Haras du Quesnay, known as "Le Quesnay", is a 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 breeding

Horse breeding

Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...

 farm in 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...

 about four miles (6 km) outside the city of 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...

 on 3 km², established in 1907 by wealthy American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 sportsman William Kissam Vanderbilt

William Kissam Vanderbilt

William Kissam Vanderbilt was a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family. He managed railroads and was a horse breeder.-Biography:...

. He sold the property to another American horseman, A. Kingsley Macomber

A. Kingsley Macomber

Abraham Kingsley Macomber was an American adventurer, businessman, philanthropist, Thoroughbred-racehorse owner and breeder...

, whose colt War Cloud

War Cloud

War Cloud was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first horse to compete in all three U.S.Triple Crown races. Bred by Jack Barnato Joel, one of Britain's most prominent Thoroughbred owner/breeders, War Cloud was sold as a yearling and brought to race in the United States.- Racing...

 won the 1918 Preakness Stakes

Preakness Stakes

The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

. Macomber had other wins, including the 1923 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...

.

Prior to and during the German occupation of France in World War II

German occupation of France in World War II

The Military Administration in France was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II. It remained in existence from May 1940 to December 1944. As a result of the defeat of France and its Allies in the Battle of France, the French cabinet sought a cessation...

 the property was left abandoned, until it was acquired by prominent French horseman

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...

 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...

 in 1958, a descendant of the great trainers who founded the English Racing Colony in Chantilly, Oise

Chantilly, Oise

Chantilly is a small city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune in the department of Oise.It is in the metropolitan area of Paris 38.4 km...

. Alec Head undertook a massive restoration of the facilities and in 1959 brought in the farm's first stallion. Over the years he and his wife Ghislaine developed Haras du Quesnay into one of the leading stud farms in the country with horses acquired from across Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and the United States.

Haras du Quesnay was home to prominent sires and broodmares such as Sir Gaylord

Sir Gaylord

Sir Gaylord was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who later became a successful sire.-Background:He was bred and raced by Christopher Chenery...

, 1968 Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

 winner Dancer's Image

Dancer's Image

Dancer's Image was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the only winner in the history of the Kentucky Derby to have been disqualified. Owned and bred by businessman Peter Fuller, the son of former Massachusetts Governor Alvan T. Fuller, the colt was trained by Lou Cavalaris, Jr...

, the leading sire of broodmares in France in 1980 Le Fabuleux, Arctic Tern, Anabaa

Anabaa

Anabaa was an American-bred champion Thoroughbred racehorse who was trained in France during a racing career which lasted from September 1995 to October 1996. Anabaa failed to win until the age of four, but in 1996 he won his first six starts including two Group One races; the July Cup in England...

, six-time champion sire in France Highest Honor, and Numerous, a son of Mr. Prospector

Mr. Prospector

Mr. Prospector was a thoroughbred racehorse foaled in Kentucky, whose descendants have been dominant in the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. He won half of his 14 career races.-Background:...

.

Children of Alec Head have been distinguished participants in the horse racing industry. Daughter Martine is involved with managing the farm, son Freddy

Freddy Head

Freddy Head 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...

 was a leading jockey, and daughter Criquette Head is one of France's leading trainers and the most successful female Thoroughbred trainer in the world.