The eldest of three daughters, her brother Freddy Head was the champion jockey six times in France who now trains horses, and sister Martine oversees the operations at Haras du Quesnay.

In her teens, Criquette Head studied for three years in the United Kingdom at schools in Guildford in Surrey and Eastbourne in East Sussex.

Trilingual (French, English and Spanish), she lived in Spain for several years before returning home in 1974 where she worked in a brokerage firm but decided on a career in racing.

She continued to have great success with Wertheimer and his sons Alain and Gérard until they ended their working relationship in August 2006 following a disagreement over the owners' retained jockey, Olivier Peslier.

[1] Partial list of races won by horses trained by Criquette Head : France: Canada: Germany: Great Britain: Singapore: United States: