Treve To Make Royal Ascot Debut In Prince Of Wales’s Stakes

Champion filly Treve is set to make her racing debut outside France in the 2014 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot on Wednesday and trainer Criquette Head-Maarek is happy with her condition heading into the Group 1 event.

Treve finished on top of the 2013 World's Best Racehorse Rankings with Black Caviar.

Treve finished on top of the 2013 World's Best Racehorse Rankings with Black Caviar. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Treve finished 2013 on top of the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, along with equine superstar Black Caviar, after scoring a dominant five lengths victory in the Group 1 Prix De l’Arc De Triomphe at Longchamp on October 6, but she suffered her maiden race defeat at the hands of French veteran Cirrus Des Aigles in the Group 1 Prix Ganay (2100m) at Longchamp on April 27.

Head-Maarek said that Treve had taken no harm from her performance in the Prix Ganay and revealed that the daughter of Motivator had taken plenty of benefit out of her first-up run.

“She is very well and she came back ok,” Head-Maarek said.

“I thought that the race would be very hard on her, but she didn’t look that way and she is fine.

“She has been working well since and she is ready to go.

“She ran well and it is no disgrace because she got beaten.

“The horse is very good and he has proved that.

“She needed a race that is for sure and he had already had two runs this season, so he was fitter than her.

“When she came on him she took the lead, but she dropped a little bit.

“It is no good to find excuses and I am not an excuses person.”

Head-Maarek has had plenty of success at Group 1 level in Great Britain, winning the 1000 Guineas on four occasions, and she took out the 1993 Coronation Stakes during the Royal Ascot meeting with Gold Splash.

The leading French trainer said that she has always loved Royal Ascot and revealed that she was delighted to be able to take a horse as talented as Treve to one of the world’s most prestigious race meetings.

“To go to Ascot you have to have the best horse that you can and it is not every year that you have the chance to have a horse like her,” Head-Maarek said.

“It means a lot to me and I love that week, it is beautiful.

“The people and The Queen coming out there, is something very special.”

Treve is set to take on the likes of Magician, Mukhadram, Trading Leather, Leitir Mor and The Fugue in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.

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Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.