Breeding & Racing Magazine

Japan Foal Crop Down 34% Since 1992 Peak

The Japan Racing Association reported the country's 2008 registered foal crop was approximately 6,800: a 34% drop since the 1992 peak of 10,309 foals. And the number of stallions has fallen by more than 50% over the same period: from 603 in 1991 (the year the largest foal crop was conceived) to 281 in 2008. Among those stallions, 104 (37%) were imported (primarily from the US) & 10 of the 281 stallions standing in Japan last year covered almost 20% of the nation's 11,360 mares that were bred. Each of those 10 (all of whom stood at the Yoshida family's Shadai Stallion Station) was bred to more than 200 mares (& 6 of the 10 are sons of Sunday Silence, including the top 3: Agnes Tachyon, Daiwa Major & Fuji Kiseki).