LAST year saw one of the lowest combined British-Irish foal crops since the aftermath of the financial crisis, according to figures compiled by Weatherbys.

The number of thoroughbred foals born in the two countries reached a high of 18,500 in 2007 before crashing to a low of less than 12,000 in 2012.

Since then the total has slowly risen again and in 2023 the combined total was just over 14,000. Last year it fell by 7% to 13,000.

Writing in the latest edition of the annual Weatherbys General Stud Book Fact Book, Weatherbys GSB director Simon Cooper says: “The impact of these lower numbers is smaller field sizes. The optimum field size fo maximising [betting] turnover is 11 or 12 runners.

“Declining foal crops on both sides of the Irish Sea and, recognising that 60% of the Irish foal crop is exported to Britain to race, potential field sizes of 6-8 will have an enormous impact on the health and sustainability of our combined racing industries.”

He also notes that “there has been a disproportionate reduction in stallions compared to broodmares in the last 15 years”. During this time, he says, stallion numbers have halved compared to a 25% reduction in the number of broodmares “resulting in us having the highest ratio of stallions to broodmares in the world at 1:60.”

The Weatherbys GSB Fact Book for 2024 is free to read online. Running to 52 pages, it provides a summary of breeding statistics for foals, mares and stallions, including imports and exports, age profiles, gestation ranges, breeders by county, foal colours and other information, covering the British and Irish breeding sectors in 2024.

Web: weatherbys.co.uk/breeding/publications/gsb-fact-book