A very special filly – Champery (Querari – Celigny) (photo hamishNIVENPhotography)
Why does man have such a fascination for horses? It is true that they lend us their size, their strength and their speed, but I think sometimes they give us much greater gifts.
Most horse mad folk know a poem called ‘Just A Horse.’ Originally penned by Jess Schwarcz, it puts into words the things most of us feel, but find so hard to express. “If you, too, think it’s ‘just a horse,’” writes Jess, “then you will probably understand phrases like ‘just a friend,’ ‘just a sunrise,’ or ‘just a promise’. ‘Just a horse’ brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy.” Ah yes !
There are lots of reasons for having a horse (and before I get into trouble, I should probably add, that most of them are perfectly valid!). There are lots of reasons for writing about horses and again, most of them are perfectly sensible, such as recording events, results or matters of breeding interest. However, to me the best ones are the ‘just because’ stories. These generally have little to do with big race victories, black type breeding or blue blooded owners and are usually ‘just’ about people and the extraordinary experiences that owning a horse can offer. This is one such story and it’s for everyone who knows there’s no such thing as ‘just a horse’.
Once upon a time
It started with a phone call from Maine Chance Farms’ manager, John Slade who has long been a special favourite of mine. “There’s this Querari filly called Champery. She’s in training with Eric Sands. She comes with quite a nice story that I think you’ll like.” As usual, John was right.
Antoinette Head with 1989 J&B Met winner Fearless Streaker
The story starts with a little girl called Antoinette, who grew up in Johannesburg in the 1940’s. She started riding at the age of 4 or 5 and was soon a very accomplished rider with a healthy dose of ‘horse fever’. She contracted a serious case of polio as a teenager and had to undergo months of hospital treatment in a tank respirator, more commonly known as an ‘iron lung’. She was the only girl in a hospital room of 21 people. To help her cope with the ordeal, her father put a picture of her favourite horse in one of the little glass windows and eighteen months later, she was the ward’s only surviving patient. The same tenacity that saw her walk out of the hospital, also saw her defy the doctor’s predictions that she’d never walk, talk or have children.
Antoinette moved to Cape Town to work for Sam Collins, the diamond mining magnate, met her future husband Vernon Head at an event at La Perla restaurant and had two wonderful sons and several grandchildren. However, she is probably best remembered in the racing community for her white, blue and red silks which graced the winner’s enclosure aboard the 1989 Met runner, Fearless Streaker. But I’m jumping ahead a little.
First horse
Vernon, an architect and also a keen racing enthusiast, had his own set of colours and will be remembered for his association with 1986 Langerman and KZN Guineas winner Ace Pilot, amongst others. He purchased Antoinette her first race horse in the early 80’s. Appropriately named ‘Have Faith’, the filly was conditioned by Geoff Winshaw and won on debut on 15 June 1985.
The couple’s interests grew to the point where they had a substantial string of racehorses, culminating in that wonderful J&B Met win with 20/1 outsider, Fearless Streaker for David Payne and jockey Mark Sutherland. A beautiful photograph of Fearless Streaker in the winner’s enclosure with Antoinette in her blue and white hat graced the cover of the March 1989 edition of the SA Racehorse.
Special clients
Eric Sands (hamishNIVENPhotography)
Jehan Malherbe introduced the couple to Cape trainer, Eric Sands, forging a relationship that blossomed into an enduring friendship. Sands remembers, “They had their first horse with me in 1987, the year we had the Equine Flu. It was a rough time. I was still in my old stables on Racecourse Road. Before the flu broke out, everyone was your friend and people were always dropping by. Then the flu broke out and everything came to a standstill. The only people I saw for months were Mr Levy – who still brought me vegetables twice a week – and the Heads. We’ve been friends ever since.”
Failing fortunes
The Heads were one of the casualties of the global market crash in 1994. They lost everything, including their beloved horses and for the past 25 years, the couple have been living with their youngest son. However, the relationship with Sands has endured. “Even when they never had horses, they’d still pick up the phone and we’ve remained friends. They’ve always been in my heart, even though I didn’t think they’d ever have horses again.
It’s been a long, tough road, but life is finally on firmer footing. Although circumstances are quite different from their 80’s heyday, the Heads are back at the racetrack, thanks to their rather special Querari filly named Champery.
A special filly
John Slade fills in her background. “She’s from a nice French family. We bought three mares quite cheaply from France, including Champery’s dam, Celigny and we’ve been very lucky. Celigny’s half sister produced a Gr1 winner in America (Eden’s Moon) which upgraded the pedigree very nicely. Celigny is named after a town in Switzerland and so are her daughters Champery and Chillon, who we just sold at Nationals. Celigny aborted to Dynasty last year and is currently in foal to Var.”
“What more can I say? The filly did the rounds. She went to Nationals and then kicked the manger and bruised her sole and couldn’t be sold. We sent her to the Durban sale last July and she still didn’t sell, so we sent her to Nicola Coppez to prep for the Ready To Run. So she’s qualified for the CTS millions and the Natal breeders’ race!”
Ready To Run
Phenomenal action
Eric Sands selected the filly from the 2014 CTS Ready To Run draft. “I had some fillies that I’d prepped for the sale that I thought were buyable. As it panned out we got this one before the others and thank God for that! I was looking at horses based on action as my first parameter, then conformation and then breeding. Ninety percent of horses have average action, 5% have terrible action and 5% have phenomenal action. This filly fell in the last category. Querari was still unknown then, but she was a nice individual and from a nice family and so we bought her.”
New colours
When the Heads went to re-apply for their colours, their old silks were no longer available, so in a tribute to their longstanding friendship with Eric, they combined their old colours with his and came up with a new combination – red with a white hoop, black sleeves, red cuffs and cap. Are they very hands on owners? “Not a day goes by that you don’t hear from the Heads,” smiles Eric. “She (Antoinette) loves animals – they’re her children.”
Fragile health
The couple are both in their 70’s now and not in the best of health. Every day is a blessing and I’m told that every visit rejuvenates them just a little. So much so that despite Vernon having to have his pacemaker refitted two days before Champery’s debut, he said at the outset that he was determined to see her race regardless and was on course that Sunday to watch her run.
Fairy tale
Joy! Champery wins on debut (photo Equine Edge)
Much as I love stories like these and wish for fairy tale endings, fate doesn’t always agree, so it was hugely emotional when Champery won her debut by 1.75 lengths. The whole family were there to lead her in. Their son says, “Her first start was just amazing. I haven’t stopped crying for six weeks. The Club was kind enough to give us parking bays next to the parade ring – Dad has lung cancer and Mom has Parkinsons – it’s the whole reason we got involved. Their love is horses and we thought this might prolong what we have of them. It has. I don’t know how to explain it. She knew we were there and she just tried her heart out for us. There’s no doubt about it – Champery has given my parents an extension and we are just so grateful for each and every day. We know it’s not for long, but at least they’re there to look after her and lead her in and I can’t say enough for what Eric has done for them in my life.”
Of course there will be people who rubbish the idea that horses know their owners and that they simply try harder for some people than for others. Is it true? Does it really matter?
Champery won again at her second time of asking and lines up again for Saturday’s Listed Perfect Promise Sprint. And you can bet the Heads will be there to shout her home.
“JUST A HORSE” – Jess Schwarcz
From time to time, people tell me, “lighten up, it’s just a horse,” or, “that’s a lot of money for just a horse.” They don’t understand the distance travelled, the time spent, or the costs involved for ‘just a horse’.
Some of my proudest moments have come about with ‘just a horse’. Many hours have passed and my only company was ‘just a horse’, but I did not once feel slighted. Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by ‘just a horse’, and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of ‘just a horse’ gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.
If you, too, think it’s ‘just a horse’, then you will probably understand phrases like ‘just a friend’, ‘just a sunrise’, or ‘just a promise’. ‘Just a horse’ brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. ‘Just a horse’ brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person.
Because of ‘just a horse’, I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future. So for me and folks like me, it’s not ‘just a horse’, but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment.
‘Just a horse’ brings out what’s good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day. I hope that someday they can understand that it’s not ‘just a horse’, but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being ‘just a person’. So the next time you hear the phrase ‘just a horse’ just smile… because they ‘just’ don’t understand.
