(Editor's note: An earlier version of this story and the accompanying chart included live foal percentages that were incorrect for some stallions because of a sorting error and because North American based mares bred on Southern Hemisphere time were included in the totals. The statistics below are correct and reflect only North American-bred mares.)
The Jockey Club has reported that 3,130 stallions covered 49,404 mares in North America during 2009, according to statistics compiled through Sept. 8. These matings have resulted in 27,233 live foals of 2010 being reported to The Jockey Club on Live Foal Reports received as of Sept. 8.
As in past years, The Jockey Club estimates that the reporting of live foals, at this point in time, is approximately 90% complete. The reporting of live foals of 2010 is down 14.2% from last year at this time when The Jockey Club had received reports for 31,727 live foals of 2009.
Medaglia d'Oro , sire of 2009 Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly Rachel Alexandra, is the leader by live foals this year, with 163. He was bred to 194 mares, thus 84% of them have produced live foals. Medaglia d'Oro was bred to an additional 11 mares on Southern Hemisphere time, which are not included when calculating his percentage of live foals.
The son of El Prado began the 2009 breeding season at Audrey Haisfield’s Stonewall Farm Stallions near Midway, Ky. Later in the breeding season, the stallion was purchased by Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley and relocated to that Lexington nursery. Medaglia d’Oro stood this year at Darley.
The 2010 registered foal crop projection of 30,000 takes into account that not all live foals become registered. In addition to the 27,233 live foals of 2010 reported through Sept. 8, The Jockey Club had also received 5,138 No Foal Reports for the 2010 foaling season. The estimated final tally of 30,000 will be the fewest in a foal crop since the 28,809 in 1976 and right around the 30,036 in 1977.
The number of stallions declined 9% from the 3,439 reported for 2008 at this time last year, while the number of mares bred decreased 13.2% from the 56,901 reported for 2008. It should be noted that the totals for mares bred reported by The Jockey Club include mares bred in North America but on Southern Hemisphere time.
Breeding statistics released by The Jockey Club are not a measurement of the live foals born in each state or province, but rather a count of live foals reported to date by conception area, regardless of where the foals were born. In addition, the statistics should not be taken to represent the fertility record of any one stallion.
Kentucky annually leads all states and provinces in terms of Thoroughbred breeding activity. Kentucky-based stallions accounted for 39% of the mares reported bred in North America in 2009 and 47.5% of the live foals reported for 2010.
The 19,252 mares reported bred to 330 Kentucky stallions in 2009 have produced 12,931 live foals, a 9.3% decrease on the 14,257 Kentucky-sired live foals of 2009 reported at this time last year. The number of mares reported bred to Kentucky stallions in 2009 declined 11% against the 21,620 reported for 2008 at this time last year.
Among the top 10 conception areas for live foals of 2010, only Pennsylvania stallions produced more live foals in 2010 than in 2009 as reported at this time last year. The top 10 conception areas for live foals of 2010 reported through Sept. 8 are:
| Conception Area |
2009 Mares Bred
|
2009 Live Foals
|
2010 Live Foals
|
Pct. Change
|
| Kentucky |
19,252
|
14,257
|
12,931
|
-9.3
|
| Florida |
4,211
|
2,892
|
2,097
|
-27.5
|
| California |
3,165
|
2,528
|
1,891
|
-25.2
|
| Louisiana |
3,552
|
1,896
|
1,678
|
-11.5
|
| New York |
1,625
|
1,080
|
908
|
-15.9
|
| Pennsylvania |
1,770
|
692
|
844
|
+22.0
|
| Texas |
1,758
|
1,000
|
776
|
-22.4
|
| Ontario |
1,378
|
746
|
698
|
-6.4
|
| New Mexico |
1,431
|
783
|
697
|
-11.0
|
| Oklahoma |
1,551
|
697
|
538
|
-22.8
|
The statistics include 458 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, 101 live foals by North American stallions were reported from Korea and 68 were reported from Ireland.
Remaining countries on the list are Great Britain, 59; Japan, 42; Uruguay, 26; France, 24; India, 17; Brazil, 16; Peru, 16; Venezuela, 16; Chile, 14; Argentina, 12; Mexico, 11; Turkey, 9; Panama, 7; Australia, 4; Italy, 4; Saudi Arabia, 4; Dominican Republic, 3; Trinidad, 3; and Germany, 2. The report also includes 124 mares bred to 30 stallions in North America on Southern Hemisphere time. The majority of these mares have not foaled.