Jockey Club report: Number of mares bred fell 5 percent in 2018

Into Mischief was the busiest stallion of the year, while first-year stallions Cupid, Klimt, and Practical Joke got off to a flying start, The Jockey Club’s annual Report of Mares Bred revealed Monday.

The Jockey Club reports that 1,214 stallions covered 30,274 mares in North America during 2018, based on reports received through Oct. 16. The Jockey Club estimates an additional 3,000 to 4,000 mares will be reported as bred during the 2018 breeding season.

The number of stallions declined 9.5 percent from the 1,342 reported at this time in 2017, and the number of mares bred decreased 5 percent from the 31,863 reported last year.

The number of stallions covering 125 or more mares ticked upward to 62, compared to 60 last year. Further book-size analysis shows a 3 percent increase in the number of mares bred to stallions with a book size of 125 or more in 2018 when compared to 2017 as reported at this time last year. Going deeper, there was a 1 percent decrease in mares bred to stallions with a book size between 100 and 124; a 7 percent increase in mares bred to stallions with a book size between 75 and 99; a 6 percent decrease in mares bred to stallions with a book size between 50 and 74; a 10 percent decrease in mares bred to stallions with a book size between 25 and 49; and a 17 percent decrease in mares bred to stallions with a book size fewer than 25.

Leading juvenile sire Into Mischief, who stands at Spendthrift Farm, covered 245 mares this year, making him the most active stallion in North America. The three following him were all first-season stallions, as Cupid covered 223 mares, Klimt bred 222, and Practical Joke, a son of Into Mischief, covered 220. Cupid and Practical Joke both stand at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud, while Klimt resides at Darby Dan.

Violence (Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm) and Overanalyze (WinStar Farm), among the leading freshman sires of 2017, parlayed that into groups of 214 mares and 195 mares, respectively, in 2018.

Rounding out the top 10 stallions by number of mares bred were Goldencents (Spendthrift) with 190, first-year stallion Classic Empire (Ashford) with 185, Tapiture (Darby Dan) at 184, and Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Ashford) with 182 in his third season.

Kentucky traditionally leads North America in Thoroughbred breeding activity. During 2018, Kentucky’s 228 reported stallions covered 17,322 mares, or 57 percent of all of the mares reported bred in North America. Of the top 10 states and provinces by number of mares reported bred in 2018, Kentucky, California, Maryland, and Pennsylvania stallions covered more mares in 2018 than in 2017, as reported at this time last year.

The busiest stallion standing outside the state of Kentucky was Uncaptured, who covered 168 mares at Florida’s Ocala Stud, ranking him 17th nationally.
For The Jockey Club’s complete list of stallions sorted by their number of mares bred for 2018, click here.