Monday, 24th November 2025
All enquiries - Gary Knowles 0406 599 773
International Racehorse Transport (IRT) may not have invented international horse travel, however they’ve pretty much perfected it. With tentacles spread across the world, the highly esteemed organisation is a go-to operator in an industry where there is growing demand for moving competition horses around the globe. Boasting 50 years of history, IRT is passionate about the world-renowned service they offer from offices based in each of Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and the USA. Whilst IRT’s Australian office is currently focussed on the elite international performers that have flown in for the major Spring carnival races, their attention will also soon be on the 2025 Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale in England. The largest sale of its kind in the world, it has become a serious source of thoroughbreds that dominate Australian stakes races at 1800m and above. According to IRT Australia’s Lachlan Ford, the company has also played a pivotal role in moving the record number of Japanese entries heading to Del Mar for the upcoming Breeders’ Cup meeting in California. Closer to home, the trickle of racehorses sent from New Zealand to tackle Australia’s best has turned into a veritable deluge. That’s due to a combination of the kiwi horses being well and truly up to the class required, the amazing prizemoney on offer, and the relatively low cost – it’s around $6,500 – to fly a thoroughbred across the Tasman Sea with IRT. That said, IRT’s biggest market for horses between Australia and New Zealand is actually standardbreds that compete in pacing and the trots. Whether it’s a multi million-dollar stallion shuttling between hemispheres, a champion racehorse traversing Australia or a prized showjumper headed to the Olympics, IRT’s finely honed protocols, combined with decades of hands-on experience, validate why its door-to-door service has made it the world’s equine transport company of choice.
