Pivotal Ten (NZ) Voted South Island Horse of the Year

A filly that was bought for just $15,000 from the 2022 National Weanling Sale at Karaka has claimed top honours at the annual South Island Racing Awards.

Pivotal Ten (NZ) (Ten Sovereigns) was named the South Island’s Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old during a function at Riccarton Park Racecourse on Friday.

Pivotal Ten was bought from Valachi Downs by Colin Wightman, who was later joined in the ownership by Cambridge Stud’s Sir Brendan and Lady Jo Lindsay. Pivotal Ten had seven starts as a three-year-old for five wins, a second placing and $297,550 in stakes – almost 20 times her $15,000 purchase price.

Trained and ridden by Samantha Wynne, Pivotal Ten won the Listed NZB Insurance Stakes (1400m) by three-quarters of a length at Wingatui on Boxing Day, then went on a tear through the South Island’s summer features. She won the Listed Gore Guineas (1335m) by six lengths and the Listed Southland Guineas (1400m) by eight and a quarter. That earned her a slot in the $3.5m NZB Kiwi (1500m), in which she was unplaced from a wide gate. She has since been transferred across the Tasman into the stable of Ben, Will and JD Hayes.

The award for Champion Sprinter went to Mystic Park (NZ) (Ocean Park), who was a $40,000 purchase by co-trainer Michael Pitman from Kilgravin Lodge’s Book 1 draft at Karaka 2021. He has turned that into more than $243,000 in stakes. He earned $113,200 of that amount from a five-start, two-win season as a five-year-old, headed by a superb finish to win the $140,000 Listed Stewards’ Stakes (1200m) at Riccarton in November.

The Polytrack Horse of the Year was Spartan (NZ) (War Decree), who was offered in the 2021 South Island Sale on Gavelhouse Plus but fell short of his $22,500 reserve. Spartan has earned $190,745 from his 28-start career, including a triumph in the $100,000 Polytrack Championship (1200m) at Riccarton in August of last year.

The South Island’s champion stallion of the season was War Decree, who had 32 winners from 72 runners in New Zealand in 2024-25. The Inglewood Stud stallion has five progeny catalogued for the NZB Ready to Run Sale at Karaka in November.