Horse racing in New Zealand

Horse racing in New Zealand consists of two forms:

• Thoroughbred Racing where the horse is ridden by a jockey
• Harness or standardbred racing where the horse is driven from a cart called a sulky.

Harness racing is sometimes referred to as trotting in New Zealand, although there are actually two types of standardbred races based on the type of gait or running style:

• trotting where the horse moves its two diagonally opposite legs forward at the same time, and
• pacing where the two legs on the same side of the horse move forward at the same time.

The majority of standardbred races in New Zealand are pacing.