Hipodromos y caballos - Racetracks and horses BloodStockReview2013 | Page 14

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THE TRE VE STORY

Quesnay roster in 2016 following two
years at Newmarket’s Cheveley Park Stud.
“That’s going to be a little bit
complicated,” says Head-Maarek, whose
passion for the job does not cloud her
business acumen.
“It’s difficult to make a horse two
years in one country then move to
another. I would have rather liked to take
the first two years – the third year of a
stallion can be the most tricky – but it’s
fun to do it, and we’ve been working with
[Intello’s owners] the Wertheimers for
years.”
Head-Maarek is equally as frank about
the stud’s exquisitely bred first-season sire
Mr Sidney, who she admits was priced too
high in his debut season at stud.
“He has not been bad this year – he’s
had winners and some placed horses
– but he had very few horses on the
ground,” says Head-Maarek.
One of those placed juveniles is
Trophee, a half-sister to Treve who races
carrying the Quesnay silks, as did her
sibling before one of racing’s emerging
powers, Sheikh Joaan, made the Heads an
offer they could not refuse.
“We said no at the beginning,” says
Head-Maarek, “but then there are things
you can’t say no to – especially to run all
our horses, it’s a big operation.”
The figure that eventually persuaded
the Head family to reconsider was
undoubtedly many hundreds, if not
thousands, of times more than the
€22,000 at which she was led out unsold
as a yearling.
“We put up some nice yearlings for
sale because we need to, to make money
to run Quesnay, so that’s why Treve went
through,” says Head-Maarek, adding the
future Arc winner was some way off her
reserve. “I suppose [her sire] Motivator
didn’t help her sell. We thought she’d
make more, so that’s why we brought her
back.”
A canny judgement indeed, but not
far off in the shrewd stakes is that of
Alec’s decision to buy Gout De Terroir,
the dam of Elusive Kate, from Keeneland
before the eventual four-time Group 1
winner had made her debut.
“Gout De Terroir has a lovely filly

Three female stars formerly trained
by Criquette Head-Maarek:
Three Troikas (top), Hatoof and
Ravinella (bottom, with trainer)

foal by Galileo, a Fuisse yearling who is
very nice and she’s in foal to Mr Sidney,”
Head-Maarek says.
The modus operandi at Quesnay is
not just to be a stallion stud, resolutely
supporting the roster with its own stock,
but first and foremost to source sires who
fit with its well-honed broodmare band.
“It’s difficult with stallions because
you never know,” says Head-Maarek, “but
what Papa has been trying to do is see if
a particular horse mates with our mares,
and then we say ‘okay’ – that’s what we
did with Motivator, because we have a

lot of Anabaa mares and it’s a very good
cross.
“We have six stallions who are all
doing quite well, and we try to diversify
a bit so they’re not all the same.
“Then you have to try to attract
good mares because they