Freddy Head
Encyclopedia
Freddy Head
Freddy Head (born 19 June 1947, in Neuilly
, France
) is a retired champion jockey
in Thoroughbred
horse racing
and currently a horse trainer
. Known also as "Freddie", his grandfather was a jockey as was his father Alec Head
who also became a successful trainer and owner of Haras du Quesnay
near Deauville
. Alec Head's horses won the Epsom Derby
and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
.
In the 1976 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Freddie Head rode to victory on a horse trained by his father and in 1979 took another win on a horse trained by his highly successful sister, Christiane "Criquette" Head
. A six-time winner of the French jockey's championship, Freddie Head scored a number of important Group I
wins in the United Kingdom
and is best known to Americans
for his back-to-back victories aboard U.S. Hall of Fame
filly
Miesque
in the 1987 and 1988 Breeders' Cup Mile
.
Freddie Head retired as a jockey in 1997 and began working as a trainer. In 2008
, he became the first man ever to win Breeders' Cup races as both a jockey and trainer when Goldikova
won the Mile.
France
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Great Britain
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United States
Freddy Head (born 19 June 1947, in Neuilly
Neuilly
Neuilly is a common place name in France, deriving from the male given name Nobilis or Novellius:...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) is a retired champion jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
in Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
and currently a horse trainer
Horse trainer
In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...
. Known also as "Freddie", his grandfather was a jockey as was his father Alec Head
Alec Head
Alec Head was a prominent French horseman and breeder and the owner of Haras du Quesnay near Deauville. A descendant of the great trainers who founded the English Racing Colony in Chantilly, Oise, Head's grandfather was a jockey-turned-trainer, as was his father William Head who was a very...
who also became a successful trainer and owner of Haras du Quesnay
Haras du Quesnay
Haras du Quesnay, known as "Le Quesnay", is a thoroughbred horse breeding farm in France about four miles outside the city of Deauville on 3 km², established in 1907 by wealthy American sportsman William Kissam Vanderbilt. He sold the property to another American horseman, A. Kingsley Macomber,...
near Deauville
Deauville
Deauville is a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and...
. Alec Head's horses won the Epsom Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...
.
In the 1976 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Freddie Head rode to victory on a horse trained by his father and in 1979 took another win on a horse trained by his highly successful sister, Christiane "Criquette" Head
Criquette Head-Maarek
Christiane "Criquette" Head is considered to be the leading female racehorse trainer in the world.Known as Criquette, she was born into the Thoroughbred horse racing business...
. A six-time winner of the French jockey's championship, Freddie Head scored a number of important Group I
Conditions races
Conditions races are horse races where the weights carried by the runners are laid down by the conditions attached to the race. Weights are allocated according to; the sex of the runners, with female runners carrying less weight than males; the age of the runners, with younger horses receiving...
wins in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and is best known to Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for his back-to-back victories aboard U.S. Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
filly
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
Miesque
Miesque
Miesque was a champion Thoroughbred racemare, best known as the first horse to win two consecutive Breeders' Cups and racing awards in Europe and America. She was a Group one winner at two, three and four-years-old, for a total of 10 G1 wins. She produced five stakes winners.-Breeding:Miesque was...
in the 1987 and 1988 Breeders' Cup Mile
Breeders' Cup Mile
The Breeders' Cup Mile is a Grade 1 Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up, run on a grass course. It has been conducted annually as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships since the event's inception in 1984...
.
Freddie Head retired as a jockey in 1997 and began working as a trainer. In 2008
2008 Breeders' Cup
The 2008 Breeders' Cup World Championships was the 25th edition of thoroughbred racing's season ending premier event, and took place on October 24 and 25 during the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.-Female Championship Friday:...
, he became the first man ever to win Breeders' Cup races as both a jockey and trainer when Goldikova
Goldikova
Goldikova is a champion Thoroughbred racemare based in France, although she has raced in North America and England. She has won fourteen group one races, with nine victories over colts and geldings. This puts her above the great Miesque as the only European-trained horse to have won more than 10...
won the Mile.
Major wins as a trainer
FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
- Prix de l'Abbaye de LongchampPrix de l'Abbaye de LongchampThe Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged two years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,000 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early October.-History:The Prix de l'Abbaye was one of two major...
- (1) - Marchand d'OrMarchand d'OrMarchand d'Or is a Thoroughbred racehorse who, in 2008, won his third straight Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville Racecourse, becoming the first to ever win three consecutive runnings of any French Group 1 race....
(2008) - Prix de la ForêtPrix de la ForêtThe Prix de la Forêt is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late September or early October.-History:The race was established in 1858,...
- (1) - Goldikova (2010) - Prix d'IspahanPrix d'IspahanThe Prix d'Ispahan is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,850 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in May.-History:...
- (2) - GoldikovaGoldikovaGoldikova is a champion Thoroughbred racemare based in France, although she has raced in North America and England. She has won fourteen group one races, with nine victories over colts and geldings. This puts her above the great Miesque as the only European-trained horse to have won more than 10...
(2010, 2011) - Prix Jacques Le MaroisPrix Jacques le MaroisThe Prix Jacques Le Marois is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred colts and fillies aged three years or older. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,600 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in August....
- (2) - Tamayuz (2008), Goldikova (2009) - Prix Jean-Luc LagardèrePrix Jean-Luc LagardèreThe Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early October.It is the oldest and most prestigious race in France...
- (1) - Naaqoos (2008) - Prix Jean PratPrix Jean PratThe Prix Jean Prat is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 1,600 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early July.-History:...
- (1) - Tamayuz (2008) - Prix Maurice de GheestPrix Maurice de GheestThe Prix Maurice de Gheest is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,300 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in August.-History:...
- (4) - Marchand d'Or (2006, 2007, 2008), Moonlight Cloud (2011) - Prix du Moulin de LongchampPrix du Moulin de LongchampThe Prix du Moulin de Longchamp is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbred colts and fillies aged three years or older...
- (1) - Goldikova (2008) - Prix Rothschild - (4) - Goldikova (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
- Prix VermeillePrix VermeilleThe Prix Vermeille is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.-History:The event was established in 1897, and it...
- (1) - Galikova (2011)
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Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
- Falmouth StakesFalmouth StakesThe Falmouth Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July.-History:The event is named in honour of...
- (1) - Goldikova (2009) - July CupJuly CupThe July Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July....
- (1) - Marchand d'Or (2008) - Queen Anne StakesQueen Anne StakesThe Queen Anne Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June....
- (1) - Goldikova (2010)
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United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- Breeders' Cup MileBreeders' Cup MileThe Breeders' Cup Mile is a Grade 1 Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up, run on a grass course. It has been conducted annually as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships since the event's inception in 1984...
- (3) - Goldikova (2008, 2009, 2010)