News

Digital Showing Passports are open

Applications for the 2026/27 Standardbred Showing Passport are open now. From 2 November 2026 the digital passport becomes the required passport for Standardbred classes at affiliated shows.

Nothing changes before 2 November

Shows running in September and October will accept either the existing passport or the new digital one. If you have already entered a show using your current passport, you do not need to do anything.

We set the date at 2 November deliberately. Entries are already open at a small number of shows, and it would not be fair to change the requirement underneath competitors part way through an entry period. Show numbers lift significantly in November, which makes the start of that month the cleanest point to make the change.

Applying

Applications are open now on the Showing Passports page.

The application takes about ten minutes. You will need two photographs of your horse, one from each side, and your horse’s details as registered with Harness Racing New Zealand. Applications are processed weekly, so allow time before entries close for your next show.

The passport database is being built from scratch for the 2026/27 season, so every horse needs to apply, including horses that held a passport previously.

What the $12.50 covers

The annual $12.50 is both your horse’s digital Showing Passport and your NZSBA Riding Membership for the season. One fee, one payment, and the passport is issued as part of it.

The membership is not another hoop. It is what the passport fee now buys you.

The first 75 to sign up will also receive an NZSBA membership card, which carries discounts at more than fifty retailers nationwide through the 1Team programme.

The fee exists because the passport runs across three platforms that carry ongoing subscription costs. Between NZSBA and Harness Racing New Zealand, close to $20,000 a year goes into Standardbred showing through sponsorship and administration. The fee is not there to fund that. It is there to keep the passport system itself running.

How it works at a show

• Your passport lives in the wallet app on your phone. Take a screenshot of your full details as a backup, or print it ready to go.
• Show your passport before entering the ring, before classes start.
• The steward checks the name on the passport against the entry list. There is no scanning in the normal course of things.
• If there is a genuine question about a horse, the steward or show secretary can scan the QR code, or use your screenshot, to confirm identification against the photograph, brand and microchip.

Shows can also check entries against the passport database before the day, and we will help any show that wants a hand with that.

If your horse is sold

The passport number belongs to the horse, not the owner, and it stays with the horse for life. When a horse changes hands the card is transferred to the new owner against that same number rather than being reissued. Email [email protected] and we will send you the change of ownership form.

Questions

Email [email protected].