By Bill Finley
According to The Jockey Club, which released its annual Report of Mares Bred (RMB) Friday, Uncle Mo covered 257 mares this year, the most among any stallion standing in North America. That puts Uncle Mo back on top for the first time since 2016 when he was bred to 253 mares. He was bred to 241 mares in 2019.
With the year winding down, it was the latest positive development for the 12-year-old Coolmore sire. His progeny have accounted for 19 graded stakes wins in the U.S. on the year and he has shown that he is a sire of sires as the first-crop stallions Nyquist, Outwork and Laoban, all sons of Uncle Mo, are among the leading first-crop sires in North America.
Uncle Mo edged out Into Mischief, who was second with 248 mares covered. Into Mischief is a perennial leader in this category, having topped it in 2017 and 2018 before finishing third last year behind Justify and Mendelssohn.
For 2020, Mendelssohn came in third, covering 242 mares. The Spendthrift stallion and GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Vino Rosso was fourth, covering 238 mares. He was tops among all first-year stallions.
As has been the case over the last several years, Coolmore and Spendthrift stallions dominated the list. Eight of the top 10 on the list stand at either Coolmore or Spendthrift, with each having four sires among the top 10.
Their dominance, however, was challenged this year by WinStar, which had two horses place in the top 10. Constitution checked in fifth with 231 mares and Audible was eighth with 219. With GI Florida Derby, GI Belmont S. and GI Travers winner Tiz the Law leading the way for Constitution on the racetrack, he went from 85 mares to the 231 in a year's time. Audible is a first-year sire. Last year, the top sire on the list among WinStar's group was 2017 GI Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming, who came in 19th place after being bred to 165 mares.
The horses in the top 10 represented a number of different levels when it comes to stud fees. While Uncle Mo, whose 2020 stud fee was $125,000, and Into Mischief, whose stud fee this year was $175,000, took down the top two spots, several modestly priced stallions were also among the leaders. That list includes three sires that stood for $35,000 or less in Mendelssohn ($35,000), Vino Rosso ($30,000), Mitole ($25,000) and Audible ($25,000).
Darby Dan had a good showing, with three sires in the top 20, all of them standing for $10,000 or less. The list consists of Tapiture (186 mares, $7,500), Flameaway (183 mares, $7,500) and Klimt (172 mares, $10,000).
As expected, Kentucky-based sires dominated the list. Khozan, who stands in Florida at Journeyman Stallions, was the leading non-Kentucky sire. Having been bred to 181 mares, he was in 17th place.
In the years ahead, the list of sires who have covered the most mares will change drastically. In May, The Jockey Club adopted a rule that will limit the number of mares a horse can be bred to to 140. There is, however, a grandfather clause, and the rule will only cover horses born in 2020 or later. A total of 42 stallions exceeded the 140 number in 2020. In 2019, 41 stallions covered 140 mares or more.
In terms of individual state RMB leaders beyond Kentucky and Florida, the following stallions topped the covers list for their respective states/provinces:
New York–Solomini, 123
California–Stay Thirsty, 108
Pennsylvania–Hoppertunity, 107
Maryland–Golden Lad, 103
Oklahoma–Flat Out, 85
Ontario–Frac Daddy, 76
The Jockey Club disclosed a total of 1,067 individual stallions covered 27,970 mares in North America this year, with an estimated 2,500-3,500 additional mares having not yet been reported. The 200 reported stallions in Kentucky covered 16,391 mares (58.6% of all mares reported), a decrease of 4.3% compared to this time last year. Of the top 10 states and provinces (by number of mares bred), stallions in Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Mexico covered more mares in 2020 than in 2019.
Statistics for all reported stallions of 2020 are available at The Jockey Club's Fact Book.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
