Decline in figures for US foals, mares and active stallions in 2019

The Jockey Club reported on Thursday that 1,630 stallions covered 32,508 mares in North America during 2018, according to statistics compiled through September 26, 2019.

These breedings have resulted in 20,363 live foals of 2019 being reported to The Jockey Club on live foal reports.

The Jockey Club estimates that the number of live foals reported so far is approximately 90 per cent complete. The reporting of live foals of 2019 is down 3.6 per cent from last year at this time when The Jockey Club had received reports for 21,130 live foals of 2018.

In addition to the 20,363 live foals of 2019 reported from September 26, The Jockey Club also received 2,405 no foal reports for the 2019 foaling season. Ultimately, the 2019 registered foal crop is projected to reach 20,800.

A crop of 20,800 would mark a fourth straight year that the crop has declined in numbers and it would be the smallest crop since 1966, which saw 20,228.

The number of stallions in 2018 declined 8.3 per cent from the 1,778 reported for 2017 at this time last year, while the number of mares bred declined 5.2% from the 34,288 reported for 2017.

Read the 2018 breeding statistics here

Kentucky annually leads all states and provinces in terms of thoroughbred breeding activity. Kentucky-based stallions accounted for 53.7 per cent of the mares reported bred in North America in 2018 and 59.9 per cent of the live foals reported for 2019.

The 17,446 mares reported bred to 241 Kentucky stallions in 2018 have produced 12,200 live foals, a 1.4 per cent decrease on the 12,370 Kentucky-sired live foals of 2018 reported at this time last year.

The number of mares reported bred to Kentucky stallions in 2018 increased 0.3 per cent compared with the 17,401 reported for 2017 at this time last year.

Among the 10 states and provinces with the most mares covered in 2018, three produced more live foals in 2019 than in 2018 as reported at this time last year: California, Louisiana, and Maryland.

The following table shows the top 10 states and provinces ranked by number of state/province-sired live foals of 2019 reported through September 26, 2019

The statistics include 303 progeny of stallions standing in North America but foaled abroad, as reported by foreign stud book authorities at the time of publication.

For more news on US racing, sales and bloodstock news visit bloodhorse.com