Slight Dip In British And Irish Foal Crop

[Wandering Eyes]

A total of 13,443 Thoroughbred foals have been registered this year in Britain and Ireland according to Weatherbys which this week published its annual Return Of Mares . That tally represented a drop of just 2% from 2018, with Ireland being responsible for 8,788 of those foals, while 4,655 were born in Britain.

The number of registered broodmares has declined by a similar amount and stands at 22,919, down by 622 over the last year. The Irish stallion ranks have held their numbers at 252, but in Britain, at 152, there were six fewer stallions at stud. Significantly, the number of those stallions covering more than 200 mares rose by more than 50%, from 11 in 2018 to 18 this year. At Coolmore’s National Hunt division of Castlehyde Stud, Order of St George (Ire) and Soldier Of Fortune (Ire), both sons of Galileo (Ire), were the busiest of all stallions, covering 261 mares each. Over the two previous years Soldier Of Fortune was out in front on his own with books of 341 and 281 mares.

Galileo himself served 155 mares at the age of 21, and a number of his other sons also proved popular, including Australia (GB) (228), Churchill (Ire) (214), Gleneagles (Ire) (182), and Frankel (GB) (153). Meanwhile the full-brothers Highland Reel (Ire) and Idaho (Ire), standing respectively under the Flat and National Hunt banners, covered 100 and 219 mares.

Juddmonte’s Kingman (GB) was the busiest Flat stallion in Britain, with 235 mares in his book, while Dubawi covered 162 mares. Also in demand among the British-based sires were Sea The Moon (Ger) (164), Showcasing (GB) (160) and first-time shuttler Zoustar (Aus) (149).

Away from the Galileo sireline on the Flat, Sioux Nation (241) and Zoffany (Ire) (216) were busiest, Dandy Man (Ire) and Kodiac (GB) each covered 215, and Lope De Vega (Ire) was also above the 200-mark on 207.

Of the new Flat stallions to stud in 2019, Deep Impact (Jpn)’s Guineas-winning son Saxon Warrior (Jpn) was sent 165 mares at Coolmore, and Whitsbury Manor Stud’s Group 1-winning sprinter Havana Grey (GB) covered 145.

With breeders continuing to register this year’s foals, total foal crop numbers for 2019 will be available in the Weatherbys Return of Mares Supplement published in early February 2020.

 

 

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