Paddock To Podium
Paddock To Podium
Paddock to Podium pays breeders for what the horses they bred do on the track.
The scheme started on 1 January 2026 and runs on a simple idea: if a horse you bred is earning, some of that comes back to you as credit towards your next service fee. It is HRNZ backing the breeders already in the game rather than chasing new ones, and it is committed for five years subject to budget.
How credits are earned
Two ways, and they run alongside each other.
5% of stakes for a placing of 1st to 4th in any race other than a Group or Listed race. That is the workhorse of the scheme. Every mid-week cheque a horse you bred picks up puts something on your account.
$1,000 shared for a placing of 1st to 5th in a Group or Listed race, split 50% to the winner's breeder, 20% for second, and 10% each for third, fourth and fifth.
An eligible horse is a two year old through to a six year old in each racing season, foaled in New Zealand. A horse conceived overseas but born here still counts. Credits go to the breeder or breeders recorded in Infohorse at the time of foaling, in proportion to their recorded share.
Read this bit if you own a mare with someone else
Credits are paid strictly on the ownership percentages HRNZ has on record. They are not paid on the informal arrangements co-owners commonly make, the turn about breedings, or the season where one partner sits out. If your arrangement for a given season differs from the underlying ownership, register a breeding lease through the HRNZ online service, or get the percentages updated before the foal is registered. Get it wrong and the credit goes to the name on the record, not to the person who paid the bill.
How credits are spent
Credits are not cash and cannot be cashed out or transferred. They cover eligible breeding expenses only, meaning the service fee and the cost of buying and transporting semen from a stud, stallion agent or semen holding base. Veterinary fees, working fees and everything else sit outside the scheme.
Unlike some schemes, credits can be aggregated across horses. Everything you earn as a breeder pools into one balance and can be spent on any mare you are breeding in New Zealand.
Expiry. Credits must be used by 31 July of the second full breeding season after the racing year they were earned in. Credits earned in the 2026 racing season expire on 31 July 2029, those being the 2027/28 and 2028/29 seasons. Balances are shown in My HRNZ, so it pays to check yours before you book.
Making a claim
A claim is lodged online with HRNZ, and you need all of the following:
You hold the credits. You or your co-owners contracted the service. The claim is no more than your share of the cost, matching your percentage ownership of the pregnant mare. The pregnancy is confirmed at 42 days or later. And the claim is lodged before 30 June in the season the service fee was paid.
Supporting paperwork is an invoice addressed to the breeder naming the stud, the mare and the sire, written proof that you paid it, and the 42 day confirmation. If the stud has invoiced a package, the service fee component has to be separately identifiable. Payment is made on the 20th of the month following a verified claim.
A few situations worth knowing about. Early bird payments and frozen semen can still be claimed, but only once all of the criteria above are met, including the 42 day confirmation. If you sell a mare in foal you can still claim as the breeder, and the buyer cannot. If a pregnancy is lost after a credit has been paid, no further claim can be made for that mare if she is bred again, and HRNZ can reclaim the credit if she is not. If the mare or the foal is exported before the foal turns six months old, HRNZ can reclaim as well.
Alongside the other schemes
Paddock to Podium does not stop you taking part in anything else, but you can only be reimbursed once by HRNZ for the same cost. If you hold Fillies and Mares credits, draw those down first and then use Paddock to Podium credits against any shortfall.
Where to start
Log in to My HRNZ and look at your balance. If you bred anything currently racing between two and six years old, there is a good chance there is something sitting there. The full terms and conditions are linked below, and if anything about your situation is unclear, get in touch before you pay the stud rather than after.