The world is truly getting smaller when it comes to harness racing. There is no clearer sign of that fact than the number of imports currently competing on United States soil. The amount of Standardbreds arriving from regions like Sweden, New Zealand, Australia and even Italy are on the rise over the last few years according to data acquired from the Information and Research team at the United States Trotting Association. From 2023 to 2025 the total number of foreign-bred horses which stepped on the track have jumped 118% from 182 to 398. The last figure represents approximately 3% of the total horses racing – a small number but certainly one of worth to an industry which has dealt with horse shortages over the last decade. While it is worth noting that some of these horses – like 2025 Hambletonian winner Nordic Catcher S – have raced here since the start of their 2-year-old campaigns and others – Maximus Mearas S – were even born in the United States to foreign-born mares or perhaps sold at auction on these shores, the large majority took the long, expensive trip over oceans to compete in North America. Costs can range from $12,000 to $30,000 to get a horse from Europe or Australia to the United States, depending on the type of horse and country of origin. Those fees do not include the purchase price, which can be anywhere from the low five digits to hundreds of thousands for an elite-level horse. Breaking out regions geographically, the greatest equine migration has come from New Zealand, with 158 horses from that country making at least one start in North America this year. A close second in terms of numbers is Australia with 121 horses having raced in 2025. Both tallies are nearly double the totals from those vicinities in 2023. Pollack Racing LLC. (Tom Pollack), one of the leading owners in North America, brings about one horse over from Australia or New Zealand every other month according to Racing Manager Marc Reynolds, who estimated they've added about 20 such horses over the last few years. "Our model is to buy higher-caliber horses for the most part," said Reynolds, who added that they started looking Down Under in about 2020 or 2021 and tend to stay with U.S.-based sires. "The least expensive has been $70,000 and the most expensive has been $135,000 [these prices include shipping/delivery, which Reynolds said averages about $25,000]." Some of the standouts racing for Pollack Racing include Spring Inhis Step A, who has a 1:48 4/5 mark and has earned over $350K the last two years, July 2023 arrival Elektra A ($250K+), and a newcomer named Christopher Dance N who arrived in August of 2025. "Christopher Dance N is a lightly-raced horse that is doing very well and we think very highly of him," said Reynolds. "He has a bright future if he stays healthy and sound." While every region is of course different, one of the advantages to acquiring horses from Australia and New Zealand is the exchange rate. Currently $1 U.S. is worth 1.52 (AUD) or 1.74 (NZD). "That's the huge factor. Sellers in Australia and New Zealand can't really turn down a big offer in U.S. dollars, especially based on their purse structures, etc.," said Reynolds. Checking in with notably lower totals but hardly insignificant are the number of Swedish horses currently in action in North America. The population has nearly tripled from 15 in 2023 to 41 this year. With Sweden especially, the numbers are increasing because Swedish mares are being bred to North American sires with the intent of racing at least their first two years here before potentially heading over to Sweden for a 4-year-old campaign. Joviality S is a good example, and her owner Anders Ström (Courant Inc.) is certainly responsible for at least a portion of the rise in horses with Swedish lineage competing on this continent. "We normally bred Swedish 'citizen' mares in the U.S. and brought the foals to Sweden to register as Sweden-eligible before they were turning 1. For Courant, Joviality and Nezuko Kamado were such examples. Green Manalishi was born and bred in Sweden and went to U.S. for training as late as in the fall of his 1-year old season," said Ström, who explained that the rules are about to change. "Now Sweden won't accept the dual-registrations anymore to protect their market. They say a horse has to be born on Swedish soil to be eligible for all rights." ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Thomas Svenson, who works as an agent to bring Standardbreds over from countries like Sweden and Norway, says he is personally responsible for almost 200 horses making their way to North America over the last few years. These are a mixture of Standardbreds that will race, mares that will be bred, or even stallions for Amish country that have a desire for certain pedigrees. His purchases for clients have ranged from $1,000 to into the six figures depending on the quality of the horse. Then there is the shipping cost. "A gelding is $12,000 with shipping and delivery to New Jersey. A mare is $16,000. A colt costs $22,000 because it has to spend five weeks in quarantine," said Svenson, who added that the costs can be upwards of $30,000 for Australian shippers. Svenson recalled one of his best purchases being Bontoni Degato S. He bought the 5-year-old in 2023 and paid $16,000 all-in to get the horse to the U.S. where he was stabled in the Per Engblom barn. After seven starts that included four wins and over $40,000 in earnings, the gelding was sold for many times the purchase price. Of course not all purchases work out quite that well. If the average shipping cost is $15,000 and the approximate cost to upkeep a horse for the year is $35,000, a foreign shipper would need to earn $50,000 plus the sales price to break even over the course of the year. Assuming a $20,000 price tag, only 91 of the imports would have at least broke even for 2025. Though for every year they stay in the same barn and race the cost basis would be drawn out over the longer period and thus potentially resulting in a profit. Quite a few horses fit that bill. With Australian imports alone there are a couple of dozen horses who earned well over $35,000 in 2024 in addition to eclipsing that total in 2025, meaning the success rate of bringing horses into the U.S. is quite good compared to some other avenues for purchasing horses. A somewhat newer trend has been Standardbreds arriving from Italy, Great Britain and Ireland. The numbers have only averaged in the teens for each region the last couple of years but each has shown increases. With respect to Italy, Nick Catalano appears to be a driving force behind more than half of the recent Italian arrivals. If you see an Italian horse racing in North America with the name "Trio" included, you can bet Catalano likely played a part in bringing it to these shores. Catalano's involvement began about four years ago when he was introduced to the Bolognesi family from Italy that has a breeding farm and equestrian center. They race under the name Scuderia Trio 1985 and their breeding farm is Allevamento Trio 1996. After just dipping his feet in the waters early on, Catalano has upped the numbers as he has become more comfortable with the procedures. In 2023 there were just two "Trio" horses racing in North America versus eight this year. "I'm not a broker. I bring the horses over for myself and my partners," said Catalano, who has owned horses for more than a decade according to USTA data and now aims to bring about 10-20 horses over each year. "I think you are going to see more horses from Italy because the economy of racing over there is on the decline. "The breeding farms like the one I deal with have so many horses and there aren't many great avenues for them to make money," continued Catalano. "We have a partnership. They are ramping up their breeding operation with higher quality stallions and better mares while looking to shuttle off more horses to me. Things could change obviously. They may decide to start selling at the sales or something because I'm not going to be able to buy all of them, obviously." The early returns have been strong according to Catalano, who pointed to Diamante Trio It as his biggest success story. She came over in June 2023 with only a few wins to her credit and has since earned nearly $400,000 off a four-figure purchase price. Finding horses with minimal wins or low earnings is a formula that works well. "When horses come over and fit non-winners of one or two races it gives you time to evaluate them without racing over their heads. Then you can make a decision on whether you want to keep the horse long term or move on. There is not as much pressure," said Catalano. Another major plus to bringing horses over from Italy and some other countries is the varying rules. While horses are permitted to use the medication Lasix, trotting hobbles and faster race bikes here in North America, those options are often banned in other regions. The quality of the racing surfaces also can be worse in some situations. Perhaps no one in the sport buys more Standardbred horses than Mark Weaver as part of his partnership with perennial leading trainer Ron Burke and co-owner Mike Bruscemi. It's been well over a decade since the combination of Weaver Bruscemi and Burke Racing Stable hasn't led the sport in earnings and starts, and of course they've dabbled in horses from all over the world. Some of the bigger imported names racing under the Weaver Bruscemi banner include Swedish-bred Antognoni ($306K in 2025) and Great Britain's Borninlockdown ($104K), but Weaver admits they've had little luck when it comes to Australian and New Zealand horses. "I think [Great Britain and Ireland] racing maybe mirrors fair racing over here, and they seem to translate better for us. We've never had any luck with Down Under horses for whatever reason over the last 20 years. A lot of people do, just look at Yonkers, it is all 'A's' and 'N's', but for us we found a niche with Ireland and Great Britain horses. Unfortunately now everyone is on it and it makes it a lot tougher," said Weaver, who got involved with Ireland and Great Britain Standardbreds through Derek Delaney from Oakwood Stud. "I trust him to identify which horses would work best over here. "I can look at any track or horse in North America and know who they are racing against, who the trainer is, who the driver is, how the class compares to other classes. I'm very comfortable with it. With Down Under, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, I have no idea. I don't know any of the aspects, so I try to get somebody that can give me a U.S. comparison for a horse, or track or class. "We do very well over here so it is hard to put my faith in somebody else's opinion," concluded Weaver. One huge benefit when it comes to horses coming over from Ireland is that the wins from that country don't count as pari-mutuel and thus allows horses to work their way up the non-winners condition ladder. It was a key factor for Weaver, who stressed that he is always looking for horses that won't conflict with the 250-plus others he typically has racing under the Burke banner. Everything isn't peaches and cream when it comes to flying horses across an ocean and even continents to arrive in the United States. There are often delays as shippers look to maximize space on planes or due to equine wellness issues. Then there are potential quarantine setbacks and potential transport problems. Even more important to the bottom line are the increasing costs. Every person brought up the constantly rising price of shipping horses. Some saying it has gone up thousands over the last few years and one mentioning it has basically doubled over the last decade. There is also the "T" word of the year for those who live in the United States – Tariff. Introduced shortly after President Donald Trump took office, buyers must pay an additional premium for the right to import a horse. According to a web search that figure ranges from 10 to 25% depending on the country, though one importer explained that the rules have been lax and are expected to be enforced more strictly starting in January. It is also worth questioning whether the increase in the number of imported horses is affecting the yearling market as a whole. Both of the major sales – in Lexington and Harrisburg – have seen a somewhat weak middle market and perhaps it can be traced back to the influx of Down Under and European horses. "These horses come over here, I don't know why breeders haven't fought it; maybe because of the horse shortage, but there are a lot of horses which aren't born here that are taking out millions of dollars every year," said Weaver. "Maybe if we didn't have all the 'A's' and 'N's' there would be more of a market for [middle and lower-level yearlings]." "Almost every track deals with the struggle at times to adequately fill their race cards," said Reynolds, providing a bit of a counter point. "So the foreign horses certainly add greatly to the overnight horse supply which is essential in my opinion." Whether it is a positive or a negative, the fact remains that Standardbred imports are on the rise, and there is no clear end to the stream in sight. Although there is no way to determine if the trend will continue at the current rate to produce another 100% increase by 2028, that possibility certainly exists. If not smaller, technology and the ease of doing business from afar has indeed made the world more accessible to all and has Standardbreds becoming at least one immigrant group on the rise in the United States.