French-bred mare Pivotal Woman might have some names that are unfamiliar to a casual American observer close-up on her catalog page, but she comes from a deep and classy family and will be a great fit for the multiple graded stakes winner and millionaire Arzak during his first season at stud in 2026.
Pivotal Woman is by France’s top stallion Siyouni, who was a G1-winning 2YO and has sired of the likes of G1 winners St. Mark’s Basilica, Sottsass, Paddington, Tahiyra, Laurens, Ervedya, Etoile, Dream and Do, etc. Although Siyouni is a relatively young stallion for broodmare sire purposes, his daughters have already produced the likes of graded winners Erevann, Fairy Godmother, Dr Zempf, etc.
Pivotal Woman’s dam Candinie is a winning daughter of the hugely-influential American broodmare sire Bernardini, and Pivotal Woman is a half-sister to four winners, and a full-sister to a fifth, from five siblings. (She herself was a maiden winner at Presque Isle after selling for the equivalent of $143k as a yearling at Arqana in France.) One of her half-sisters, Candie, is the dam of black-type winner Cambronne, who has won/placed in five black-type events and earned the equivalent of over $340k.
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Cambronne’s sire Alex the Great is a full-brother to G1 winner Bluegrass Cat, and is a son of Storm Cat out of an A.P. Indy mare, which is the same cross that produced Arzak, who is by a grandson of Storm Cat out of a mare by A.P. Indy’s grandson Tapit.
Furthermore, TrueNicks rates this Giant’s Causeway/Siyouni cross as an “A++” on the basis of it having produced four black-type winners from just 15 runners (all with international suffixes), while Not This Time with Pivotal Woman’s broodmare sire Bernardini is also an “A++” as it has produced 2025 U.S. G2 winners Magnitude and Final Score from just eight runners.
Though Pivotal Woman’s family has some top class dirt runners a little ways back (like G1 winner and sire Grand Slam, G1 winner Christmas Kid and G1 Kentucky Oaks 3rd-place finisher Bright Candles), and though Arak’s sire Not This Time was strictly a dirt performer and has gotten numerous G1 winners on dirt, both Pivotal Woman and Arzak present as more likely to produce a turf and synthetic runner — which is pretty perfect for a ‘27 New York-bred foal given the imminent re-opening of Belmont Park with a new all-weather surface for winter racing.
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Arzak’s eight victories and seven additional black-type placings all came on turf or synthetic surfaces, from 5 furlongs to a mile, at 2YO through 7YO. His speed, durability and longevity make him an exciting new stallion in New York, especially for a breeder willing to play the long game and wait for breeder bonuses to roll in (purse parity for NY-breds being imminent).
In addition to the promising pedigree blend highlighted above, Arzak will fit Pivotal Woman very well physically. Though she is nicely made and well-balanced, she’s more in the medium-sized European mold, and will benefit from the infusion of leg and length that Arzak should contribute to the equation — and whatever it looks like, we’ll be looking forward to their foal running well and for a long time on the new New York surfaces!