With some great prospects racing, New Zealand fans looked forward with excitement to 2013.

In the end, though, the year would be one where the promise was left frustratingly unfulfilled.

Ocean Park and It's A Dundeel in particular looked like they could build on their achievements and go close to greatness, but both fell short, injuries being a major factor.

Ocean Park began the year as Australasia's middle distance weight-for-age champion after winning the Cox Plate, and ambitious plans were laid out to make him a world-beater in 2013, with Group One targets set in Dubai and Europe.

He looked on target after demolishing local rivals in the New Zealand Stakes in March, but he suffered a tendon injury when beating two home in the Dubai Duty Free in late March, and he was retired to Waikato Stud soon after.

As Ocean Park was being retired, It's A Dundeel became the first horse to win Sydney's autumn three-year-old triple crown since Octagonal in 1996. He won the Randwick Guineas, Rosehill Guineas and Australian Derby with ease, the last two admittedly over weak fields.

Aimed at the Cox Plate, the excitement increased further when he won the Underwood Stakes, becoming the only horse to beat champion mare Atlantic Jewel.

But a hoof abscess meant he went into the Cox Plate without a run in five weeks and it told as he laboured into eighth.

Two other potential stars to emerge at the beginning of the year were Ruud Awakening and Habibi, but both faltered when asked to take on Australian opposition.

Ruud Awakening was acclaimed as New Zealand's best two-year-old in years after easily winning the Karaka Million and Diamond Stakes.

It earned her a start in the Golden Slipper but she ran second last, and she struggled with a pulled muscle in the spring in Melbourne.

Habibi was the dominant three-year-old in New Zealand, her wins including the New Zealand Derby, but placings were her best in Sydney in autumn before being sold to the United States, where she has yet to race.

South Island mare Final Touch was the best sprinter-miler at home, winning the Telegraph Handicap, Waikato Sprint and Auckland Breeders' Stakes, getting the better of top mares such as Xanadu and Lady Kipling.

The best of the stayers was Sangster, an easy winner of the Auckland Cup and the Waikato International, but he was forced out of the Melbourne Cup with foot problems.

Cambridge Stud's Sir Patrick Hogan was at the centre of two major events off the track. In January his stud lost its leading seller title at the Premier Yearling sale for the first time since 1980, when Curraghmore Stud knocked it off its perch.

Then, in December, fertility problems meant Zabeel, New Zealand's best sire of the last 20 years, was retired from duty, leaving a significant hole in the stallion ranks.

His retirement left Waikato Stud's O'Reilly as arguably New Zealand's best stallion. They will be hoping their new recruit Ocean Park can match him and achieve the greatness that narrowly eluded him on the track.