ENGLISH TEXTS
Freddy was always someone I perceived as rather reserved. He always had great respect for jockeys. He knew Olivier very well and also Maxime, with whom things were very smooth. He had certainly known that position too well to want to blame his jockeys. It was always quite easy and pleasant to work with Freddy.
Q. How would you describe him in one word?
P-Y. B. Demanding.
FREDDY HEAD: A LEGEND- ARY JOCKEY
BY PIERRE CHAMPION
BACK TO ARTICLE
Freddy Head’ s riding career, spanning more than thirty years, was marked by the greatest successes, in France and on the international stage. Beginning in the mid-1960s, in … Australia, and continuing until the late 1990s, it encompasses a whole chapter of racing history and is punctuated by a multitude of outstanding achievements. The son and grandson of jockeys who became trainers, Freddy Head was destined for the profession. His apprenticeship master was his father, Alec, but it was his grandfather, William, who later gave him the opportunity to win his first major races. For eight months, from the end of the summer of 1963 to the spring of 1964, Freddy Head went into exile in Australia.
He was just 16 years old, but his father wanted to take him out of the family cocoon so that he could see something different. At the time, moreover, there were many good Australian jockeys in Europe, particularly in France. There was an Australian school, represented by Glennon – the rider of the phenomenon Sea Bird – Moore and others such as Sellwood. Training there could therefore only be a good thing. Over there, Freddy Head rode“ educational” races for one of the leading local trainers, Tommy Smith. These were races for young horses and young riders, run over short distances. The competition was fierce: the novices battled hard to win! On one occasion, Freddy Head proved the strongest: this was, in a way, unofficially, his first victory.
The“ Arc” with Bon Mot at 19 Back in France, Freddy Head began riding in races in earnest and did not take long to record his first success – the first of a long series, which would total 2,937! – at Fontainebleau, on Zamboanga, trained by his father, for Pierre Wertheimer. The results followed quickly and, as early as the following year, in 1965, he lost his apprentice allowance and joined the leading ranks of French jockeys, finishing third in the annual standings, only behind his idols Yves Saint-Martin and Jean Deforge. At 19, in 1966, he achieved the feat of winning the Prix de l’ Arc de Triomphe with Bon Mot, trained by his grandfather. A memory that obviously never left him:“ I was on cloud nine!”, he said years later, explaining in substance:“ Bon Mot belonged to Mr Burmann, a major owner of the time. He was quite a delicate horse, but a talented one. I had finished second in the Jockey-Club with him. He loved soft ground and, in that respect, he was well served on Arc day. Ironically, we beat Sigebert, who had been my first mount in the great race the previous season!”
Four Arcs, Jockey-Club and Prix de Diane From then on, Freddy Head’ s career was launched. In 1969, he won both the Prix du Jockey-Club, with Goodly, again for his grandfather – beating Beaugency, trained by his father, by a short head – and the Grand Prix de Paris with Chaparral. In 1971, thanks to Daring Display’ s success in the Prix Morny, he provided his grandfather with his last major victory, before the latter retired the following year. 1971 was also the year he received the first of his six“ Cravache d’ Or”, presented by the actor and racing enthusiast Jean Gabin during the Deauville summer meeting. For many years thereafter, Freddy Head mainly collaborated with his father and his sister, achieving tremendous success within the family, highlighted by two Prix de l’ Arc de Triomphe victories with Ivanjica and Three Troikas, two Prix du
# 18 146