I spent this past summer working for a racehorse trainer in New Zealand. I could go on forever about the differences between North American and New Zealand horse racing. In fact, I am currently working on a research paper based on these comparisons, but for now I'll just focus on some of the issues I noticed within their breeding program.
As a significantly smaller and more "remote" country, New Zealand has definitely struggled with achieving the diversity among breeding stock and competing with the calibre of Thoroughbreds bred in other countries. Flipping through the New Zealand studbook I noticed that choices were limited. Many stallions were offspring from previous stallions, most were new and unproven, and the majority of stud fees ranged from $3000-$5000 NZD's. The quality of the selection was quite obvious as a few of the stallions would never had been accepted into a North American stud book, where entries must be approved. In New Zealand it seems as though the selection process isn't very elite. If you had a registered Thoroughbred stallion and you were willing to pay fees and stand him, then you were more than able to do so.
Fortunately, the difference in breeding seasons between North America and Australasia allows for stallions to be shuttled between continents to serve mares. The North American Thoroughbred breeding season is from February until May and the Australasia breeding season commences in September and goes until December. Some of the larger New Zealand stud farms are able to negotiate and bring stallions from overseas for the NZ breeding season, bringing in some much needed bloodlines. The influx of international stallions and the intercontinental Thoroughbred market that New Zealand is becoming a part of will undoubtedly help improve the New Zealand Thoroughbred breeding program.
As a significantly smaller and more "remote" country, New Zealand has definitely struggled with achieving the diversity among breeding stock and competing with the calibre of Thoroughbreds bred in other countries. Flipping through the New Zealand studbook I noticed that choices were limited. Many stallions were offspring from previous stallions, most were new and unproven, and the majority of stud fees ranged from $3000-$5000 NZD's. The quality of the selection was quite obvious as a few of the stallions would never had been accepted into a North American stud book, where entries must be approved. In New Zealand it seems as though the selection process isn't very elite. If you had a registered Thoroughbred stallion and you were willing to pay fees and stand him, then you were more than able to do so.
Fortunately, the difference in breeding seasons between North America and Australasia allows for stallions to be shuttled between continents to serve mares. The North American Thoroughbred breeding season is from February until May and the Australasia breeding season commences in September and goes until December. Some of the larger New Zealand stud farms are able to negotiate and bring stallions from overseas for the NZ breeding season, bringing in some much needed bloodlines. The influx of international stallions and the intercontinental Thoroughbred market that New Zealand is becoming a part of will undoubtedly help improve the New Zealand Thoroughbred breeding program.