WHILE the Irish foal crop has reduced dramatically in recent years, down 36% from the peak in 2007, the last two years have seen a small but steady growth. The 2013 increase in numbers by 2.8% was bettered in 2014 when a growth rate of 3% was recorded, according to figures released this week by Weatherbys Ireland. The British foal crop fell by 2% in the last year and is down 27% from its peak in 2008.

The Irish crop of foals in 2014 numbered 7,999 and is broken down into 4,068 colts and 3,931 fillies. The majority of the crop, 56%, are bred for the flat, 30% have a National Hunt career as their aim, 13% are designated as dual-purpose and 1% are unclassified. An interesting statistic published is the fact that 77% of the foals are bay, 15% are chesnut, 5% are brown and 3% are other colours, mostly grey.

The breeder statistics show that 82% of breeders own one or two mares, while 11% have three or four mares. One non-resident breeder has 31 or more mares domiciled in Ireland, while the number of Irish breeders with that number of mares is 16. Three each are based in Kildare and Carlow, two are in Tipperary, while there is one each in Cork, Meath, Kilkenny, Limerick, Waterford, Westmeath, Galway and Wicklow.

The number of active broodmares in Ireland in 2014 was 12,909, up 2% and the first increase for a number of years. The number of new broodmare registrations was 1,824, just a handful more than in 2013. The number of mares retired or deceased in 2014 was almost half that of the previous year. The percentage of mares covered in 2013 that produced a registered foal last year was 73%. The number of overseas mares visiting Ireland in 2014 that produced a foal in this country was 953.

Equibase has issued figures for racing in the USA in January which shows that while there was a 2.75% decrease in races run, the number of runners grew by 2.85%. Betting also showed an improvement, rising by 1.52%, while the average prize fund per race was up just under 1% to $25,913.