Mr Brown originates from Australia but has worked in the UK for the past 13 years. He has practised as a lawyer and a management consultant in Sydney, London and Paris. He was also Business Development Director of ITV Plc, Britain's largest commercial TV broadcaster.

Mr Brown brings a wealth of experience of the racing industry from his most recent position as Chief Operating Officer of Racecourse Media Group, where he founded and ran Racing UK, Turf TV, Racing International and thebettingsite.co.uk website to deliver significant profits for British racing.

He holds an MBA from INSEAD in France, as well as a Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws and a Bachelor of Science from Sydney University.

Mr Stiassny said the Board is delighted to appoint Andrew Brown to lead the next phase of the organisation's development.

"We conducted an extensive and rigorous recruitment search for a new chief executive, both in New Zealand and offshore, and the Board is pleased to have secured such a high calibre individual for this position," he said.

"Andrew brings wide experience of the racing industry and international business, which he developed through his challenging operational and strategic roles at Racecourse Media Group, ITV and Oliver Wyman," Mr Stiassny said.

The NZ Racing Board is a huge business with an annual turnover of $1.5 billion and around 800 employees across the country, Mr Stiassny said.

"Each year the NZ Racing Board offers wagering on more than 30,000 races and last year more than 8.6 million sports bets were placed across 35,000 different options.

"The New Zealand racing industry is also an important contributor New Zealand. It generates more than $1.4 billion in economic activity each year and around 40,000 people are involved in some capacity in supporting the industry in New Zealand."

Andrew Brown succeeds Graeme Hansen as chief executive of the NZ Racing Board and will start his new role on Monday 11 May.