With International Women’s Day fresh in our minds this month, I’ve got a story to share that I hope will inspire anyone chasing a dream – especially women and girls out there who’ve hit roadblocks just because of their gender. I met an extraordinary women named Criquette Head at the Deauville Horse auction in France, a premier event in the thoroughbred racing industry. Its primary purpose is to facilitate the sale of high-quality yearlings, to prospective buyers, including trainers, owners, and investors from around the world. At the auction that day, I saw a horse represented by Criquette whose name was “Motivator” so I knew I would like her. When I heard her story, I was incredibly inspired.
Criquette came from a famous horse breeding and racing family in France. Despite there never having been any women trainers, her dad agreed to help her if she really wanted to become a horse trainer. After years of dedication and hard work, she showed tremendous instinct in breeding and training horses. When it was time for her to apply for her license, she was denied only because she was a woman. They literally told her that! She didn’t take no for an answer. She suggested they give her a chance for a year. They granted her wish.
In 2011, she was very excited as the first licensed female horse trainer to bring a yearling named Trêve to the Deauville auction. Much to her disappointment and surprise, no one bid on Trêve. She bought her back for $22,000 euros to train her herself. For comparison, another yearling named Chicquita, was sold for $600,000 euros that day.
It worked out for Criquette. With her training, Trêve started winning races. In fact, one of the first big races she entered, Trêve won. And, who came in second? Chicquita!
Criquette went from no one bidding on her horse to becoming Trainer of the Year and Trêve being voted Horse of the year! Then, she entered Trêve in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, one of the most celebrated and prestigious horse races in the world, taking place annually at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris. Trêve won. And, to prove that she had skill, dedication, and instinct when it came to training racehorses, she entered Treve again the following year and she won again!
The horse who no one bid on was now celebrating earnings over $7 million euros.
I asked her how those other buyers must have felt not bidding on Trêve that day in Deauville. She said, “They don’t admit they were there!”
If you ever feel like you are being held back, that you are hitting a roadblock, find a way to persevere like Criquette, the first women horse trainer in France who became one of the most celebrated trainers in the world.
P.S. When Trêve was going for her third run at the Arc de Triomphe, Paris showed a hologram of Trêve running through Paris. https://youtu.be/Tuno-s1LvWw
Your Head Usher,
Marilyn
