Going into the sporthorse season, Equestrian Sports New Zealand and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing are pleased to announce an expansion of the Thoroughbreds in Equestrian Sports series (TiES). 

The TiES series gives Thoroughbred sporthorse owners the opportunity to collect points in competition across Dressage, Eventing, Show Jumping, and Show Hunter disciplines.

Added sponsorship of NZTR allows the 2022/23 season series prizes for each discipline to be doubled to $2000 for 1^st, $1300 for 2^nd, $900 for 3^rd, $500 for 4^th, $200 for 5^th, and $100 for 6^th. 

Additionally, there are new prizes for the best performed Thoroughbred in nominated Dressage, Show Jumping, and Show Hunter competitions at the Horse of the Year Show, plus best performed Thoroughbred in each of 1-star, 2-star, 3-star and 4-star Eventing classes at the NZ Three Day Event Championships.  The prizes for each of these ‘best performed’ on these days will be $1,000 for 1^st, $650 for 2^nd and $350 for 3^rd.

All TiES prizemoney is funded by the 1% stakes levy for Thoroughbred welfare. 

 “Since the inception of our partnership with ESNZ in 2014, NZTR has seen the TiES competition grow in status, and we really value the prominence it provides to the versatility and competitiveness of the Thoroughbred in Sporthorse competition,”  NZTR’s Alice Riggins said.

“We see that the time is right to expand the opportunities within TiES through the addition of awards for the best competitors of each discipline on the day at Horse of the Year and within classes 1-6 at the New Zealand 3DE Championships.  We look forward to the added interest and prominence to Thoroughbreds that this will bring.” 

ESNZ CEO Julian Bowden shares NZTR’s enthusiasm regarding the expansion of the TiES series.

“ESNZ is thrilled to be continuing our long-standing relationship with NZTR, with the extra investment, we’re excited to see the competition get fiercer,” he said.

“Thoroughbreds are essential across all our disciplines, from grassroots to our High-Performance team, all of the equestrian whanau recognises just how great of allrounders these horses are. The series recognises the pathway between racehorses and sport horses, and we’re excited for the future of these equines,” Bowden said.

Many successful horses have participated in and won the TiES series, including:

• Just Kidding (Fusaichi Pegasus x Gypsy Princess)
• Good Timing (Nom Du Jeu x Baloushe)
• Artist (Guillotine x Maxamore)
• A P Ninja (A P Ruler x Office Affair)
• Untouchable (Warsaw Pact x Melting Point)

With Just Kidding and Artist just recently being named in the 2022 New Zealand World Championships Eventing team, and a long history of successful Thoroughbreds, it’s clear to see how special Thoroughbreds are in the NZ equestrian community.