Olivier Peslier hails 'extraordinary career' as legend Freddy Head bows out

Olivier Peslier has paid tribute to Freddy Head, whose 59 years in racing officially come to an end on Saturday.

Although Head announced his decision not to renew his licence back in September, the plaudits have continued to pour in for one of the most successful jockey-trainer careers in European racing history.

The pair most famously combined for the 14 Group and Grade 1 successes enjoyed by Goldikova but Peslier's relationship with the now 75-year-old Head dates back to the latter's riding days, during which he won four Arcs, six French championships and partnered 2,937 winners.

"He won on his final ride at Deauville and I was second in that race," recalled Peslier. "He was a jockey who had enjoyed an extraordinary career, won the Arc at 19 years of age and we all admired and loved him; to us he was always 'Monsieur'.

"Of course it was a big advantage for a jockey to be riding for someone who had been in the same boots. There was a part of him that always remained a jockey, even once he became a trainer. And I have loved riding for Freddy because he is more like an English trainer than a French one.

"Almost without exception a French trainer will tell you to sit fourth or fifth, get cover and ride to finish well. With Freddy it was always 'ride him how you feel' and he trained his horses so they could be ridden any way you liked and from the front if necessary. Plenty of jockeys try their hand at training but very few succeed at the level he has."

Head created history when becoming the first man to win at the Breeders' Cup first as a jockey and then a trainer; he was on board Miesque for back-to-back wins in the 1987 and 1988 Miles, before sending out Goldikova to score a hat-trick in the same race between 2008 and 2010.

"He had ridden and trained some true cracks but for him, and for me, Goldikova was something else altogether," said Peslier. "For a jockey, a trainer or an owner, such a horse only ever comes along once in a lifetime."

Head's final runner was Reasonable, who finished unplaced in a Deauville maiden at the end of November in the colours of longtime supporter George Strawbridge.

But he will remain closely involved in the sport, with his son Christopher and his daughter Victoria both now training in their own names out of his yard on Chantilly's Avenue du General Leclerc.

More to read on this subject:

French racing legend Freddy Head to retire at the end of this year

Interview with Freddy and Christopher Head

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