns. He did a great job.”
Another ‘nice’ thing was the support they received, whether it be friends and members of the original union who helped raise £10,000 for the restoration project, people who helped set up the new stable for free or people who offered their services for free to help put Hattie up back in good shape.
(Image: Wales Online)
Hattie is now “virtually 100% fine” but will no longer travel due to balance issues. Almost two years after the fire, she gave birth to another foal, and later this year, if all goes well, this foal will race.
All eyes are on Phoenix Dream (aka Elsie) who is currently training at Martin Jones’ Gloucester stable with the aim of competing in October. “If there is any justice in the world,” said Yang, “I think the Union deserves to win.”
On whether Phoenix Dream can replicate Dream Alliance’s incredible success, Ian said: “I don’t think anyone can say until they hit the track. You get an idea, they show full gallop and you think, “Oh yeah”. “but the racetrack is a whole different ball game, I think you have no idea until you do the first race.”
(Image: Wales Online)
Ian is unsure if Hattie, now 17, will have another foal; it all depends on whether veterinarian Ron, now 70, will be available when the time comes. The Syndicate has also changed over the years, although around seven of its members were “originals” from the unlikely rise of the Dream Alliance.
Mriya meanwhile is retired to Somerset. He has a “fairytale house” where his servants pamper, massage and wash him, but Jan previously told WalesOnline that she can’t stand the visit of her “baby”.
All eyes are on the future with Phoenix Dream and Ian believes people have learned to expect success from the union: “People think if you’ve done it once you can keep doing it, but that’s not the case. We did everything right, foals need time to mature and we gave them all that time.
(Image: Janet Vokes)
“Phoenix is well educated and on paper there is no reason why she shouldn’t win. Dream shouldn’t have done what she did: he wasn’t raised as well as she was, he didn’t have the pedigree that she did. But what matters is the size of her heart when he goes out on the runway.”
Source: Wales Online
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
