Champions celebrated in 2025 Racing Annual

[Wandering Eyes]

“Champions Day” was a fitting moniker for a day that celebrated everything great about New Zealand racing – and the first meeting of New Zealand’s richest-ever raceday takes the spotlight in the 2025 New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Annual.

Headlined by New Zealand’s richest-ever race, the $3.5 million NZB Kiwi (1500m), Champions Day featured a line-up of New Zealand’s most iconic races, the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m), the Gr.1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m), the Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m), the Gr.1. Sistema Stakes (1200m) and the Gr.2 Auckland Cup (3200m).

Like every major carnival through the racing calendar, Champions Day gets an in-depth review in the 2025 Racing Annual, the 52nd installment of this beloved almanac.

Champions in every field are honoured along with fallen heroes from past days, among those a moving tribute to New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame trainer Michael Moroney, written by Dennis Ryan.

A thoughtful, comprehensive commentary of the state of New Zealand racing and the changes that took place through the season leads into celebrating New Zealand’s latest Racing Hall of Fame inductees, reviews of the sales and breeding seasons, the jumps racing season and a broad statistical overview of the Group races.

Edited for the fifth straight year by respected turf writer Aidan Rodley for Gold Plated Publishing, the 2025 Racing Annual features stunning photography, chiefly from Peter Rubery’s team at Race Images, superbly brought to life through the skill of design expert Ken Emery of Eye Design Creative Solutions.

The 2025 Annual owes much to the support of Te Akau Racing, Cambridge Stud, New Zealand Bloodstock, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing and New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing and to the journalistic work of the team at LOVERACING.NZ News Desk.

“We’re delighted with the way the 2025 Annual has come together,” Rodley said.

“Champions Day was such a colourful, vibrant occasion, an amazing success story for New Zealand racing, so it’s fabulous to celebrate that as a focal point of this year’s Annual.

“The beauty of the Annual is we’re able to honour racing’s highest achievers as a reference for future years – and this year we’re able to honour champion trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, champion jockey Craig Grylls, celebrate the life of Michael Moroney among other notable identities who died through the season, as well as lauding some of the greats of our sport with the Hall of Fame inductions of the likes of David Ellis, Imperatriz and Savabeel.”

The 2025 New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Annual retails for $50 and is available for purchase at supporting bookstores or online at racingannual.co.nz.

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