North American Reported Foal Crop Down 2.2%

The Jockey Club reported Sept. 13 in its annual Live Foal Report that the 2013 North American Thoroughbred foal crop is down 2.2% from last year.

Using statistics compiled through Sept. 9, TJC has received 22,001 reports, down from the 22,500 figure from this time last year for the crop of 2012. It estimates the 2013 crop will come in at 23,000, down from an estimate of 23,500 for 2012.

The Jockey Club notes that the number of live foals reported so far is approximately 90% complete.

In all, TJC reports 2,392 stallions covered 37,908 mares in North America during 2012. The number of active stallions declined 8.7% from the 2,620 reported for 2011 at this time last year, while the number of mares bred decreased 4.8% from the 39,838 reported for 2011.

In addition to the 22,001 live foals of 2013 reported through Sept. 9, TJC had also received 2,891 No Foal Reports for the 2013 foaling season. Ultimately, the 2013 registered foal crop is projected to reach 23,000.

The projected crop figure is down some 63% from it's near market high of 37,493 in 2007, and is down 22.9% from the 2010 crop of 28,260.

North American Foal Crop
Year - Foal Crop - % Change (year over year)
2007 - 37,493
2008 - 35,250 - (-6.0)
2009 - 32,304 - (-8.4)
2010 - 28,260 - (-12.5%)
2011 - 25,500 - (-9.8%)
2012 - 23,500 - (-7.8%)
2013 - 23,000 - (-2.2%)

Matt Iuliano, The Jockey Club's executive vice president and executive director, said the breeding statistics are not a measurement of the live foals born in each state or province, but are a count of live foals by conception area, regardless of where the foals were born. He also reiterated that the statistics should not be taken to represent the final fertility record of any single stallion or conception area.

The 2012 breeding statistics are available alphabetically by stallion name through the Publications and Resources link 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 41.1% of the mares reported bred in North America in 2012 and 48.8% of the live foals reported for 2013.

The 15,569 mares reported bred to 249 Kentucky stallions in 2012 have produced 10,726 live foals, a 2.1% decline on the 10,960 Kentucky-sired live foals of 2012 reported at this time last year. The number of mares reported bred to Kentucky stallions in 2012 fell 2.2% against the 15,918 reported for 2011 at this time last year.

It is no surprise that the growth area is New York, which saw a 36.2% increase in the number of live foals reported from 713 to 971 from 2012 to 2013. Purses in the Empire State, fueled by casino revenues from the Resorts World New York Casino at Aqueduct, are helping drive the state-bred program.

Florida also saw growth, with a 6.6% advancement of foals from 1,642 to 1,751.

The statistics include 322 progeny of stallions standing in North America but foaled abroad, as reported by foreign stud book authorities at the time of publication. In this category, 103 live foals by North American stallions were reported from Republic of Korea, 60 from Great Britain, and 42 from Ireland. Remaining countries on the list are Philippines, 23; Japan, 19; Mexico, 17; Brazil, 13; France, 11; Jamaica, 10; Argentina, 5; India, 5; Thailand, 5; Qatar, 3; Chile, 2; Dominican Republic, 2; Ecuador, 1; Sweden, 1.

The report also includes 75 mares bred to 30 stallions in North America on Southern Hemisphere time. The majority of these mares have not foaled.

Additional information is available at jockeyclub.com.