By Sally Reid
Photography: © Courtesy Vicki Wilson

New Zealand’s Young Horse Championships are held annually in Hawke’s Bay and are one of the highlights of the season, attracting breeders, buyers, and owners from around the country. However, it was Vicki Wilson, a local breeder who really stole the 2024 show.

Wilson and her exceptional VWNZ team won top stallion, top breeder, top rider, reserve seven-year-old, top six-year-old... and more. Vicki has worked exceptionally hard to teach this point, so her success is extremely well deserved.
Horses from four year olds to seven year olds compete in their age-groups over three days, jumping one round a day without a jump-off. Horses who complete the three rounds with equal penalties then jump off against the clock. This year, the seven-year-old field was dominated by one mare, and no jump-off was required. However, it was a different matter in the five- and six-year-old rings, where multiple youngsters battled for the titles.

Stiletto C shows mareline’s strength in 7yo

Stiletto C (Cohinoor VDL - SoFee x Powerfee), a beautiful grey New Zealand Warmblood mare, was the outright victor in this division: the only horse to jump clear in all three rounds. She is yet another from a line of seriously good horses bred by Vicki Prendergast at Sanderston Park in Matamata. In fact, two years ago, Six Sixty SP, a gelding half-brother by Cassiano, won the same title.
Many of the horses bred by Vicki Prendergast are descendants of the Olympic eventer Sanderston (San Mellay xx - At Easer x Winnebago), who was born in 1988, and was Vicki’s first hack. Sanderston was leased to Brazil for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games (the team finished in sixth place), and returned to Vicki afterwards to take up the role of broodmare... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO BREEDING NEWS

SUBSCRIBERS CAN READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE BY LOGGING IN AND RETURNING TO THIS PAGE