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Monday, October 01, 2018Contact: Alexa Ravit (212) 521-5307
The Jockey Club Releases 2017 Breeding Statistics

The Jockey Club today reported that 1,778 stallions covered 34,288 mares in North America during 2017, according to statistics compiled through Sept. 26, 2018. These breedings 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 percent complete. The reporting of live foals of 2018 is down 2.3 percent from last year at this time when The Jockey Club had received reports for 21,624 live foals of 2017.

In addition to the 21,130 live foals of 2018 reported through Sept. 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 percent from the 1,863 reported for 2016 at this time last year, while the number of mares bred declined 4.9 percent from the 36,045 reported for 2016.

The 2017 breeding statistics are available alphabetically by stallion name through the Resources – Fact Book link on The Jockey Club homepage at jockeyclub.com.

“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, 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 percent of the mares reported bred in North America in 2017 and 58.5 percent 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 percent 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 percent compared to the 17,912 reported for 2016 at this time last year.

Among the 10 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 following table shows the 10 states and provinces, ranked by number of state/province-sired live foals of 2018 reported through Sept. 26, 2018.

 
  2017 Mares Bred 2017 Live Foals 2018 Live Foals Percent Change in Live Foals
Kentucky 17,401 12,396 12,370 -0.2%
California 2,573 1,726 1,577 -8.6%
Florida 2,286 1,514 1,217 -19.6%
New York 1,344 912 777 -14.8%
Louisiana 1,336 799 713 -10.8%
Ontario 908 397 495 24.7%
Maryland 783 500 483 -3.4%
New Mexico 794 370 372 0.5%
Pennsylvania 673 289 373 29.1%
Oklahoma 773 341 329 -3.5%

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.
 
Country Live Foals Country Live Foals
Republic of Korea 117 India 4
Saudi Arabia 72 Peru 3
Ireland 33 Russia 3
Great Britain 25 Dominican Republic 2
Japan 24 Germany 2
Philippines 20 Barbados 1
Australia 12 Brazil 1
Argentina 7 Pakistan 1
Mexico 6 Venezuela 1

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.