The trend of larger books for stallions was validated statistically in a release by The Jockey Club on Oct. 28, as there was a slight increase in the number of mares bred in 1999 from the previous year, while the number of stallions covering those mares decreased. In The Jockey Club's annual Report of Mares Bred (RMB), 3,756 stallions covered 57,633 mares in 1999. The information comes from an estimated 90% of RMBs so far submitted.
Jockey Club vice president of registration services Roger Shook noted that while the number of stallions declined 5.5% from the 3,975 reported at this time a year ago, mares increased 1.5% from 56,767 reported at this time in 1998.
"The recent trend toward larger stallion books continues with this year's RMB return," he said. "Increased book size tends to be accompanied by an increase in overall live foal percentage which should support our 2000 foal crop forecast of 36,700."
The number of stallions bred to 100 or more mares increased
from 44 a year ago to 56 in 1999. Grand Slam led all stallions with 166 mares bred. States in which a stallion covered at least 100 mares were Kentucky (43 stallions), Florida (10), and California (three).
Historical trends indicate that The Jockey Club will receive an additional 400 to 600 RMBs from the 1999 breeding season.
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