British and Irish foal crop falls for a third straight year

The combined British and Irish foal crop has fallen for a third consecutive year with Weatherbys’ Return of Mares for 2026 recording 11,312 foals registered by September 30, down 2.4 per cent from 11,593 in 2025.

The crop is now 17.2 per cent below the 13,670 recorded in 2023. It fell to 12,809 in 2024, then by more than nine per cent last year. The run of declines follows a brief recovery in 2021 and 2022.

Britain took the larger hit this year, with registrations falling 6.3 per cent, from 3,915 to 3,670, while Ireland, where numbers slumped 12 per cent a year ago, slipped 0.5 per cent to 7,642.

The broodmare population is also shrinking.

There were 19,585 active mares across the two countries, down almost four per cent from 20,337 in 2025 and from 21,963 in 2024. Ireland accounts for 12,701 of them and Britain 6,884.

Meanwhile, Britain has one more stallion than last year at 90, while Ireland’s stallion ranks fell from 141 to 133.

Covering activity held up despite the smaller mare band. Some 15,743 mares were reported covered by September 30, against 15,732 at the same point last year.

In Britain, coverings rose from 5,481 to 5687, or 82.6 per cent of active mares, up from 77 per cent. Ireland’s coverings dipped from 10,251 to 10,056, though that is a higher share of its band at 79.2 per cent, up from 77.6 per cent.

In the same publication, Weatherbys named Starman as the busiest sire in Britain and Ireland, covering 324 mares at Tally-Ho Stud.

He was the first flat stallion to top the list in at least five years. Maxios (309), Los Angeles (292) and Delacroix (282) followed.

The British and Irish contraction mirrors trends closer to home. Australia’s 2025 crop was 11,283 live foals, almost identical to the combined British and Irish figure. In New Zealand, breeders’ association research put the decline at 10 per cent since 2020.

Data released last week by The Jockey Club in the United States projected a North American registered foal crop of 16,500 for 2027, down 500, or 2.9 per cent, from its 2026 estimate of 17,000.

The registry’s separate United States figures show 11 consecutive annual declines from 2016 through the 2026 estimate, with the crop falling from 21,529 in 2015 to an estimated 15,850 in 2026 — a drop of 26.4 per cent.