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 Stud.
The book also shows a decline in the combined foal crops of the two countries to be 5%, falling from 13,443 in 2019 to 12,778. Weatherbys does, however, issue the caveat that foal registrations have been carried out later by some breeders owing to “the unique challenges presented by Covid”, and that could lead to a higher number of foals being registered between the end of September and next February's Return Of Mares Supplement.
The registered shortfall for now is more pronounced in Britain, where the number of foals dropped by 9% to 4,236, the steepest reduction since a 16% drop in 2010. The numbers rose steadily during the middle of the last decade, to a recent high of 4,674 in 2017. In Ireland, the foal crop was down by 2.8% year-on-year to 8,542, the third consecutive small reduction since 9,044 foals were registered in 2017.
Similarly, the number of mares at stud in Britain dropped and is now 8,161 compared to 9,015 just three years ago, with almost 86% of those mares having been covered in 2020. The reduction in broodmare numbers in Ireland has been more modest and currently stands at 14,201 compared to 14,434 in 2017, with 89% having been covered.
The number of recorded coverings in 2020 was also down—to 19,961 from 20,819 in 2017. Ireland lost 20 stallions from its ranks in 2020 and now has 232, while Britain's tally was down by just three to 149.
The Return Of Mares can be bought from the Weatherbys offices at Tattersalls or Goffs during the sales and can also be ordered online via this link.
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