Foals, Mares, and Active Stallions All Decline in 2019

The Jockey Club reported Oct. 3 that 1,630 stallions covered 32,508 mares in North America during 2018, according to statistics compiled through Sept. 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 the number of live foals reported so far is approximately 90% complete. The reporting of live foals is down 3.6% from last year at this time when The Jockey Club received reports for 21,130 live foals of 2018.

In addition to the live foals of 2019, 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 the crop has declined in numbers, and it would be the smallest crop since 1966 (20,228).

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

The 2018 breeding statistics are available alphabetically by stallion name through the Fact Book link under the "Resources" section on The Jockey Club homepage at jockeyclub.com.

Kentucky annually leads all states and provinces in terms of Thoroughbred breeding activity. Kentucky-based stallions accounted for 53.7% of the mares reported bred in North America in 2018 and 59.9% 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% 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% 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: 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 Sept. 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.