The NZ Racing Hall of Fame has chosen Guy Heveldt from TVNZ Sports News as the 2018 Leishman Media Racing Awareness Awardee.
“Guy was a standout applicant,” Chairman Chris Luoni said. “He is involved in mainstream television and will be able to promote NZ racing and breeding stories in an interesting way to the NZ public.
“He reminds me of a younger Phillip Leishman when he was first involved in racing media.”
Twenty eight-year-old Heveldt worked for Radio Sport for seven years and joined TV One News in June 2017.
In the short time Heveldt has been at TV One News he has adapted quickly and shown all the natural skills required of a quality television journalist. He has relished the challenge of adding pictures to audio and his work on several high quality racing news clips that featured various aspects of spring racing encouraged a colleague to suggest he become an applicant for the Leishman Media Racing Awareness Award of 2018.
Heveldt has had an interest in racing from an early age. His uncle owned horses and his father was an avid racing enthusiast who often took Heveldt and his brother to the races in Canterbury.
A keen sports enthusiast, in addition to racing Heveldt is particularly passionate about cricket and golf. And it was golf that provided Heveldt with the biggest assignment and the highlight of his career to date when he travelled to The Masters’ at Augusta in 2017 representing both Radio Sport and The Herald.
During his time in Auckland, Heveldt’s career has been assisted greatly with ongoing advice from The Herald’s Racing Editor Michael Guerin, commentator and presenter Rikki Swannell and the voice of yachting Peter Montgomery.
Heveldt will be present at the 2018 Karaka Yearling sales and looks forward to meeting more industry participants - Brian de Lore.