Raced Evens: Late Whanganui district councillor Ray Stevens has racehorse named in his honour

Whanganui racehorse "Raced Evens". Photo / Race Images

The late former Whanganui district councillor Ray Stevens has been remembered through one of his biggest passions: a successful galloper.

A former friend of Stevens, Bevan Sweeney, has set up a 17-person racing syndicate in his honour, racing a horse Stevens bred himself, aptly named "Raced Evens".

Sweeney, a TV presenter for Trackside, first met Stevens when they played cricket together "in the early days".

"He was a colourful character, I knew him pretty well," Sweeney said.

Sweeney said Stevens had bred a lot of horses over the years so, as someone working in racing, had the idea of creating a syndicate in Stevens' honour.

The horse was found in Waverley, where the owner leased the animal out to be raced.

As for how they came up with the name, Sweeney says there were "a million names put forward".

"One of the syndicate members came up with it actually. Since Ray had recently passed, we decided to go with Raced Evens."

Despite only recently starting its racing career, the horse has had a successful first few runs.

"It's only just started its career and it's had three starts. It's won two races at Whanganui and it ran third in its only other start."

"It's going really nicely at the moment. Let's hope it stays that way."