For someone who stands on the brink of history in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Sunday, trainer Criquette Head-Maarek cuts a relatively calm figure.

The French handler could be excused for showing signs of nerves in preparing her superstar Treve for a tilt at a record-breaking third successive win in the middle-distance championship of Europe.

But d espite the pressure, and the intense focus she finds herself under from avenues of media across the world, her character and attitude remain unaltered.

She said: "I've got no pressure. I'm taking her to the race like I would take any other horse. I am not someone who is nervous. For me it doesn't make any difference.

"It is a blessing for a trainer to get a horse like that and you enjoy every moment of it. Fingers crossed, somebody up there is looking down on us favourably."

While Treve's second victory in the mile-and-a-half prize 12 months ago came on the back of three successive defeats, the five-year-old enters this year's race in contrasting fashion.

Since making a winning return in the Group Two Prix Corrida over a trip short of her best at Saint-Cloud back in May, the Al Shaqab Racing-owned mare has got better and better, highlighted by her most recent victory in the Prix Vermeille.

It is the manner of her six-length victory in that Group One contest at Longchamp - in which she was beaten last year - that has Head-Maarek believing she is back to her very best.

She said: "What we did this year is we sent her to the stud. She spent four months turned out last winter and that was very good for her.

"That healed up all the little problems. Her foot came back good and we put different shoes on her and she is very comfortable.

"She did in the Vermeille what she shows us every day. She ran exactly the same as the first year she won the Arc and for me she is back to where she was when she was a three-year-old, she is back to her best. She's grown into a lovely filly.

"She is back to her best and is way above anything that I've trained - it is that turn of foot she has got, it is incredible. That race will have brought her on a lot.

"She's very quiet in the morning. It is only when she goes to the racecourse that she knows she is ready to do something."

Assessing the task in hand, Head-Maarek said: " I always anticipate defeat. You always have to fear the others.

"There are some good three-year-olds coming over and you've got New Bay here - it's not done yet.

"She will have to really go for it."

While victory for Treve will guarantee her place in the annals of Turf history, for Head-Maarek she hopes it can also go some way to helping the French public feel a greater sense of togetherness with those involved in the sport.

She said: "In this country it is not like in England. In England they love racing. In this country it is more difficult.

"Treve is making people come racing, which is very good. That is why I agree to open my doors and anyone can come see the horses.

"I've received people from the street. One day I was walking in the street in some area in Paris and this guy said 'that is Mrs Head'.

"So I went over to him and he said 'how is Treve?', I said 'very well'. I said 'come see her' and the next day they were with me. He loved it and went racing, and he had never been to a racecourse before. That's how it should be.

"Any horse that stays around as long as that is good for racing. For the moment it is Treve, but I am sure that in the coming years you will see more older horses stay in training. I think she can set a trend."

[www.britishhorseracing.com] - Photograph - Courtesy www.britishhorseracing.com