Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association
Posted: Oct. 22, 2018
Of the top 10 states and provinces by number of mares bred in 2018, Maryland and Pennsylvania led the way by percentage growth compared with last year, according to statistics released by The Jockey Club Oct. 22.
Overall, the number of mares reported as bred through Oct. 16 was 30,274, down 5% from 31,863 last year, and the number of stallions in North America was down 9.5%, from 1,342 last year to 1,214 this year.
The Jockey Club, however, noted that it expects 3,000 to 4,000 additional reports of mares bred will be received for the 2018 breeding season.
In Maryland, 867 mares were reported as bred this year, up 12.9% from 768 in 2017. The number of stallions in the state remained static at 30.
Pennsylvania breeders reported 610 mares bred, up 8.3% from 563 last year. The number of stallions in the state dropped 11.1% to 32 from 36.
Of the other states to show an increase in mares bred based on current statistics, California had 2,482, up 5.3% from 2017, while Kentucky showed a gain of 0.3% to 17,322.
New York, the only other state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions in the top 10, had 1,115 mares bred, down 15.9% from 1,326 last year. The number of stallions in the state was down 17.2% from 58 in 2017 to 48 this year, according to the statistics.
Nationally, the percentage of broodmares covered by stallions with books of 125 mares or more increased to 31.9% from 29.4%.