North American foal crop of 2018 falls by two per cent year-on-year

The US Jockey Club has reported that 1,778 stallions covered 34,288 mares in North America during 2017, according to statistics compiled up to September 26. Those matings have resulted in 21,130 live foals of 2018 being reported to The Jockey Club on Live Foal Reports.

The Jockey Club estimates that the number of live foals reported so far is approximately 90 per cent complete. The reporting of live foals of 2018 is down 2.3 per cent from last year at this time when The Jockey Club received reports for 21,624 live foals of 2017.

In addition to the 21,130 live foals of 2018 reported up to September 26, The Jockey Club also received 2,516 No Foal Reports for the 2018 foaling season.

Ultimately, the 2018 registered foal crop is projected to reach 21,500.

The number of stallions declined 4.6 per cent from the 1,863 reported for 2016 at this time last year, while the number of mares bred declined 4.9 per cent from the 36,045 reported for 2016.

The 2017 breeding statistics are available alphabetically by stallion name online.

"It is important to note that the live foals reported in The Jockey Club breeding statistics are by conception area and do not represent the state in which a foal was born," said Matt Iuliano, executive vice president and executive director of The Jockey Club. "Breeding statistics also are not a representation of a stallion's fertility record."

Kentucky annually leads all states and provinces in terms of Thoroughbred breeding activity. Kentucky-based stallions accounted for 50.7 per cent of the mares reported bred in North America in 2017 and 58.5 per cent of the live foals reported for 2018.

The 17,401 mares reported bred to 235 Kentucky stallions in 2017 have produced 12,370 live foals, a 0.2 per cent decrease on the 12,396 Kentucky-sired live foals of 2017 reported at this time last year. The number of mares reported bred to Kentucky stallions in 2017 decreased 2.9 per cent compared with the 17,912 reported for 2016 at this time last year.

Among the ten states and provinces with the most mares covered in 2017, only three produced more live foals in 2018 than in 2017 as reported at this time last year: Ontario, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania.

The statistics include 334 progeny of stallions standing in North America but foaled abroad, as reported by foreign stud book authorities at the time of publication.

The report also includes 90 mares bred to 27 stallions in North America on southern hemisphere time; the majority of these mares have not foaled.

As customary, a report listing the number of mares bred in 2018 will be released later this month.

A full listing of live foals, by stallion

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