Thoroughbred population traceability
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing’s vision for thoroughbred welfare
“A thoroughbred should be provided a good life, with the care and conditions that will allow the horse to thrive and perform to its natural abilities.”Individual thoroughbreds can be easily identified by their brands and microchips listed in the New Zealand Stud Book. However, it is difficult for New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing to maintain reliable information on the location and ownership of horses that have been retired and re-homed with unlicensed owners, given unlicensed owners are not subject to NZTR regulatory oversight. Attaining ‘whole-of-life traceability’ for the New Zealand thoroughbred population is an objective which faces practical limitations.
Ensuring there is no shortfall in data submission and reporting is a priority for NZTR. To achieve this objective, full support from stakeholder groups and full compliance by trainers, owners, and/or racing managers is needed to ensure that death and retirement records are comprehensive, both in terms of detail and by providing a return for every horse.
All owners or trainers must submit an SR24 Notification of Death or Retirement of a Thoroughbred return for every horse so NZTR can maintain full traceability on all thoroughbreds for the period between foaling and either death or retirement from racing and/or breeding, whichever is earliest. This known as ‘comprehensive traceability’.
Ensuring there is no shortfall in data submission and reporting is a priority for NZTR. To achieve this objective, full support from stakeholder groups and full compliance by trainers, owners, and/or racing managers is needed to ensure that death and retirement records are comprehensive, both in terms of detail and by providing a return for every horse.
All owners or trainers must submit an SR24 Notification of Death or Retirement of a Thoroughbred return for every horse so NZTR can maintain full traceability on all thoroughbreds for the period between foaling and either death or retirement from racing and/or breeding, whichever is earliest. This known as ‘comprehensive traceability’.
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing will:
- Commit to ensuring comprehensive traceability of the racing and breeding thoroughbred population from foaling to death or retirement from racing and breeding. NZTR recognises that this initiative will need a sustained commitment from NZTR and industry participants.
Identifying your thoroughbred
NZTR is able to identify your thoroughbred from its brands and, for horses born since 2004, by its microchip.
Use the SR22 Request for identification of a thoroughbred form to request a search. Please provide as much information as you can - the more information provided, the greater chance of finding your horse. There is no charge for this service.