The Jockey Club reports decline in 2011 foal crop

The Jockey Club on Thursday reported that 2,904 stallions covered 44,184

mares in North America during 2010, according to statistics compiled through

September 7. These matings have resulted in 23,558 live foals of 2011 being

reported to the Jockey Club on Live Foal Reports received as of September 7.

The Jockey Club estimates that the number of live foals reported, at this

point in time, is approximately 85 percent complete. The reporting of live foals

of 2011 is down 13.5 percent from last year at this time when the Jockey Club

had received reports for 27,233 live foals of 2010.

"The decline in breeding activity in recent years has resulted in a downward

trend for live foal returns that is expected to continue next year, based on our

recently announced foal crop estimate of 24,700 for 2012," said Matt Iuliano,

the Jockey Club's executive vice president and executive director.

The 2011 registered foal crop projection of 27,000 takes into account that

not all live foals become registered. In addition to the 23,558 live foals of

2011 reported through thus far, the Jockey Club had also received 3,731 No Foal

Reports for the 2011 foaling season.

The number of stallions declined 7.2 percent from the 3,130 reported for 2009

at this time last year, while the number of mares bred decreased 10.6 percent

from the 49,404 reported for 2009.

The 2010 breeding statistics are available alphabetically by stallion name

through the

Publications and Resources link.

Iuliano emphasized that the breeding statistics are not a measurement of the

live foals born in each state or province, but rather a count of live foals by

conception area, regardless of where the foals were born. He also stressed that

the statistics should not be taken to represent the final fertility record of

any single stallion or conception area.

Kentucky annually leads all states and provinces in terms of Thoroughbred

breeding activity. Kentucky-based stallions accounted for 39.4 percent of the

mares reported bred in North America in 2010 and 47.0 percent of the live foals

reported for 2011.

The 17,401 mares reported bred to 284 Kentucky stallions in 2010 have

produced 11,065 live foals, a 14.4 percent decrease on the 12,931 Kentucky-sired

live foals of 2010 reported at this time last year. The number of mares reported

bred to Kentucky stallions in 2010 declined 9.6 percent against the 19,252

reported for 2009 at this time last year.

Among the top 10 conception areas for live foals of 2011, only Ontario and

Oklahoma stallions produced more live foals in 2011 than in 2010 as reported at

this time last year. The top 10 conception areas for live foals of 2011 reported

through September 7 and regardless of where the foals were born are:

Conception Area	2010 Mares Bred	2010 Live Foals	2011 Live Foals	% Change
Kentucky	17,401	12,931	11,065	-14.4
California	2,760	1,891	1,762	-6.8
Florida	3,233	2,097	1,565	-25.4
Louisiana	3,453	1,678	1,516	-9.7
Pennsylvania	1,638	844	790	-6.4
New York	1,355	908	752	-17.2
Ontario	1,500	698	732	+4.9
New Mexico	1,426	697	660	-5.3
Texas	1,391	776	580	-25.3
Oklahoma	1,464	538	545	+1.3

The statistics include 451 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, 100 live foals by North American stallions were

reported from Thailand and 84 were reported from Korea.

Remaining countries on the list are Ireland (47), Saudi Arabia (43), Japan

(34), India (33), Great Britain (24), Brazil (15), Uruguay (14), Chile (10),

Turkey (10), France (9), Peru (8), Mexico (6), Panama (4), Australia (3), Russia

(3), Dominican Republic (2), Denmark (1) and Trinidad (1).

The report also includes 81 mares bred to 26 stallions in North America on

Southern Hemisphere time. The majority of these mares have not foaled.