What yearlings are Next Gen and Harness 5000 eligible in 2026?

Wanting to buy a Next Gen or Harness 5000 eligible horse at the 2026 NZB Standardbred National Yearling Sales?

Here's what you need to know.

At February's sales there will 58 Next Gen eligible yearlings and 19 Harness 5000 eligible yearlings.

By meeting the stallion eligibility criteria a total of nine yearlings will be both Harness 5000 and Next Gen eligible.

They are lots (with stallions):

160 Capt Midnight
166 Habibi Inta
175 Habibi Inta
177 Elite Stride
180 DancinginthedarkM
191 Elite Stride
217 DancinginthedarkM
280 DancinginthedarkM
300 Habibi Inta

NEXT GEN :

To be Next Gen eligible you must meet one of the following three criteria :

- The ownership group must consist of at least four people, with a minimum of 30% being first-time HRNZ owners or individuals born after 1985.
- The horse is trained by a trainer or training partnership where no member has won a NZ Group 1 race as of a specified date (e.g., January 1, 2026, for horses purchased at the 2026 sales).
- The horse is sired by a stallion with his first, second, or third New Zealand or Australian crop, whatever is the later.

The 2026 Next Gen eligible stallions are :

Bettor's Wish
Bird Parker
Bold Eagle
Bulldog Hanover
Capt Midnight
Dancinginthedark M
E L Titan
Ecurie D
Elite Stride
Face Time Bourbon
Habibi Inta
Huntsville
King Of Swing
King Of The North
On A Streak
Pebble Beach
Perfect Sting
Propulsion
Tall Dark Stranger
Timoko
Ultimate Sniper
Village Mystic
Walner
Zenith Stride

Not all the eligible sires will be represented at this year's sales, including Bird Parker, Propulsion, Ultimate Sniper, Village Mystic and Zenith Stride.

What's the benefit of being Next Gen eligible?

The first Next Gen eligible horse home in all three of the Harness Million Races will get a $50,000 bonus. The owners gets $35,000, the trainer $10,000 and the breeder $5000.

The races are for 2YO Pacing Colts and Geldings, 2YO Pacing Fillies and 2YO Trotters. They are held at Addington around October.

Any Next Gen eligible horse making his/her second 2YO race day start will get a $5000 bonus.

The owner gets $4000 and the trainer $1000.

This bonus is capped at 90 horses per year, and a maximum annual payout of $450,000.

HARNESS 5000 :  

All races are to be held at Ashburton Raceway on Sunday, 6 December 2026.

To be eligible the sire's service fee must not exceed $5000 during the year of breeding.

Open to all 3YO, 4YO and 5YO+ Pacers and Trotters. To qualify a 3YO must  started in at least 10 races and a 4YO or 5YO+ must in at least 12 races in the Qualifying Period (January 1 2026 - November 22 2026).

What's the benefit of being Harness 5000 eligible?

HRNZ is committed to running a Harness 5000 meeting at Ashburton every year to 2029.

Qualified pacers and trotters will have the opportunity to race in 12 $60,000 Finals.

THE 2026 NZB STANDARDBRED NATIONAL YEARLING SALES :

Lots 1 - 133 will be sold at Karaka on Monday, February 16 from 1 pm
Lots 134 - 320 will be sold at Christchurch, Wednesday February 18 from 11am

To find out more click here