Fewer stallions but number of mares bred to remains almost unchanged from 2020

Based on the Report of Mares Bred statistics released by the Jockey Club, there was little difference in the number of mares covered in 2021 compared with this point last year.

Based on reports received through October 18, The Jockey Club Report of Mares Bred says 27,829 mares have been covered in North America in 2021.

Compared with last year that figure is steady - down less than one per cent from the 27,970 mares reported covered through to October 18, 2020.

Following the recent trend, those mares were covered by fewer stallions. Again based on reports through October 18, the RMB said 1,016 stallions covered mares in 2021, down 4.8 per cent compared with the 1,067 in last year's report.

As final reports come in, the Jockey Club estimates an additional 2,500 to 3,500 mares will be reported as covered during the 2021 breeding season.

RMB statistics for all reported stallions in 2021 are available through the Fact Book section of the Jockey Club's website.

Kentucky traditionally leads North America in thoroughbred breeding activity. During 2021, Kentucky's 200 reported stallions covered 16,727 mares, or 60.1 per cent of all mares reported bred in North America. The number of mares bred to Kentucky stallions increased two per cent compared with the 16,391 reported at this time last year.

Of the top ten states and provinces by number of mares reported bred in 2021, stallions in Kentucky, California, Ontario and Indiana covered more mares in 2021 than in 2020 (as reported at this time last year).

The following table shows the top ten states and provinces ranked by number of mares reported bred in 2021:

Each incident in which a mare was bred to more than one stallion and appeared on multiple RMBs is counted separately. As such, mares bred totals listed in the table above may differ slightly from counts of distinct mares bred.

In addition, RMB information on stallions that bred mares in North America is available through report 36P or a subscription service at equineline.com/ReportOfMaresBred.

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