Breeding Incentives & Schemes
This is where to find what Harness Racing New Zealand currently funds to put money back into breeding, and what you need to do to get your share of it.
There are three. Paddock to Podium pays breeders for what the horses they bred do on the track. The Fillies and Mares Breeding Credit Scheme puts credit on a race mare towards the cost of breeding her, and is paused from 1 September 2026 with claims closing on 28 February 2028. The Harness 5000 is twelve Listed races at Ashburton for the progeny of stallions who stood for $5,000 or less. Full detail on each is on its own page below.
Four things that will save you trouble
Check your balances in My HRNZ. Both credit schemes show what you are holding. A surprising number of people are sitting on credits they have not looked at.
Keep your ownership records straight. Credits are paid on the percentages HRNZ has on record, not on the arrangement you and your partners actually made. If a season's breeding differs from the underlying ownership, register a breeding lease or update the shares before the foal is registered.
Keep the paperwork. Every claim needs the stud invoice and proof that you paid it. Claims can be audited, and an audit is a five minute job if you have the documents and a problem if you do not.
Keep your bank and GST details current. Stale details hold up payment and, in the case of the Fillies and Mares scheme, can cost you the claim entirely.
The wider picture
These schemes are one part of what HRNZ is doing to steady the number of mares bred each year. Alongside them sit the racing opportunities: the Silk Road Series and lifted premier stakes for trotters, better money for two year olds to get them started, and the Harness 5000 for the horses bred on a modest budget. The logic is the same throughout, which is to make the horses that come off small breeding operations worth racing, and to make racing them worth breeding from.
The NZSBA works with HRNZ on all of it. If a scheme is not working the way it should for you, or the rules land badly on your situation, tell us. That feedback is how the terms get changed.
Where to go next
Each scheme has its own page below with the full detail, the terms and conditions, and who to contact. If you are not sure where to start, contact Brad Reid at NZSBA on [email protected] or Cameron Kirkwood at HRNZ on [email protected].