Awards and Tributes
Phillip Leishman Media Racing Awareness Award
In February 2014, the NZRHF Board announced the establishment of the Phillip Leishman Media Racing Awareness Award, which has as its objective “to improve the awareness of mainstream media people in the NZ horse breeding and racing industries”. This award was established to honour our founding director and media personality - the late Phillip Leishman ONZM.
This special tribute to Phillip was played at our 2014 induction event.
Recipients of the award to date are:
2014 - Indie Leishman - TVNZ
2016 - Vanessa Veart-Smith - Country TV
2018 - Guy Heveldt - TVNZ
2021 - Louis Herman-Watt
2023 - Joe Bell - SENZ Radio
Chris Luoni Tribute
Chris Luoni was the driving force behind the creation of the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame. He was Chairman of the board for a number of years and was an active member of the board right up till his passing in June 2020. The board paid tribute to Chris Luoni at the Inductee Dinner in 2021.
Sponsor and Patron Don McLaren - Special Presentation
A special presentation was made to Don and Rochelle McLaren at the 2014 Inductee Event for their sponsorship and support of the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame.
