The sport has grown steadily. During the season ended 31 July 1899 the totalisator investments were £122,869 and the stakes £15,665. For the season ended 31 July 1965 the totalisator figures were: on course, £7,833,723; off course, £9,657,860; a total of £17,491,583. The stakes were £556,647. During the same season 1,626 horses started in races and there were 1,021 licensed trainers and drivers. There were 121 race days, compared with 45 in 1899. The number of totalisator permits issued over the years has varied. At one time there did not appear to be any limit. In 1890–91 it is possible to trace 21 permits, while in the next season there were 44. Up to the present the total is more than 120. The number of clubs has also greatly increased – from 18 in 1899 to more than 40 totalisator clubs and a number of non-totalisator clubs at the present time.

Though the sport of trotting had been under way in New Zealand for some time prior to 1896, it was not until July of that year that some overall control was set up at a meeting held at Wellington. Out of this came the decision to draw up a set of rules for the whole country. The meeting also decided that there should be two associations – one for the South Island and one for the North Island. The associations were replaced in 1899 by the New Zealand Trotting Association, whose nine members were elected by the affiliated clubs. This one association remained in force until 1950, when it was abolished, its duties being taken over by the New Zealand Trotting Conference, which, prior to that time, had been more of an administrative and legislative body.

Thanks to the early studmasters and breeders of trotting horses, some well bred stallions and mares were imported from America. These greatly improved the stamina and speed of the country's horses. In 1882 Robt. Wilkin imported the stallions Berlin and Blackwood Abdallah and the mares Blue Grass Belle, Fannie Belle, Jeanie Tracey, Messenger Maid, Queen Emma, and Woodburn Maid. These mares later passed to other breeders and many were foundation mares for their studs. A year or two later John Kerr, of Nelson, also imported several horses from America. Other studmasters followed this practice and most of the Dominion's horses can be traced to this early stock.

Carbine

Carbine and Phar Lap share the greatest international reputation won by any horses bred or raced in New Zealand. Carbine, indeed, introduced New Zealand horses to the world. Breeders had been aware of the success of the sons of Musket in New Zealand and Australia, but Carbine's Melbourne Cup win in 1890 made his name known much wider afield. Despite the greatness of Phar Lap, he remains perhaps the best known of all New Zealand bred horses.

Carbine was bred in 1885 at the famed Sylvia Park Stud on the outskirts of Auckland by Musket from the imported Mersey. He was sold at the stud's annual sale of yearlings for 620 guineas to Dan O'Brien, then of Riccarton, where Carbine was trained in New Zealand. Carbine was unbeaten in five races as a two-year-old. His wins included the Canterbury Jockey Club's Middle Park Plate and Champagne Stakes and the Dunedin Jockey Club's Champagne Stakes. As a three-year-old he was taken to Australia, but to the chagrin of his connections his record was spoiled when he was beaten by Ensign in the V.R.C. Derby. It was generally believed that his rider, R. Derrett, was caught napping. Carbine was later sold at auction for 3,000 guineas to D. S. Wallace. At the end of his three-year-old career Carbine had wins which included the Champion Stakes, All Aged Stakes, Cumberland Plate, A.J.C. Plate, and the Sydney Cup. In the last race Carbine showed his true greatness by carrying 9 st., which was 12 lb above weight-for-age.

Carbine had a wonderful record as a four-year-old, but failed in his principal mission, the Melbourne Cup. With 10 st. and the added handicap of a cracked heel, he was beaten by a length by the six-year-old Bravo, carrying 8 st. 7 lb. On recovering from his disability Carbine went from strength to strength, winning his second Sydney Cup with 9 st. 9 lb and being invincible in the distance weight-for-age events. His greatest performance came as a five-year-old, when, in winning the Melbourne Cup with 10 st. 5 lb (still the weight-carrying record for the race), he beat the largest field of all time (39) in the then race-record time of 3 min. 28 ¼ sec. When he retired from racing Carbine had a record of 43 starts for 33 wins, six seconds, three thirds, and once unplaced, for stake winnings of £29,626.

At the stud in Australia Carbine sired Wallace, a V.R.C. Derby winner that turned out a fine sire, and the A.J.C. Derby winners Charge and Amberite. At the dispersal of Wallace's stud Carbine was sold for 13,500 guineas to the Duke of Portland and went to England to join the celebrated St. Simon at the Welbeck Abbey Stud. On his arrival he was fully booked for three seasons at a fee of 200 guineas. In England Carbine sired a great horse in Spearmint, winner of the Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris. His grandson Spion Kop and great-grandson Felstead also won the Derby. But it was in Australia that his sire line was the most successful.

Carbine (or “Old Jack” as he was always affectionately called in Australia) was a most vigorous horse. He lived to 27 years of age.

Phar Lap

When Phar Lap was described as “the racing phenomenon of the century” the critic was only reflecting the opinion of thousands of Australian admirers who knew him as the “Red Terror”. Phar Lap (unlike Carbine) never raced in New Zealand. He was bred by A. F. Roberts at his Seadown Stud at Washdyke, near Timaru. By Night Raid, an imported horse which had raced in Australia, he was from Entreaty, a mare descending from the imported mare Miss Kate, the ancestress of several good horses. Phar Lap was one of Night Raid's second crop in New Zealand, Nightmarch, his best racing rival being one of the first. As a yearling Phar Lap was leggy and undistinguished, but his pedigree had attracted the attention of a former New Zealander, Harry Telford, then training in Australia. Harry Telford had persuaded a client, D. J. Davis, to allow him to buy the colt and receive a lease for three years. He was bought for 160 guineas at the 1928 yearling sales, held then in the Wellington Racing Club's birdcage at Trentham, by the Trentham trainer Hugh Telford, who acted for his brother.

Phar Lap as a two-year-old won only one race late in the season. He first made his name when he ran in the Chelmsford Stakes at Randwick early in his three-year-old career. His powerful finishing run got him within half a length of the winner Mollison, a good performer. Then Phar Lap won the Rosehill Guineas, A.J.C. Derby, Craven Plate, and the V.R.C. Derby in succession. In the Melbourne Cup Phar Lap was beaten into third place by two other New Zealand horses, Nightmarch and Paquito. Phar Lap pulled hard in the race and his rider (the veteran R. Lewis) was criticised for his riding, but the year older Nightmarch was a stayer of such calibre that it is doubtful whether the criticism was justified. Phar Lap was supreme in the autumn. He won the V.R.C. and A.J.C. St. Legers, and the King's Cup at Adelaide. His greatest performance was in the A.J.C. Plate run over 2¼ miles at Randwick. He beat Nightmarch by 10 lengths and established an Australasian record of 3 min. 49 ¼ sec. He ran the first 1 ¼ miles in 2 min. 3 sec., 11 furlongs in 2 min. 16 ¼ sec., and the 1 miles in 2 min. 29 ½ sec.

As a four-year-old, after a head defeat by Amounis at his first start of the season, Phar Lap had an unbroken sequence of wins before he started as the shortest-priced favourite ever in the Melbourne Cup. He won this race easily carrying 9 st. 12 lb, the highest weight carried successfully by a four-year-old. In the following February he raced in the name of Messrs Davis and Telford, the lease to the latter having expired and being followed by a partnership. Phar Lap carried on in the autumn to establish a sequence of 14 successive wins before he was surprisingly beaten by a neck in the C. M. Lloyd Stakes by another New Zealander, Waterline. He reappeared as a five-year-old and won seven successive races before he made his unsuccessful attempt to carry 10 st. 10 lb in the Melbourne Cup. Phar Lap had then won 36 races and £56,440 in stakes, making him the greatest stake winner in Australasia.

After the Melbourne Cup Phar Lap returned to New Zealand to rest before he left for America to contest the Agua Caliente Handicap in Mexico, then the richest race in America. Phar Lap carried 9 st. 3 lb (conceding his opponents from 9 to 39 lb) and trounced the best field available. He ran 2 min. 2 ? sec. to set a new track record for a mile and a quarter. After his success the critics did not doubt that Phar Lap was in world class. His stake winnings then amounted to £70,121 and he ranked the sixth greatest stake winner in the world for many years.

Phar Lap died on 6 April 1932, only 17 days after his win. His trainer, Tommy Woodcock, who had brought Phar Lap from Australia, found the gelding in agony early in the morning at his stable at Menlow Park. Phar Lap had contracted severe colic and died a few hours later. He was one of the biggest horses of all time. He stood 17.1 hands, being 3 in. taller than the massive High Caste and 5 in. taller than Carbine. A few days before the Agua Caliente Handicap his weight was recorded at 1,148 lb, some 59 lb below High Caste. During his career Phar Lap set new standards for champions and he has become the measure of all later champions. Jim Pike, who generally rode him in Australia, has said, “First of all let me say there was only one Phar Lap. He was a phenomenon, a treat to ride, and a kind and generous fellow throughout the race”. The name Phar Lap derives from Cingalese and refers to lightning or something which moves quickly across the heavens. No horse did more to live up to such a name.

Kindergarten

Many think that Kindergarten was the best horse ever to have raced in New Zealand. He was unfortunate in his career in not racing in more favourable times and by going amiss after contesting only one race on his only visit to Australia. Kindergarten was bred and raced by E. N. Fitzgerald, of Gisborne. His sire, Kincardine, was a good performer in England, but at the stud proved of such low fertility that he was sold for export for 18 guineas. Kincardine improved in New Zealand and, when mated to the Valkyrian mare Valadore (which had once been sold for £30), sired Kindergarten. As a two-year-old Kindergarten ran six times and won three times, but gave no sign of his future greatness. As a three-year-old he made amazing improvement. After three minor placings he was undefeated for the rest of the season and won 10 races including the Great Northern Derby, Wellington Cup, Awapuni Gold Cup, North Island Challenge Stakes, New Zealand St. Leger, and Great Northern St. Leger. His most spectacular victory was, however, in the Easter Handicap at Ellerslie, which he won with 9 st. 11 lb, a tremendous weight for a three-year-old in an open mile handicap. As a four-year-old Kindergarten went to Australia and ran third to High Caste and Freckles in the Warwick Stakes. After the race he went amiss and, rather than risk a complete breakdown, he was returned to New Zealand. After a spell he reappeared in the autumn and won the North Island Challenge Stakes. Kindergarten then showed his real class by winning his second Easter Handicap with 10 st. 3 lb and running the mile in 1 min. 35 3/5 sec.

As a five-year-old Kindergarten was beaten in a sprint handicap at his first appearance. He then went on to win five successive races and record the greatest performance of his career in the Auckland Cup. He carried 10 st. 2 lb and trounced a good field by five lengths, running the 2 miles in the then race-record time of 3 min. 22 sec. As a six-year-old Kindergarten was unbeaten in three weight-for-age races and he was successful twice at seven years. When finally retired Kindergarten had won 25 races and £16,005 in stakes – a good sum, considering he raced during the Second World War. Like most good horses he could move superbly and had powers of acceleration that were exceptional, even among good horses. Though he did not have Phar Lap's physique, he was a splendid weight carrier. He was assessed as top weight in the Melbourne Cup three times: 9 st. 13 lb in 1942, 10 st. 6 lb in 1943, and 10 st. in 1944. He was, unfortunately, a double rig.

Desert Gold

The late T. H. Lowry's brilliant mare Desert Gold is the measure for all champion mares. She won 36 races and £23,133 in stakes. Some of her feats are unsurpassed. From the time Desert Gold appeared as a two-year-old in 1914 there was never any doubt about her class. That season she won the Great Northern Foal Stakes and Royal Stakes, the Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes, and the North Island Challenge Stakes, but she was beaten in the Great Northern Champagne Stakes by Arran. In her last start as a two-year-old, Desert Gold won the Hawke's Bay Stakes. This began an amazing sequence of 19 successive wins, a feat since equalled only by the Australian colt Ajax. As a three-year-old, Desert Gold won 14 races. She remained unbeaten until she was defeated by the two-year-old Kilflinn in the North Island Challenge Stakes in 1917. Her three-year-old successes included the Hawke's Bay Guineas, New Zealand Derby and Oaks, Great Northern Derby, Oaks, and St. Leger. She did not contest the New Zealand St. Leger.

When she went to Australia Desert Gold met and defeated the best Australian horses at weight-for-age and, when the First World War ended, she had a magnificent record. But she had to bow out to Gloaming. They first clashed in the Taranaki Stakes in 1919, when Desert Gold was a six-year-old, and Gloaming three. Desert Gold won by half a length. The pair later met four times and each time Gloaming won. He was one of the few horses that matched her over a mile. When she retired from racing Desert Gold returned to the Okawa Stud, where she had been bred. It was too much to expect her to produce her equal, but her daughters and grand-daughters produced many winners, among them the brilliant Gold Rod.

Gloaming

Although Gloaming was bred in Australia, he was very much a part of the New Zealand racing scene during his long and distinguished career. He was very aptly named, being by The Welkin from Light. He was sold cheaply as a yearling by the Victorian breeder, E. E. D. Clarke, to G. D. Greenwood, who, with the noted R. J. Mason training his horses at Riccarton, had already had considerable success. Gloaming did not race as a two-year-old. In the spring of his three-year-old career he made his first appearance in Sydney, when he won the Chelmsford Stakes in 1918. After winning the Australian Jockey Club Derby he returned to Riccarton and won the New Zealand Derby, and made world history when a win in the Great Northern Derby gave him his third Derby success. Gloaming continued to race until 1925 when he was nine. He contested 67 races for 57 wins and nine seconds. He was only once unplaced, when he fell at the start in the North Island Challenge Stakes. During his career Gloaming was restricted to weight-for-age and special weight events and he did not race beyond middle distances. This policy was criticised at the time, but it undoubtedly enabled him to race for a long period.

Although he dominated the shorter weight-for-age races in New Zealand and Australia for so many seasons, his victories were not always hollow and he had some memorable contests. In New Zealand there was great interest in his meetings with Desert Gold, who won only their first clash. Gloaming had many more memorable races, particularly in 1922 when he met another brilliant Australian in Beauford. Their four clashes were regarded as epics of the turf and the enthusiasm they stirred on both sides of the Tasman has seldom been equalled. In their first meeting in the Chelmsford Stakes (9 furlongs), Beauford won by three-quarters of a length. In the Hill Stakes (1 mile) Gloaming beat Beauford by a length and a quarter. At the spring meeting at Randwick, Beauford was successful again in the Spring Stakes of one mile and a half, but only by a neck. The finale came in the Craven Plate (one mile and a quarter) when Beauford attempted to lead all the way, but Gloaming gathered up his rival at the distance and went on to a three-lengths win. Some say that this was Gloaming's finest race. Gloaming retired with one of the greatest records in all turf history. He set up a fresh record in stake earnings.

by John Anthony Poulsen, Stipendiary Steward, New Zealand Racing Conference, Auckland.

The larger prizes offering in Australia and the strong betting rings in Sydney and Melbourne were a tremendous lure to early New Zealand owners and trainers. It seems that Nelson sent the first horses to Sydney in 1858 — Strop, Miss Rowe, H. Redwood's Zoe, Zingara, Io, and Waimea, Chevalier, and G. Duppa'sWildrake, Phoebe, and Camden. At Homebush Chevalier and Strop won every race they started in. When the first Champion Race was run in Melbourne Zoe ran second to Flying Buck, with Miss Rowe fourth and Strop fifth. Zoe won the second Champion Race at Sydney, with Wildrake second. Strop finished fourth, but collapsed and died in the enclosure. Zoe went on to win a third Champion Race at Ipswich in Queensland. For 10 years there were few New Zealand horses raced in Australia, and few successes, because the Australian best were superior horses. But when the stock of Traducer started to race, there were more successes.

Melbourne Cup

In 1870 Redwood sent Manuka (The Peer – Waimea) over to Melbourne in charge of Edward Cutts to be prepared for the Melbourne Cup. Peeress went too, and won the Royal Park Stakes at Flemington. But Manuka failed to run as he did not stand training. He went to the stud in Australia. In 1879 Lancelot Walker and G. G. Stead sent Le Toup over for the Melbourne Cup. He was heavily backed but was pulled up in the race after his saddle slipped. The winner was a stablemate, Darriwell, the acknowledged inferior of Le Toup. Later at the meeting Le Toup won the Victorian Racing Club Handicap, but in weight-for-age races he was beaten by Chester.

Martini-Henry was the first New Zealand bred horse to win the Melbourne Cup (1883) and, two years later, the stayer Trenton was beaten only by a head by Sheet Anchor. (He was owned by G. G. Stead and was backed to win £80,000.) In 1890 Carbine carried 10 St. 5 lb and won in record time from the largest ever field of 39 runners. Apologue had a surprising win in 1907, and in 1916 the fine stayer Sasanof (by Martian) won. The brilliant Nightmarch won in 1929. Phar Lap won in 1930. He carried 9 st. 12 lb and started the shortest price favourite in the history of the race. The next New Zealand-bred winner, Wotan, started at 100 to 1 and made a race record. The eight-year-old gelding Catalogue won in 1938, somewhat surprisingly, as he had formerly been a miler. New Zealand horses have succeeded more often since the Second World War. Hiraji won in 1947 and Foxzami in 1949. Dalray carried 9 st. 8 lb to win in 1952, but was not quite as brilliant as Rising Fast which, after winning the Caulfield Cup with 8 st. 10 lb, won with 9st. 5 lb in 1954. In 1955 Rising Fast again won the Caulfield Cup carrying 9 st. 10 lb and made a brave bid to win his second Melbourne Cup with 10 st. 2 lb, but was beaten by another New Zealand runner, the seven-year-old Toparoa, carrying only 7 st. 8 lb. Successes by Straight Draw in 1957 and Macdougall in 1959 preceded New Zealand's dominance in the finish of the Centenary Melbourne Cup in 1960 when heads separated Hi-Jinx, Howsie, and Illumquh. Even Stevens won in 1962 to become the fifth horse to complete the Caulfield Cup – Melbourne Cup double.

Caulfield Cup

New Zealand horses have often won the Caulfield Cup, especially since the Second World War. Following 1953 they have almost dominated the race. Gaine Carrington, a half-brother to the Melbourne Cup winner Wotan, was the first New Zealand-bred winner (1933), with Beaulivre (1940), St. Warden (a division in 1940), Grey Boots (1950), and then My Hero (1953), who began the run of successes by Rising Fast (1954 and 1955), Redcraze (1956), Tulloch (1957), Sir Blink (1958), Illumquh (1960), Summer Fair (1961), and Even Stevens (1962).

Sydney Cup

New Zealand horses have nothing like the same record in the Sydney Cup. The first and most famous winner was Carbine, successful in 1889 as a three-year-old with 9 st. 0 lb, and in 1890 with 9 st. 9 lb. Mosaic was the next winner in 1939 and 1940. Gold Scheme won in 1954 and Straight Draw in 1958.

Metropolitan Handicap

New Zealand horses have had much success in the Metropolitan Handicap. The first winner (1884) was the Traducer horse, Sir Modred. Maniopoto and Solution, both by Soult, won in 1905 and 1906 respectively, followed by Pershore (1920) and the fine Martian gelding, Star Stranger (1926), Waikare (1934), Sir Regent (1937), Royal Chief (1938), Beau Vite (1940), Nightbeam (1944), Count Cyrano (1949), Dalray (1952), Commodore (1954), Redcraze (1956), Straight Draw (1957), Monte Carlo (1958), Macdougall (1959), and The Dip (1962).

Classics

Although stayers have been most successful in Australia, New Zealand three-year-olds have also made their name in the Australian classics. Martini-Henry's success in the V.R.C. Derby in 1883 was the first, followed by Nordenfeldt (1885), Carnage (1895), Phar Lap (1929), Theio (1934), Tulloch (1957), Sir Blink (1958), and Travel Boy (1959). In the Australian Jockey Club Derby, Nordenfeldt had the first win, and there was no other until the brilliant Noctuiform won in 1905. Kilboy in 1916 and Cupidon (1921) were the next, although the New Zealand owner, G. D. Greenwood, won with Biplane (1917) and Gloaming (1918), both, however, bred in Australia. Ballymena won in 1923, and Phar Lap in 1929, followed by Ammon Ra (1931), Theio (1934), Homer (dead heat in 1935), Monte Carlo (1956), Tulloch (1957), Summer Fair (1961), and Summer Prince (1962).

Weight-for-age Races

There have been several outstanding horses in weight-for-age races, but no one team has ever equalled the performance of the G. G. Stead – R. J. Mason combination in 1905, when, with four horses Noctuiform, Sungold, Nightfall, and Isolt, they won eight races at the spring meeting at Randwick. L. H. Hewitt rode Noctuiform to win the A.J.C. Derby, with Sungold second. The latter won the New Stakes and the Grantham Stakes on the later days of the meeting. Isolt won the Spring Maiden and Wycombe Stakes and the Members' Handicap, and Nightfall won the Squatters' Handicap and Randwick Plate. New Zealand horses won the whole of the second day's programme at this meeting.

Successful Horses

From 1918 until 1928 R. J. Mason had outstanding successes with the horses of G. D. Greenwood. The Australian-bred Gloaming was the best of these and, in eight seasons, won £43,100 for 57 wins from 67 starts. He was unplaced only once when he fell at a start. Gloaming ended the supremacy of T. H. Lowry's mare Desert Gold, which still holds the record of 19 successive wins in New Zealand and Australia. H. A. Knight and his trainer F. D. Jones took Limerick, a half-brother by Limond to their A.J.C. Derby winner Ballymena, to Australia in the spring of 1926. Beaten in both Derbies, Limerick won the A.J.C. St. Leger in the autumn and went on as a four-year-old to dominate the weight-for-age races.

Nightmarch might have been one of the greatest stake winners in Australasia had he not had the misfortune to race in Australia at the same time as Phar Lap. Although he beat the latter in the Melbourne Cup in 1929, Phar Lap was incomparable. From 1929 to 1931 Phar Lap dominated the Australian scene, so much so that Nightmarch and others were unjustly regarded as lesser lights. After Phar Lap's departure, New Zealand horses continued to play a prominent but not a dominant part in the big races. Veilmond won the V.R.C. and A.J.C. St. Legers in 1931 and, at four and five, was successful in several weight-for-age races. Gaine Carrington, a son of Hunting Song, ran successfully in 1933–34. Limarch won the A.J.C. St. Leger in 1934. In 1935 the brilliant Gold Rod appeared and, as a two-year-old, won the A.J.C. Breeders' Plate and the V.R.C. and A.J.C. Sires Produce Stakes. As a three-year-old he won the A.J.C. St. Leger, at four, the Epsom Handicap, and at five, the Doncaster Handicap. The brilliant staying mare Cuddle also won the Doncaster Handicap in 1936, no mean performance for a mare that had won a New Zealand Cup and two Auckland Cups previously.

From 1938 to 1943 New Zealand was represented by five good horses: Royal Chief, Defaulter, Beau Vite, Beaulivre, and High Caste. Defaulter won a comparatively modest sum in stakes, even though he met every good horse of his time except Ajax and was never beaten at weight-for-age amongst strong opponents. Unsoundness restricted his career. Beau Vite and High Caste proved very tough and brilliant horses and earned higher stakes.

Since the war New Zealand has been represented in Australia by many classic, weight-for-age, and handicap performers. The rise in stake values has resulted in Phar Lap's stake-winning record in Australia or New Zealand being surpassed. The first three horses to do so (Rising Fast, Redcraze, and Tulloch) were all New Zealand bred. The first two were also New Zealand owned, as was Prince Cortauld, the winner of over £50,000 without being successful in a classic or Caulfield or Melbourne Cup. Like Tulloch, he never raced in New Zealand. These four horses all earned much more than Dalray, the first of the post-war champions, yet, after his Melbourne Cup win with 9 st. 8 Ib, he was regarded as one of the best horses since Phar Lap. Somerset Fair, Syntax, El Khobar, and Monte Carlo also have distinguished records.

The winnings of the main New Zealand horses to have raced in Australia and New Zealand, or in Australia alone, since 1914 are:

*Also given as £66,738.

†Including three dead heats.

‡Only winners of over £30,000 are listed after 1945.

Successes in India, Britain, and the United States

Between the wars several good performers, notably Karapoti, Cillas, and Martara, were sold to India and raced successfully there, but the market died when racing virtually ceased.

At the turn of the century, the 1897 New Zealand Derby winner Multiform was sent to England, but he failed to strike form and his owner, G. G. Stead, exchanged him for Siege Gun, which also did not match his New Zealand form. Multiform returned to the stud in New Zealand and sired Noctuiform, which was also sent to England after his brilliant three-year-old career. He had won the New Zealand Cup, New Zealand Derby, and the Canterbury Cup at the New Zealand Cup meeting in 1905.

In 1958 Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was given Bali Ha'i by the owner, Sir Ernest Davis, after the gelding had won the St. James Cup at a special Royal meeting at Trentham. Bali Ha'i travelled to England and, though delayed by injury, raced in 1959 and won the Coombe Stakes at Sandown and the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Ascot. He also ran third in the Cesarewitch.

After Phar Lap's success in the Agua Caliente Handicap in 1932, Pillow Fight and Tea Trader were sent to the United States, where they raced with moderate success. Since the Second World War several horses have been sold there and raced successfully, among them Classowa, Annand, Wandering Ways, Braganza, and Cadiz, the last named being by far the most successful. Knave, Monte Carlo, and Prince Cortauld were sent from Australia. El Khobar, winner of the Doomben Ten Thousand in Australia, was raced successfully in the United States by his owner.

The Gaming Amendment Act of 1920 made bookmaking illegal and drove it underground to flourish so that after the war it had a bigger turnover than all the totalisators together. It was not true bookmaking. The bookmakers paid out totalisator odds with limits; consequently, a bettor had in many cases to be satisfied with smaller and often very cramped odds. This gave rise to a certain amount of dissatisfaction, but there was little the public could do about it if they wished to bet off course. Racing officials had long contended that the bookmakers had a bad influence on racing. The Racing and Trotting Conferences made detailed submissions to the 1946 Royal Commission in support of an off-course betting scheme which advocated off-course betting through the totalisator, by means of totalisator agencies throughout the country.

The report of the Royal Commission was strongly in favour of the conference's scheme. The Government decided to hold a referendum on the issue and, on 9 March 1949, with 623,625 votes cast (approximately 56 per cent of the electoral roll), 424,219 were in favour and 199,406 against. A Totalisator Agency Board was then set up under a Gaming Amendment Act (15 December 1949) to operate the scheme, which was approved by the Minister of Internal Affairs on 20 September 1950. A revised scheme was approved in July 1956 and further amendments followed in December 1957. A Board of six members (later eight) administered the scheme. It comprised the presidents of the Racing and Trotting Conferences and an equal number of members from each. It is a corporate body having some special powers under the Act.

The Act prevents the setting up of purely betting shops and makes certain nothing is done to encourage betting. Advertising is restricted to no more than a prescribed notice that the Board intends to open a branch or agency; any staff member or agent is debarred from touting for betting; and all persons prohibited from attending racecourses are also prohibited from entering the Board's branches or agencies. Money to set the scheme up became a subject for argument, as many were strongly opposed to the use of Government funds. Finally, the Gaming Amendment Act of 1950 allowed the Board to receive 7½ per cent of all off-course-betting turnover accepted and placed on the totalisator. This is the same proportion as clubs receive on on-course turnover. Establishment and capital finance was provided by a levy of one-half per cent on totalisator-betting turnover for five years from 1 November 1950. The levy is now paid to racing and trotting clubs solely to maintain and replace public amenities and to improve racecourses.

The Board set up its headquarters in Wellington and, as it had had no experience of systematic off-course betting, went carefully about establishing branches and totalisator agencies. Many details had to be worked out with the Post Office, as the scheme would stand or fall on the efficiency of its telephone system. Experimental branches were opened at Dannevirke and Feilding on 28 March 1951. They were the size (5,000 people) that was considered the minimum for the economic operation of a branch. More branches and agencies were soon opened. At the end of the second year the Board had 21 branches in all the main cities and almost all towns of 5,000 or over. Other places were served by offices with individual agents. Four agents under the control of the two experimental branches began operating in May 1951 and, by the end of the second year, there were 126 agencies. In 1964 the Board had 25 branches and 285 agencies.

The preceding table shows the great growth of off-course investments on racing clubs' meetings.

Horses sent to Australia to race were the first New Zealand bloodstock sold overseas. In 1859 Henry Redwood sold ZoU (winner of the second Champion Race) and Zingara to Judge Cheeke, of Sydney, for 1,000. Chevalier (a son of Flora McIvor) and Lurline were sold the same year. After the progeny of Traducer proved their worth more sales followed. Sir Modred, winner of the New Zealand Derby in 1880 and the best horse of his time, was sold to the United States in 1885, followed a few years later by his brother Cheviot, and another Derby winner, G. G. Stead's Maxim, by Musket. The dispersal sales of the Sylvia Park and the Wellington Park Studs, and Stead's stud and racing team, attracted many buyers from Australia. But interest in the sales of yearlings was spasmodic. An annual sale was started in the South Island and several breeders held annual private sales in the North. After a trip overseas in 1924, followed by discussions with breeders, C. E. Robertson, of Wright Stephenson Ltd., established the National Yearling Sales at which Ken Austin (later a prominent breeder) was the first auctioneer. The sales were held, as they still are, at Trentham in January during the Wellington Racing Club's summer meeting. The catalogue comprised 71 lots, of which 48 were sold for a total of 16,000 guineas, an average of 341 guineas. The best later performers sold were Concentrate, Second Wind, and Prodice. The sales were given a great fillip when the Limond colt Honour, which had sold for a record figure of 2,300 guineas at the second sales, won the Breeders' Plate at Randwick in 1928 and the New Zealand Derby in 1929. Though Australia has always been the main overseas market, yearlings have been bought by South African, South American, Indian, Malayan, Japanese, and United States buyers, the latter taking an increasing interest in the sales.

Sales have grown remarkably. It is noteworthy that nearly all the big breeding establishments in New Zealand breed for the sales. The yearlings sold have an outstanding record in classic and high-class races and, since the Second World War, have had more successes in Australia than ever. Phar Lap, sold for 160 guineas, was undoubtedly the greatest bargain to pass through the Trentham ring. The following table shows how sales have grown since they began:

Racing in New Zealand has been built up by the honorary and devoted work of its enthusiasts, and legislation has contributed little to its development. Various governments have, however, appointed Royal Commissions to investigate alleged grievances. The first Royal Commission was appointed in 1911 and represented solely racing and trotting interests. It was directed to recommend how the number of days racing could best be reduced by 43, and trotting by 11, as the Gaming Amendment Act of 1910 required. In 1915 G. Hunter and T. H. Davey were appointed another two-man commission representing racing and trotting interests. They were required to recommend the distribution of 31 extra totalisator permits allowed by the Gaming Amendment Act 1914. This was a much travelled commission.

In November 1920 the Government appointed a five-man Racing Commission to determine which racing and trotting clubs should be given totalisator licences from 1 August 1921. This Commission studied exhaustively all aspects of racing and inspected nearly all the racecourses in the country. It heard those who opposed an increase in totalisator licences. It wrote a most comprehensive report and made many important recommendations about racecourses, appointments, and the amalgamation of clubs. Many of its recommendations, though sound, were never enforced.

The fourth Royal Commission, appointed in 1946, was by far the most important for racing and trotting. It studied every aspect of racing and gaming and wrote a report of far-reaching consequences for everybody connected with racing. Not only did it recommend the removal of most (if not all) the pointless restrictions imposed by the Act of 1910, but it also came out heavily on the side of the offcourse-betting scheme propounded by the Racing and Trotting Conferences, and in favour of the restoration of the doubles totalisator. But, like its predecessors, it has not had all its recommendations accepted by Parliament.

The first New Zealand Stud Book was compiled by Charles Elliot in 1862 and was printed and published at the offices of the Nelson Examiner. The cost was met by 54 subscribers who were listed in the book. It contained the pedigrees of 145 mares and 58 covering stallions and listed two stallions and two fillies imported after the book had gone to press. It also listed stallions imported into Australia which had progeny appearing in Volume 1, as well as celebrated horses. Volume 2 appeared in 1866, listing 147 mares and 44 covering stallions, with a further 24 mares and five stallions in an appendix. In spite of great difficulties, Elliot continued to publish his stud book, though he had often to ask for financial aid from the metropolitan clubs. The first six volumes were printed in Nelson, and Volumes 7 and 8 by the Lyttelton Times in Christchurch. Volumes 9 and 10 were printed in Wanganui, the latter by Willis and Elliot. In 1896 the Racing Conference had recommended that metropolitan clubs support the publication of Volume 10 and authorised the president to spend up to 300 on this. This was a change from 1893 when a proposal for such a publication had been rejected because the 300 cost was thought too much for the conference to bear. There was, however, strong pressure for the Racing Conference to publish a stud book, even though in 1895 a subcommittee had recommended compulsory registration of all thoroughbred stock in the Australian Stud Book. (This proposal was strongly criticised, especially in Auckland.) When W. H. E. Wanklyn was appointed secretary, his recommendation to publish a complete New Zealand Stud Book was approved by the conference in 1899. The first volume appeared in 1900 and included most of the entries in Volumes 1 to 10 of Elliot's stud books. The book made money and a second volume followed in 1903, to be continued each three years until 1930 and, thereafter, each four years.

All breeders must send returns of mares and stallions at stud during any season, and foaling and covering returns each season. The fire branding of all foals was made compulsory from 1962 and the register of brands is kept by the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Association. The latest volume of the New Zealand Stud Book contains the names of 5,358 mares and 298 covering stallions. The cost of publication is met by a levy on all clubs. More recently breeders have been contributing to the cost by way of stud book and annual entry fees.

Hunt clubs, to be distinguished from the various hunts which had existed in New Zealand from very early times, first came under the jurisdiction of the New Zealand Racing Conference in November 1892, when the Wanganui Jockey Club's suggested rules for the regulation of hunt club race meetings were added to the Rules of Racing. At that time hunt clubs could use the totalisator at meetings held on racecourses. The new rules stated that the totalisator might be used only if all surplus money was spent on legitimate hunt activities. A New Zealand Hunt Club's Association was formed in 1900, and all clubs had to be registered. Thus began a closer association with the Racing Conference. The hunt clubs suffered financially when the number of totalisator permits was reduced at the turn of the century. Racing clubs gave only spasmodic help and their generosity varied. In 1911 the Racing Conference appointed a committee to consider whether (and how) hunts should be supported, and in 1912 approved a system of voluntary subscriptions from racing clubs. The Hunt Clubs' Association pressed for totalisator permits for hunt clubs and, eventually, eight were granted under the Gaming Amendment Act of 1914. A Royal Commission found it so hard to decide which of the 18 applicants should receive the permits that it finally decided on a system of 16 clubs participating in two groups in alternate seasons. This compromise lasted until a further eight permits were granted in 1920. Two more permits were granted after the 1946 Royal Commission report.

The totalisator was responsible for the New Zealand Racing Conference coming into being, and this body has always urged that all betting be through the totalisator alone. The first crude totalisators began operating about 1879 or 1880. Deductions were as high as 12 per cent, and occasionally an operator was guilty of sharp practices. Despite its inefficiency, the totalisator must have greatly interfered with the business of the on-course bookmakers, or they must have foreseen a strong future competitor, for there were various attempts to ban the totalisator, the Churches and other anti-gambling factions joining the bookmakers in their attack. But the clubs quickly saw the advantages of the new machine. The first statutory restrictions on its use came with the Gaming and Lotteries Act of 1881. Permits for its use were then issued by the Colonial Secretary, who could issue as many as he liked. The metropolitan clubs soon saw that too many were being issued and were perturbed at the criticism of racing because of this abuse. The first meeting of delegates of the metropolitan racing clubs concerned itself almost solely with this problem and strongly requested that the Colonial Secretary restrict the issue of permits. Both in 1892 and in 1893 the conference again unsuccessfully asked the Government to restrict permits. The Opposition attacked the Government on this matter and succeeded in 1896 in carrying by a fair majority the second reading of the Bill to abolish the totalisator. The Bill did not, however, reach a third reading.

Over the next 10 years many clubs gradually excluded bookmakers from their courses, although bookmaking was not unlawful. Opinions on the exclusion of bookmakers were divided. In 1903 a petition to Parliament against the proposal to abolish the totalisator contained over 32,000 signatures and, in 1907, petitions tabled in the House of Representatives showed 36,311 signatures in favour of the totalisator and 36,471 against it. In 1904 Sir George Clifford was highly critical of a small number of clubs that had seen fit to license bookmakers on their courses. In 1907 Sir Joseph Ward introduced his highly contentious Gaming and Lotteries Act, which legalised bookmaking on racecourses and required all clubs authorised to use the totalisator to license fit persons as bookmakers. Totalisator dividends had to be paid to the nearest 6d., and the number of totalisator permits was reduced by one-sixth from 1 September 1908. The licensing system was disastrous and scandalous. The country was invaded by men of criminal tendencies. The racing authorities refused to distinguish among applicants for licences because they did not see why the invidious duty of selection should fall to them. Finally Mr Justice Chapman strongly criticised the legislation from the Supreme Court bench. The results of the Act, and the apparently widespread condemnation which they had evoked, led to an amendment in 1910. Bookmakers were excluded from racecourses and they made their last appearance at the now abolished Takapuna racecourse in Auckland in 1911.

But though one evil was abolished, another started. The illegal bookmaker came into his own, because of defects in the Act. The doubles totalisator was abolished, leaving the illegal bookmaker with a monopoly of this popular form of betting. He thrived because the telephone and the telegraph could not be used to put money on the totalisator and because dividends could not be published, with the result that the turnover of illegal bookmakers was estimated at £24,000,000 by 1946. Though some of this money doubtless found its way back to the totalisator, racing clubs and the Government lost a huge revenue.