Bucking a nationwide trend, the number of mares bred in Pennsylvania in 2019 was 686, an increase of 12.5% over 2018. It was the third straight year that the number of horses bred in Pennsylvania has increased.
Overall, the number of mares bred in 2019 in the U.S. declined by 3.5%.
The growing popularity of the Pennsylvania program is a direct result of the establishment of the Racehorse Development Fund Trust in 2017. The trust guaranteed that the government could no longer raid the Horse Racing Development Fund, which funneled slot machine revenues into a fund that supported breeding and racing in the state. In 2011, then Governor Tom Corbett began to take money from the fund and directed it to the state's general fund. That kicked off years of uncertainty in which Pennsylvania breeders scaled back, not knowing whether or not Pennsylvania's lucrative purses and breeder awards would still be available by the time the horses they had bred reached the racetrack.
“The main reason we are doing so well is the fact that people are confident that the Race Horse Development Fund will stay in tact,” said Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association Executive Secretary Brian Sanfratello, “After it was first put into place the state would threaten to use the money for areas other than racing. What we tried to do was to get legislation in that basically stated that this was not the state's money and that if the money was touched there would be penalties that had to be paid.”
The legislation that protected racing's money does not have an expiration date and the penalties are substantial enough that the state will not come out ahead if raiding the find again.
The results were immediate. There was a 15.1% boost to the Pennsylvania foal crop in 2017 and an 8.3% jump in 2018. This came after there was a 70% decline in the Pennsylvania foal crop from 2009 to 2016, when 529 mares were bred in the state.
“What's going right in Pennsylvania? Everything,” said Bob Hutt, the president of Uptowncharlybrown Stud LLC, which owns and stands Uptowncharlybrown. “The program is healthy and we got legislation to protect the funds for Pennsylvania breeders. It's just getting bigger and better.”
In addition to the increase in the number of mares bred, Pennsylvania has been able to attract some quality stallions in recent years. Leading the list are Hoppertunity and Warrior's Reward, both of which took up residency in Pennsylvania at the start of the 2019 breeding season.
“On our side, we realized the breeding program would support another stallion and on their side of it in Kentucky, where he used to stand, they are blessed with so many stallions,” said Donnie Brown, who stands Warrior's Reward at WynOaks Farm. “In Kentucky, it seems like people want the newest and most recent. In Pennsylvania, we were looking for something that was established. It worked for them and it worked for us.”
The Pennsylvania breeding and racing program also includes some of the most lucrative bonuses in the sport. In conjunction with the Development Fund Trust, breeder awards were increased, with the maximum now set at 40% of the purse. That's what a breeder earns when a horse is by a Pennsylvania sire and was foaled in the state and picks up a check in open company.
“The Pennsylvania program is very rewarding and can give you best chance to recover on your investment if you don't breed the next Derby or Breeders' Cup winner,” Brown said. “In Pennsylvania, they give you a boost. People recognize that there's value here, whether you collect an owners' bonus or a breeders' bonus. It really helps. As we all know, this is an expensive game.”
In 2019, Hoppertunity had 129 mares in his initial book, while Warrior's Reward had 115. Uptowncharlybrown, who stands at Diamond B Farm in Mohrsville, bred 73 mares. Another stallion to keep an eye on is Flashback, who also arrived in Pennsylvania last year and also stands at Diamond B Farm. He is the sire of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and likely Eclipse Award winner British Idiom.
“We are always trying to improve and trying to bring in new stallions,” said Paul O'Loughlin, the bloodstock manager at Northview Stallion Station, which stands Hoppertunity. “Like with everyone else, you have to get the right stallion with the right star power to attract the breeders to bring their mares. We're fortunate that the boss man (Northview President, CEO Richard Golden) is willing to write the check to get the best available stallions. You need to get 80 or more mares to these young stallions for them to have a good shot. In Pennsylvania, if you have the goods in a stallion you'll get that done. Hoppertunity bred 129 mares last year. He was easy for me. He sold himself. He was a very good race horse, was sound and made a lot of money. What we are seeing now is that a. lot of out of state mares are coming in to be bred because of the program and are staying so the foal will be a Pennsylvania-bred.”
With the 2020 breeding season right around the corner, Sanfratello is confident it will be another big year for the state's breeding industry. After years of uncertainty, there doesn't appear to be anything holding it back.
“People are more willing now to take a chance on a stallion in Pennsylvania,” Sanfratello said. “They know the rewards are there and the Development Trust Fund guarantees that the money isn't going anywhere. These are great incentives to breed in Pennsylvania.”
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