The Harness 5000: Restoring the Dream for Everyday Breeders

If ever there was a reason to keep the mare covered, the foal born locally, and the dream alive—it’s this.

Harness Racing New Zealand has launched a bold, grassroots-driven initiative: The Harness 5000. Twelve Listed races. Each worth $60,000. All staged on a single blockbuster day at Ashburton in December 2025. Reserved exclusively for pacers and trotters born and bred in New Zealand from sires whose advertised service fee was $5001 or less.

This isn’t a handout. It’s a hard reset.
This isn’t about cutting down tall poppies. It’s about letting more people grow.

For too long, the commercial model in our breeding economy has funnelled attention—and investment—into a narrow band of elite stallions. That’s not a criticism. It’s an observable truth. But that truth comes at a cost. Capable stallions have exited our shores or faded into obscurity, casualties of a system increasingly skewed toward shuttle-based dominance and catalogue glamour. We’re not here to vilify success—we’re here to rebalance opportunity.

A Reality Check on Representation

The Harness 5000 was born out of hard data—and even harder conversations. When I first floated this idea back in 2020, one thing was abundantly clear: we were haemorrhaging small breeders. The 1–2 mare breeders who once kept the base strong were walking away—not out of apathy, but because they felt squeezed out. Stallion marketing, soaring costs, and a sales-centric culture had narrowed the definition of “success” to something unattainable for many.

The Sires Stakes Board has made a genuine effort in recent years to broaden its offering—introducing conditioned races and, notably, pioneering the concept with a one-off Sires 5000 race for 3YO pacers, now extended into the Sires 7000. Their increased commitment to programming races for a wider pool of horses is commendable and appreciated.

That said, while the Sires Stakes remains a vital cornerstone of our racing calendar, it has traditionally been weighted toward the commercial end of the market. For breeders using more affordably priced stallions, there has often been limited opportunity to compete on truly equal footing.

Only around 30% of foals by sires that would qualify for this scheme were even paying up for the Sires Stakes. The racing results reinforced the point. In the four years prior to my original submission, just two horses—Vessem and Vinke B—by eligible sires had even made the 3YO Group 1 Sires Stakes Finals. Only Vessem’s fourth placing registered on the radar. And aside from Chase Auckland, try naming another winner. It’s not about ability. It’s about access.

We’ve long held the view that if we are to grow breeding numbers in this country, it won’t come from the top end.

The commercial market is mature, and the number of mares being bred to the elite stallions is already near saturation. Where we believe real growth lies is at the grassroots—among those who breed one or two mares, often to race themselves, or to stay in the game for the love of it.

These breeders are price-sensitive, risk-conscious, and increasingly cautious. The Harness 5000 gives them a reason to re-engage.

It provides confidence that a foal by a value sire still has a pathway to race for meaningful money—not once, but potentially multiple times across a longer, more durable career.

What’s Missing from the Big Days

Look beyond age-group races and the gaps widen.

The inaugural Christian Cullen 4YO—a division desperately needing a new identity since the disbandment of the Jewels—featured zero horses by sub-$5000 sires.

And what about the New Zealand Cup—the race every kid dreams of watching, let alone winning? In the past five years, only 8 of 75 starters were Harness 5000 eligible. The best result? Fifth, by Di Caprio (Shadow Play).

The NZ Cup illustrates what we’ve lost. From 2009 to 2013, it was owned by horses like Monkey King (Sands A Flyin) and Terror To Love (Western Terror)—both by stallions who would absolutely qualify for this scheme. In 2012, Bettor’s Delight won his first of 13 national sires titles, marking a sharp pivot toward a more commercialised, North American-dominated bloodstock landscape.

Let’s be clear: the North American shuttle era has improved our breed. It’s raised standards. It’s redefined performance. But it’s also accelerated the extinction of the everyman sire—no caps, no quotas, no protections. Shadow Play, Sportswriter, Betterthancheddar and a host of talented domestic sires—all left Cup-quality horses from books of 40 mares or fewer. Yet they vanished while the elite served 300+. It’s not hard to guess why.

An Opportunity That’s Earned—Not Bought

The Harness 5000 isn’t about throwing a lifeline. It’s about restoring meritocracy. There are no buy-ins. No series fees. No secret handshakes.

From 2026, the qualifying period will span nearly the full racing year—mirroring the Harness Jewels format. To qualify? Race five times. Earn top-five stakes in qualifying races. Done.

And if a Vessem-type emerges? That’s a good thing. Yes, he’s a dual Group 2 winner by Vincent. But he’s the exception—not the template. And he earned his reputation by outperforming, not outspending. The fact he’s even being cited proves the point: this type of horse has nowhere else to go under current structures.

This isn’t a nationalistic scheme—it’s about value. The horse must be born here. The stallion must have fit the fee cap. They need to start five times. If those boxes are ticked, they’re in. Simple.

And to those anxious about short-priced favourites: the Harness Jewels had over 75 odds-on winners across 14 editions. Did that ruin the day? Or did it amplify excellence?

A Series Built on Aspiration

As HRNZ CEO Brad Steele said:
“Harness racing's future lies in its ability to evolve while honouring its community-based roots. The reimagined Harness 5000 is a modern response to that challenge—one that redistributes value, rebuilds engagement, and rewards the people who are the lifeblood of the sport.”

This is a message to every trainer with a sound 5YO. Every syndicate who took a punt on potential. Every breeder working on belief, not volume.

There are dozens of eligible sires already listed in the Stallion Register—Majestic Son, Vincent, Elite Stride, Sky Major, Lazarus, and more. Suddenly, that modest service fee isn’t a dead-end—it’s a ticket to a $60,000 payday. And if your horse stays sound, it could be a ticket again the following year.

"This is a pivotal step in rebuilding the ownership pipeline and creating new stories worth following." — Brad Steele

A Real Reason to Breed Again

No other racing jurisdiction in the world fails to offer a parallel sires stakes model for its domestic stallions. New Zealand has long ignored that blind spot. Until now.

The Harness 5000 races are going to be someone’s moment. A breeder. An owner. A small-time trainer. A stallion owner chasing relevance. It could be their biggest payday, and maybe the day they finally land that elusive ‘big race’. For a long time, that dream fuelled a much bigger, more optimistic breeding and racing industry—before it started feeling just out of reach. The Harness 5000 brings that dream back to life. It’s a series for the battlers and the believers—and we could do with more of both.

If harness racing has a point of difference from the thoroughbred code, it’s this: the small player still has a shot. The Harness 5000 isn’t about rhetoric or lip service—it’s a genuine platform for participation. It delivers what the gallops can't: a level playing field where the underdog has a chance to win.

And with greyhound racing under the microscope, maybe there’s an opportunity to attract some of those participants our way. Imagine the non-racing crowd at Ashburton on a Summer’s day being told every horse on the card is racing for $60K—and was bred for $5K or less. That’s not just a feel-good story. That’s the kind of narrative that drives ownership, builds engagement, and reminds people why this sport still matters.