Cover image courtesy of National Thoroughbred Week
National Thoroughbred Week will launch in November across Australia and New Zealand with an inaugural event where racing stables, stud farms, and other equine providers will open their doors to the public. The event, coordinated by the not-for-profit group National Thoroughbred Week (NTW), has organised 49-and counting-hosts across Australia and New Zealand for the five-day event scheduled for November 20-24.
NTW’s Tai Ryan spoke to TTR about the initiative which aligns with the Together for Racing International (TfRI) movement and Kick Up.
“It’s an initiative by the Together for Racing International group which is a global initiative that began with a conference, and there’s a representative from most jurisdictions around the world. It’s about bringing people together to showcase racing,” said Ryan.
Tai Ryan | Image supplied
“Based off TRI and National Racehorse Week in the UK which has been going for five years. They get massive numbers. Their 2025 event ran at the end of August, and they moved the dates this year to coincide with school holidays and it saw numbers go through the roof with a lot more families and children attending.”
Together for Racing's pillars of operation
Created after a conference in 2019, Together for Racing International has three pillars of operation; education, community engagement, and careers. National Racehorse Week in the UK forms a key part of their community engagement strategy.
Community event coordinated by Racing Together UK | Image courtesy of Racing Together UK
The 2025 UK event was held at the end of August. Over the five years of operation, National Racehorse Week has seen over 15,000 people visit racing stables, stud farms, and other equine facilities across the UK with 99% of participants saying they would attend again. Of those surveyed after an event, 80% said their opinion of horse racing was improved through attendance of an event and this rose to 89% for people who were new to horse racing.
Around half of all attendees said they had little or no prior knowledge of horse racing before attending an event or open day.
“In NZ there is Open Farms Day, which is the agricultural industry opening up farms to show people where their peas and carrots, and dairy and meat comes from,” said Ryan.
“Underneath it all, there’s an element of welfare. It gives people the chance to go behind the scenes and see the reality of what happens to counter the anti-animal media. Actually we are not cruel and we don’t do all the things they say we do.”
How the Australian and New Zealand week came to be
“Emma Ridley from Godolphin and Karen Day from Racing Australia are part of the TfRI group and they said, ‘How do we do that here in Australia?’. Vicky (Leonard) has started Kick Up and we’ve seen the great results that enterprise has had,” said Ryan.
Kick Up's social media has showcased the racing and breeding industries to the world. They collaborate with Light Up Racing in America, who do the same over there.
“National Thoroughbred Week here in Australia and New Zealand is a natural evolution of that. We are doing all the talking, but it’s still not working. From a longevity point of view, we want to get people through the doors. Not only just to get them to the races, but into careers and horse ownership.”
Why hold the event in November?
The inaugural National Thoroughbred Week will be held from November 20-24. “The dates have been chosen to help feed off the back of Melbourne Cup week,” said Ryan.
“Given that it’s a pilot program, they were the dates that were decided. At the end of this event, we’ll be doing lots of data to understand how it has worked. And in future we can look to change it again.
“It’s a natural flow on, leveraging the media and spotlight that racing has on us during Cup week. We can get more bang for our buck without spending too much on advertising.”
The intended audience for NTW
The National Racehorse Week in the UK opened the doors of stables and stud farms to people who were occasional racegoers but had no industry knowledge, as well as to families who wanted to know more. It’s not designed for people who are already involved in racing, it’s about expanding the reach for Thoroughbred hosts outside the racing and breeding bubble.
“We are not targeting the anti-racing crowd. We’ll never change their minds. We want to find the people who are neutral, or who go to the races once a year, or someone who wants to get a retired racehorse,” Ryan said.
“One key driver we are doing is the Bring Five Mates challenge. It’s designed to encourage an owner who wants to attend to bring five of your mates who aren’t involved in racing to the event. Come behind the scenes and check out what happens in a real racing stable, or at a real stud farm.”
Public launch of tickets for events
The public will be able to sign up to visit a host from Monday October 13, which is the week leading into The Everest and the Caulfield Cup. “We were going to launch a bit earlier, but we spoke to a couple of PR guys and they said launching in the middle of footy season means we’d get lost. People aren’t thinking about November events until then.”
All the hosts and event dates will be on the National Thoroughbred Week website and the public can sign up through there.
Funding for the event
One of the challenges in organising National Thoroughbred Week has been finding funding for it. Recently we’ve seen the demise of Thoroughbred Industry Careers due to lack of funding.
“The whole way racing is structured in Australia makes funding a little bit challenging,” Ryan said.
“Everyone wants to argue that without punters, or without breeders, or without owners, we don’t have racing, but without all of us, the industry doesn’t exist. When we are having funding conversations, it’s frustrating because people say, It’s not our responsibility, ‘shouldn’t the PRA pay for this’, ‘shouldn’t that organisation pay for this’, but until we have a National system where we are all on the same page, we are begging everyone for funding.
“National Racehorse Week in the UK has massive funding, around £300,000 (AU$613,000), as it comes through their national body. But we have Racing Australia and the states. We haven’t been able to go to Racing Australia and get one lump of funding because most of the funding for the industry comes through the PRAs.
“We haven’t been able to go to Racing Australia and get one lump of funding because most of the funding for the industry comes through the PRAs.” - Tai Ryan
“In the UK, they have a national foundation that funds initiatives like this, but we don’t. The other issue is that we are a not-for-profit, rather than a charity, which means that many grants are not available to us either. Another issue is that we are not running the events directly, we are facilitating the hosts who run each smaller event, which also rules us out of a lot of event grants.”
But what is the funding used for? Why is it needed? “Running an event of this scale requires funding. A website doesn’t build itself, graphic design isn’t cheap. We need to reach mainstream media with our advertising, which is expensive. We aren’t targeting ourselves here.
“And post event, there’s all the data collection as well. We need to do surveys, so we can understand the perception of the event so we can learn for future events. How many people came? How many people changed their opinion on racing? How did these people hear about the event? What is their interest in racing before and after attending a host’s event?
“We’ve had a lot of push back. People are saying, it’s a great idea, let’s see how it goes before I fund it. This means we are doing everything as bare bones as we can, but we are trying to take the industry to the masses. It needs to look polished and professional.
“People are saying, it’s a great idea, let’s see how it goes before I fund it. This means we are doing everything as bare bones as we can, but we are trying to take the industry to the masses. It needs to look polished and professional.” - Tai Ryan
“The team at Kickup have modelled the NTW website off the UK version, but it’s bare bones without funding. You’ll be able to go there and look up hosts and events and dates. We are really close to our target of hosts.
“We are not just targeting families with a kid who wants to pat a pony. It’s about careers and targeting everyone who will attend The Everest in a few weeks. National Thoroughbred Week is about what happens to those people after The Everest. They have an amazing day at Randwick. We are saying – come back and learn more. Why don’t you work in racing, here are some options, or become an owner, here’s how to do it.”
It hasn’t been a no from everyone. “The Northern Territory PRA are involved and are helping with funding. They are a tiny PRA, and if the grassroots guys can fund us, why can’t the bigger PRAs? Many of the club hosts, like the Australian Turf Club and Melbourne Racing Club are helping out by letting us advertise through their channels, but again that means we have to make the graphics and the reels and the advertising for them to send, which isn’t free.”
Become a host
The full list of host organisations so far includes 16 locations in NSW, nine locations in Victoria, six locations in Queensland, three in South Australia, three in Western Australia, two in the Northern Territory and one in Tasmania. New Zealand will have nine host locations.
There are still opportunities to become a host, so get in touch with the team via the website.
“Hosts get the opportunity to showcase themselves, tell their story, and potentially get new staff members or owners. We are good at telling our stories internally, we are not good at telling our stories to the general public. It gives hosts the opportunity to promote and tell their story and educate. It gives the public a chance to ask questions to someone like Gai Waterhouse and see it for themselves.
“We have representation across every state in Australia, except Canberra, but we are working on that. We understand that people are already stretched for resources because it’s spring carnival time." That's why the team is there to help out the hosts.
And for people who are contemplating becoming a host but wondering how it all works and what they should say when someone from the public asks an awkward question, the team at National Thoroughbred Week and Kick Up have the hosts covered.
“Part of our funding is going towards a host kit that we will put together which includes Kick Up resources. The host kit is not just how to run your event safely, how to make sure people have access to toilets, and to have your machines and medicines locked up, and keep your horses safe.
“The kit also includes tips on how to market your event to your local community, how to answer certain questions, and also what things to talk about and what to show people. If you are a trainer, talk about your daily routine, get your farrier to do a talk on healthy feet and what he does, get your chiropractor involved. Show the public that these horses have better health care than they do.
“It’s all about education. The kit will help a host talk about what things the public want to hear, and to give hosts confidence. We’ll have a lot of resources on the website too. Lindy Maurice created a book to give out at her events. It’s basically a kid’s activity book about horses, so we are creating an adult version of that, and hosts can print that out for visitors too.
“This is an opportunity. It’s not just come and pat a horse or rub shoulders with a high profile jockey or trainer or horse. It’s about learning about what careers people can do, or how to become an owner, and other ways to get involved with racing and breeding.”
Full list of host organisations announced to date
New South Wales
Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Racing
Silverdale Farm
Bhima Thoroughbreds
Coolmore Australia
North Bloodstock
Racing Australia Equine Genetics Research Centre
Scone Equine Hospital
Kia Ora Stud
Arrowfield Stud
Cressfield
HammondCare Strathearn House
Austin Racing
Newgate Farm
Godolphin
Gooree Park
Manning Valley Race Club
Victoria
Racing Victoria
Rosemont Stud
Melbourne Racing Club / MRC Foundation
Avenel Veterinary Clinic
Ciaron Maher Racing (NSW & VIC)
Swettenham Stud
Yulong Stud
Living Legends
Equine Pathways Australia
Queensland
Racing Queensland
Ipswich Turf Club
Racing Hearts
Sunshine Coast Turf Club
The Industry School
Brisbane Racing Club (Eagle Farm)
South Australia
Racing SA
Gawler & Barossa Jockey Club
Morphettville Race Club
Western Australia
Racing and Wagering Western Australia
Perth Racing
Julie Clements Racing
Northern Territory
Racing NT
NT Institute of Equestrian Sport
Tasmania
Armidale Stud
New Zealand
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing
Cambridge Stud
Haunui Farm
Rich Hill Stud
Matamata Racing Club
Byerley Park
Club Med Lodge
Elsdon Park
Rick Gold
