The Jockey Club today reported that 4,445 stallions covered 63,793 mares in North America during 2001, according to statistics compiled as of September 9, 2002. These coverings have resulted in 34,605 foals of 2002 being reported to The Jockey Club on Live Foal Reports received as of September 9.

The Jockey Club’s vice president of registration services, Matt Iuliano, cautioned that the statistics again are about 90 percent complete due to a small percentage of breeders who fail to submit their Live Foal Reports within 30 days of the birth of the foal as stated in The Principal Rules and Requirements of The American Stud Book.

“We provide these statistics as a service to the industry but their completeness depends entirely upon the cooperation of every breeder,” he said. “Nevertheless, the returns filed on time support our earlier projection of 35,600 registered foals of 2002.”

In addition to a count of live foals reported by stallion, the report again includes a sum of the 2002 No Foal Reports submitted to date for 2001 breedings. Through September 9, 10,618 No Foal Reports had been submitted to The Jockey Club for the 2002 foaling season.

The number of stallions decreased 2.4 percent from the 4,554 reported for 2000 at this time last year. There was a 0.8 percent decrease against the 64,338 mares reported for 2000. The Jockey Club stressed that the count is not a measurement of the live foals born in each state. Nor should the statistics be taken as representing the fertility record of any one stallion.

Thoroughbred breeding activity in Kentucky again paced the nation, but the live foal count for Kentucky stallions reveals the impact of Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome during the spring of 2001. In Kentucky, 20,598 mares reported bred in 2001 produced 11,697 live foals, a 14.6 percent decline on the 13,693 live foals of 2001 reported at this time last year.

Among the top 10 states by breeding activity in 2001, states whose stallions produced more live foals in 2002 than in 2001 as reported at this time last year were:

States among the top 10 by breeding activity in 2001 whose stallions produced fewer live foals in 2002 than in 2001 as reported at this time last year were:

The statistics include 185 progeny sired by stallions standing in North America but foaled abroad, as reported by foreign Stud Book authorities at the time of publication. In this category, 65 live foals by North American stallions were reported from Great Britain (33 reported in 2001). Second was Ireland which reported 48 (7) foals.

Remaining countries on the list with 2001 returns in parentheses are: Korea, 26 (22); France, 16 (18); Mexico, 8 (no report in 2001); Argentina, 7 (2); Colombia, 6 (5); Venezuela, 3 (30); Chile, 2 (1); Saudi Arabia, 2 (18); and Thailand, 2 (no report in 2001).

The report also includes 72 mares bred to 30 stallions in North America on Southern Hemisphere time. The vast majority of these mares have not yet foaled.

The 2001 breeding statistics are available alphabetically by stallion name on The Jockey Club web site at http://home.jockeyclub.com/breedstats/02menu.html.