The racing of Thoroughbred horses is a popular gaming and spectator sport and industry in New Zealand.
Sunline was a champion New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was the world's highest earning race mare of her time. She won 32 of her 48 races with earnings of NZ$14,200,000. She was named the New Zealand Horse of the Year four times and Australian Horse of the Year three times. She has won the most Group races in modern times with 27, and she previously held the New Zealand record of 13 Group One wins until Melody Belle surpassed her in 2021.
Lance Anthony O'Sullivan is a New Zealand Thoroughbred horse trainer and former champion jockey.
Darci Brahma is a New Zealand thoroughbred colt foaled in 2002 at Pencarrow Stud near Cambridge in New Zealand. He was auctioned at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ltd Yearling Sales in January 2004 and acquired by a syndicate of ten investors for the sum of NZ$1.1 million.
Ryan Lee Moore is an English flat racing jockey, who was Champion Jockey in 2006, 2008 and 2009. He is currently the first choice jockey for Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle operation, a role in which he mainly rides horses owned by Coolmore Stud. He also sometimes rides horses for Juddmonte and The Royal Family. As of 2024, Moore has ridden over 200 Group and Grade 1 winners internationally. He has the most British Group & Listed wins of any active jockey.
Philip Peter Robinson is a former English flat racing jockey.
Volksraad was a British-bred thoroughbred horse who when standing at stud in New Zealand was a champion sire. He dominated the New Zealand sires lists, with six consecutive titles from 2001 to 2007.
Craig Williams is a jockey based in Victoria, Australia. He has won multiple group one races in Australia and worldwide, including the 2019 Melbourne Cup.
Brett Prebble is an Australian jockey, currently based in Melbourne, Victoria. Having ridden over 1200 career winners, Prebble's most famous win came aboard Green Moon in the 2012 Emirates Melbourne Cup.
Darren Beadman is an Australian champion jockey. In 2007 at age 41 he was the youngest jockey ever to be inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, being the first to do so while still active in the industry.
Zac Purton is an Australian jockey who lives in Hong Kong.
Silvestre de Sousa is a Brazilian flat racing jockey who is based in Britain and was three times champion jockey.
Kevin James Manning is a retired Irish flat racing jockey. Manning rode principally for the stable of Jim Bolger. He won both the Epsom Derby and the Irish Derby.
Colin Maurice Jillings was a New Zealand Thoroughbred horse racing trainer from the early 1950s until his retirement in September 2005. He was inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame in 2008.
Beauty Generation is a New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his performances in Hong Kong. He began his career as a three-year-old in Australia where he won two races and ran second in the Rosehill Guineas before being exported to Hong Kong.
James McDonald is a New Zealand thoroughbred racing jockey and member of the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame. On 2 November 2021, McDonald rode the winning horse Verry Elleegant in the 2021 Melbourne Cup. He is the World Jockey of the Year for 2021 in the TRC Global Rankings.
Jamie Richards is a leading thoroughbred horse racing trainer in New Zealand and Hong Kong.
Chris Johnson, also known as "CWJ" or "The Magic Man", is a jockey in Thoroughbred racing in New Zealand. He is most notable for holding the national record for winning rides in New Zealand and for winning the New Zealand jockeys premiership twice.
David John O'Sullivan was a New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He is notable for having trained Horlicks to win the 1989 Japan Cup and many Group One races in New Zealand and Australia as well as being inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame.
