Pivotal, the champion sprinter and multiple champion sire and broodmare Sire, has passed away peacefully in his paddock at the age of 28. The son of Polar Falcon had been a stalwart and flagbearer at Cheveley Park Stud since his retirement to stud in 1997.
Bred and raced by Cheveley Park Stud, he was trained by Sir Mark Prescott. A track record breaker as a 2-year-old, he was crowned champion sprinter as a 3-year-old, with the undoubted highlight coming in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York, when prevailing by the narrowest of margins to become the first Group 1 winner to be both bred and owned by Cheveley Park Stud. Prior to that he had shown all his battling qualities and tenacity in winning the (then) G2 King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Pivotal took up stallion duties at an initial fee of £6,000, and immediately proved popular with commercial breeders. He was a leading British based first season sire, and soon sired his first British Group 1 winner in Kyllachy, who followed in his father's footsteps in winning the Nunthorpe Stakes, before also retiring to stand at Cheveley Park Stud. Pivotal went on to quickly rise through the stallion ranks and was leading British Based Sire by individual winners on no less than eight occasions, and was twice crowned Leading British Based Sire by earnings. To date, Pivotal has sired 32 individual Group 1 winners, including the Classic winners Sariska, Halfway To Heaven, Falco, Buzzword and Saoire, as well as Dubai World Cup winner African Story and Addeybb, who once again beat Verry Elleegant in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick earlier this year.
Pivotal's legacy is being felt through both his sons and daughters. He was crowned Champion European Broodmare Sire 2017 to 2019 and his daughters have produced 26 individual Group 1 winners to date, most recently with Tenebrism in this season's Cheveley Park Stakes. Pivotal has also made an impact as a sire of sires, with seven of his sons having sired Group 1 winners, most notably the reigning French Champion Sire Siyouni, who has already produced the Champion colts St Mark's Basilica and Sottsass.
A true legend in his own lifetime, the 'mighty' Pivotal retired from stud duties after the 2020 covering season and saw out the rest of his days enjoying a happy retirement at Cheveley Park Stud .
Managing Director, Chris Richardson, said; “The story associated with the 'mighty' Pivotal is truly extraordinary, considering he was the result of the very first covering his sire, Polar Falcon, was given. Thankfully, as a yearling, it was decided to retain him to race, rather than offer him for sale, as we did with the other yearling colts by Polar Falcon that year. Whilst in the hands of trainer, Sir Mark Prescott, Pivotal truly put Cheveley Park Stud on the map, giving owners David and Patricia Thompson their first Group 1 winner in the stud's famous red, white and blue colors. Having covered a relatively small book of mares in his first year, his resulting progeny excelled and inspired at all levels, which they have continued to do throughout his career, both domestically and internationally. On the world stage, Pivotal has excelled as a sire, a sire of sires and as a broodmare sire, to the highest level and all of us at Cheveley Park Stud have been so blessed to have been part of his life for 28 years.”
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