foal crop decline

The number of Thoroughbred trainers who started at least one horse in North America declined in 2024, dipping from 4,058 in 2023 to 3,886 in 2024, a reduction of 4.2%. The slippage is largely in step with the fall-off of the annual foal crop and the closure of racetracks across the continent. Using year-end historical statistics posted on Equibase to make comparisons, the number of North American trainers has dropped 21.5% from five years ago, when 4,955 conditioners were active in 2019. Ten years ago, in 2014, there were 6,262...