Standardbred expansion for NZB

CHRISTCHURCH: Thoroughbred heavyweight New Zealand Bloodstock announced yesterday it has expanded into the standardbred sales market.

From next year, NZB will hold standardbred auctions in New Zealand.

It will start with yearling sales in Auckland and Christchurch in February and later it plans on expanding to mixed bloodstock sales and a ready to run sale.

NZB’s pushing into the relatively small standardbred yearling market looks set to push existing standardbred yearling seller PGG Wrightson out.

PGG Wrightson has recently enjoyed a monopoly in the standardbred sales market until yesterday’s announcement. Its general manager of livestock, Peter Moore, was not available for comment yesterday afternoon.

NZB chief executive Andrew Seabrook said he started looking into the idea after he was lobbied by several industry heavyweights.

‘‘We’ve been getting approached by breeders for years, to be fair,’’ he said.

‘‘But in the last few months that has really heightened and we’ve been encouraged.

‘‘It’s quite remarkable, really, the number of breeders that have told us we should be involved in the game again for the first time since 1987.’’

NZB intended to be ‘‘all in’’ and planned to make a big impact on the standardbred sector, Seabrook said.

‘‘We’re not entering this lightly to let it go along like it has been.

‘‘We really want to make a difference and take it to another level.’’

‘It will take time, but I really believe that with the NZB machine behind it, we can really transform this.’’ — NZ Harness News/Jonny Turner