THE rags to riches tale of how a horse was trained on an allotment by a village syndicate and then went on to win the the Welsh Grand National is the stuff of Hollywood movies.

In fact Dream Horse is a blockbuster film starring Toni Collette and Damian Lewis all about that glorious win.

But the real story played out right here in Gwent in Blackwood and Chepstow Racecourse.

Janet Vokes was working behind the bar in Cefn Fforest when she overheard a conversation about owning a racehorse.

“That conversation changed my life,” she said in an interview with the Argus after writing a book, Dream Horse, about her experience.

Working out of stables located on an allotment in Cefn Fforest, Mrs Vokes’ first thoroughbred foal was named Dream Alliance.

The horse went on to win the Welsh National in 2009, attracting a lot of media coverage at the time.

The film Dream Horse is due for release on May 21.

Here's a look back in photographs at that glorious win at Chepstow Racecourse in December 2009.