The “future” is a recurring theme in today’s column.

This is just the second of my regular correspondence to keep you updated of things that have happened in our sport in recent months and on the whole the last quarter of the year has been very positive.

Cup week has come and gone and now we are looking forward to big race meetings including the Auckland Cup meeting on New Year’s Eve as well as the ever-popular Central Otago circuit taking in places like Omakau and Roxburgh.

I have not been to these places before but have certainly heard plenty about them and look forward to being part of the action early in 2025.

Most gratifying in recent weeks has been the performances of some of our emerging talent. The subject of the next generation is very dear to me. We need to ensure our sport prospers in the future and that it is relevant, indeed attractive to those in their 20s and 30s especially.

With this in mind I am very excited about this week’s launch of NEXT GEN.

It is an innovative ownership programme aimed at introducing the “next gen” of owners and trainers into our sport by buying and ultimately racing yearlings from next February’s NZB Standardbred National Yearling Sales at Karaka and Christchurch. The scheme is the culmination of many months of consultation and hard work. I wish to acknowledge the great financial support we have received from NZ TAB and NZB with funding of this new innovative scheme locked away for three years.

For those wanting to find out more there is a lot of information on the hrnz website and on our social media channels. We think we are onto a winner and want the Next Gen to “Own The Thrill” of horse ownership.

AUSTRALASIAN YOUNG DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP (AYDC)

Sam Thornley deserves a big round of congratulations following his win at the Australasian Young Drivers Championships in New South Wales. The fact that he secured the championship driving a Kiwi horse in Tact McLeod would have made it all the better. He was a model of consistency throughout the championships and made up for his close second at the AYDC a couple of years back.

I must say that New Zealand’s three representatives Sam, Crystal Hackett and Kerryn Tomlinson all looked very smart in their driving suits that they were fitted out in for the championships. All three acquitted themselves very well and we are rightly proud of their efforts against Australia’s best. It looked like a tough and competitive series. For Kiwis to now have won it six times in the last 12 years is no mean feat.

Sam too is in a tense battle for the junior drivers’ premiership in this country with Carter Dalgety and Wilson House. That is a real cracker and a good talking point as we close the door on the 2024 season.

Cadet of the Year

Speaking of our future, the cadet of the year competition was recently held in Christchurch.

Four finalists qualified for the final which was organised by Natalie Gameson and Georgie Bolton, our Education and Animal Care people. They do a terrific job with the cadets all year long. The cadets were put through a series of challenges – some horse related, some not – and then judged on their abilities and proficiency. It’s a full on day with a lot of fun involved, with the overall winner being announced at February’s NZB HRNZ awards at Addington Raceway.

Congratulations on all four for making it through to the Grand Final.

I was very impressed with this program and the cadets as it plays a crucial role in nurturing our young talent, elevating industry standards, and ensuring the long term success and vibrancy of harness racing in New Zealand.

Roddy Butt, who will be familiar to a lot of you, was employed on a part time basis by HRNZ this year as a Development Co-ordinator. His job is all about helping the next generation of drivers and trainers and just recently he came up with a great idea to get some of our licence-holders involved in breeding. He had heard of Jayden Walker, an aspiring driver and trainer who had dipped his toes into breeding. Roddy then wondered if there were any others who would be keen.

He floated the idea on Facebook and now, long story short, four young people have decided to give it a go. For three of them this is their first foray into breeding and they wouldn’t have done it without Roddy’s idea and guidance.

Jack Harrington has a mare that’s gone to Oscar Bonavena, while Lukus Johnson has two mares that have been served by Marcoola and Seth Hill got mare off his employer Tom Bagrie who has been served by Lather Up. It is great to get Roddy’s idea off the ground and a lot of thanks have to go to the likes of Clint Ford (Marcoola), Stacey White and Andrew Grierson from Woodlands Stud and Mark Purdon and Chris Ryder for getting involved. Next year it’s hoped this will expand to include as many as eight mares.

Turnovers Cup Week

It seems a lifetime ago, but IRT New Zealand Cup week was a massive success.

Cup day itself saw turnover exceed $7.2m (up from $6.8m in 2023) with the move of the Renwick Farms Dominion Trot a big success both in terms of programming and from a betting perspective. Wagering on the Dominion alone this year was up some 40% on the previous year.

Turnover on Show Day Twilight was $4.3m on 13 races, up by around 25% on last year’s meeting.

The two new slot races – the Hill Lee and Scott THE VELOCITY and the Majestic Horse Floats LP THE ASCENT were both very well received by punters and look to have a very good future.

The impact of Keayang Zahara was something to see. She is a once in a generation horse and her 14 wins from 14 lifetime starts is something that harness racing of both sides of the Tasman should celebrate. All going well she must be a Dominion contender in years to come – suffice to say, she is welcome to come back anytime. Congratulations should go to everyone involved in such an amazing week and that includes the Ashburton Trotting Cup.

They had their ’emerging talent’ meeting with turnover on 14 races at $1.68m, the highest ever on record for Ashburton. That’s an incredible result.

GST Returns

This year HRNZ was responsible for distributing nearly $2m in GST refunds to nearly 7000 individual harness racing owners.

It is an historic refund dating back to between 2013 and 2018. The first round of payments was made in July. There has been a very good uptake from our licence-holders to claim the refunds though some are still outstanding.

Anyone who thinks they may be owed some money should not hesitate to contact us. The point of contact is lydia@hrnz.co.nz

The Legislative Net

The racing industry received some very welcome news in early December that the Government plans to introduce legislation to amend the Racing Industry Act 2020.

The “legislative net”, as it’s known, is all about stopping punters in this country betting off-shore. The Racing Minister, the Rt Hon Winston Peters should be congratulated for introducing the legislation and we are confident it will pass in due time. The net effect is all positive for all the codes. For us it means that harness racing will attract more wagering (larger pools) and that will have positive spin offs for everyone right through the country. This is not just trainers and drivers and owners and breeders, but farriers, animal feed suppliers and transport operators. It is a major step forward for us and one we have been championing now for some time.

I will have more to say on this, as significant milestones are achieved.

2024 has been a busy and rewarding year. The Future Starts Now strategy we launched mid year was all about reinvigorating harness racing in NZ and had a major focus on rebuilding the North. It has been a qualified success at this early stage with improvements in performances at both Alexandra Park and Cambridge. But there is still a lot of work do at both venues but we are trending positively.

I would like to express my gratitude to the industry participants for the warm welcome I received upon my commencement as CEO back in July. The positive momentum we’ve built heading into 2025 is truly encouraging, and together, we are setting the foundation for a brighter future for our harness racing code.

Thank you for your continued support and valuable feedback as we work toward achieving our shared goals.

I would like to thank all the people at HRNZ for their work and dedication during the year and wish all participants in our sport a very Merry Xmas and the best wishes for next year.

Stay safe and enjoy the abundance of racing this helps make a Kiwi summer so special.

All the best
Brad

From Harness Racing New Zealand