Alec Head (31 July 1924 – 22 June 2022) was a French horse trainer and breeder.

Biography

Head was the owner of Haras du Quesnay, located near

Deauville Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film F ...

. A descendant of the trainers who founded the English Racing Colony in

Chantilly, Oise Chantilly ( , ) is a commune in the Oise department in the Valley of the Nonette in the Hauts-de-France region of Northern France. Surrounded by Chantilly Forest, the town of 10,863 inhabitants (2017) falls within the metropolitan area of P ...

, Head's grandfather was a jockey-turned-trainer, as was his father William Head who was a very successful jockey, trainer, and owner in both

flat racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

and steeplechase events.French racing great and multiple Arc winner Alec Head dies at the age of 97
/ref> In 2018, Head was participating in interviews about his career. Head died on 22 June 2022, at the age of 97.

Haras du Quesnay

Head undertook an extensive 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 France with horses acquired from across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. The farm would be home to prominent sires and broodmares. In the 1960s, Head reportedly was training 140 horses, the majority being owned by Pierre Wertheimer or the

Aga Khan IV Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He h ...

.''French Bid For Moore''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

, 19 November 1962.

References

1924 births 2022 deaths People from Deauville French horse trainers French racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winners {{France-sport-bio-stub