Return Of Mares

This year has seen a 6% decrease in the number of live foals registered to date in the General Stud Book, according to the Return of Mares, which has been published by Weatherbys. The returns to September 30, 2024 show that a total of 12,578 foals have been born in Britain and Ireland, 840 fewer than the 2023 figure of 13,438. It marks the first time in the last decade that the overall foal crop has fallen by more than 4% from one year to the next. The 6% drop...

Equinox (Jpn), who was crowned Longines World's Best Racehorse in 2023, covered 203 mares in his first season at Shadai Stallion Station in 2024, the stud has announced. Beaten just twice in 10 career starts, Equinox broke new ground when he retired to Shadai as his introductory fee of ¥20 million (around €124,000) was a record high for a first-season stallion in Japan. He shared top billing on the Hokkaido roster with his own sire, Kitasan Black (Jpn), who also stood at a fee of ¥20 million when covering 191...

Crystal Ocean (GB), the top-rated horse in the world in 2019, now has a new accolade as the busiest stallion at stud in Britain and Ireland, according to the Return of Mares, which has been published by Weatherbys. The son of Sea The Stars (Ire), who stands for Coolmore's National Hunt division at The Beeches Stud in Co Waterford, covered 335 mares. Leading the Flat sires was Coolmore's Sioux Nation on 289. Frankel (GB), who is on his way to regaining his champion sire title in 2023, covered 196 mares...

Covering numbers are more an indication of fashion than of success but, this being, as we so often hear, "a numbers game", it is worth having a closer look at the Flat stallions in Britain and Ireland who have been gifted books into three figures this year. We will also be looking in more depth at the French covering numbers in the coming days. According to the statistics recently published by Weatherbys in the annual Return of Mares, there were 62 stallions who covered 100 or more mares in 2022,...

Coolmore's Sioux Nation topped the charts of the busiest Flat stallions in Britain and Ireland in 2022, with 255 mares covered, just head of Tally-Ho Stud's new recruit Starman (GB) on 254.  Weatherbys' recently published Return of Mares shows that Starman's stable-mate Mehmas (Ire) was sent 249 mares, the same number as Coolmore resident Wootton Bassett (GB), while the most active sire in Britain was Overbury Stud's Ardad (Ire), who covered 205. The only other British-based stallion in the top ten on numbers was the champion sire Frankel (GB), who...

The coronavirus pandemic may have come into full force halfway through the 2020 covering season but, generally, breeders appear to have stuck to their plans and carried on with their matings. The total number of coverings did drop slightly to 19,961 (from 20,819) with 19% of the mares in production being sent to a stallion with a book in excess of 200. This year, according to the recently published Return Of Mares from Weatherbys, there were 17 stallions in Britain and Ireland in that bracket, 12 of which are standing...

It's not a new phenomenon for a Flat stallion to switch to a National Hunt stud and suddenly find himself in strong demand and that was certainly the case this year for Maxios (GB), who moved from Gestut Fahrhof to Castlehyde Stud, where he covered 298 mares. Weatherbys, which has just published its annual Return Of Mares, records the son of Monsun (Ger) as the busiest stallion of 2020 in Britain and Ireland, while the most in-demand freshman sire was Crystal Ocean (GB), who covered 280 mares at The Beeches...