State of Play
By The Numbers looks into a suite of key stats to chart how the breeding industry dynamic between Australian states has changed over the past 20 years.
For many in the breeding and bloodstock industry, August is synonymous with stallion parades, where the crowds head out to the thoroughbred heartlands and inspect the leading sires around the country.
The studs of the Hunter Valley will be in sharp focus over the next couple of weeks, and rightly so given the volume and quality of racehorses bred in the historic heart of the Australian industry.
Last year, 44.7 per cent of Australia’s thoroughbred foals were born in New South Wales, a total of 5,664 new arrivals, the majority of which were from the Hunter region.
The New South Wales foal crop has fallen some 24.6 per cent on where it was at the turn of the century, but that drop is not as significant as the overall reduction of Australia’s foal numbers in that time, which stands at 30.6 per cent.
In real numbers, there were 5,576 fewer foals in Australia in 2022 than there were in 2001, but the percentage of those foals born in New South Wales has risen from 41.2 per cent to 44.7 per cent.
Victoria’s representation in the foal crop numbers is another major change over that period. Last year, Victorian foals made up 27.1 per cent of the overall crop. That figure was 22.9 per cent in 2001/02.
The upward trend is relatively recent. After 20 years of continual decline in terms of total numbers, the Victorian foal crop jumped 8.7 per cent in 2018, as new players such as Yulong entered the market, reinvigorating the industry.
It’s a trend that is only set to continue with Yulong’s broodmare band now at 630, and, as ANZ Bloodstock News recently reported, 380 foals are expected this spring. That would be more than ten per cent of the expected foal crop for the state coming from one breeder.
The above stats mean that 71.8 per cent of Australians foals in 2022 were born in its two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria. Twenty years ago, that number stood at 64 per cent. So where has that share of foal crop been taken from?
The answer is primarily Queensland. The highest ratio of Australian foals born in Queensland this century was in 2007, the year of equine influenza, when it was 19.5 per cent. In 2001, it stood at 18.8 per cent. Last season it was 15 per cent, which is a slight rebound from 2018 when it was at its lowest mark of 14.2 per cent. In real terms, the foal crop in Queensland has fallen from 3,428 in 2001 to 1,904 last year, a drop of 44.6 per cent.
Foal crop percentage by Australian/state/territory – 2001-2022
| Year | Foal crop | NSW | VIC | QLD | WA | SA | TAS | ACT | NT |
| 2001 | 18235 | 41.2% | 22.9% | 18.8% | 9.1% | 5.8% | 2.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2002 | 18315 | 39.7% | 25.2% | 18.7% | 8.9% | 5.3% | 2.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2003 | 17337 | 40.3% | 23.9% | 18.3% | 9.5% | 5.3% | 2.5% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2004 | 17737 | 42.7% | 22.7% | 18.3% | 9.3% | 4.6% | 2.3% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2005 | 18576 | 41.8% | 24.1% | 18.4% | 8.9% | 4.4% | 2.4% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2006 | 18728 | 41.1% | 23.3% | 18.6% | 9.7% | 4.4% | 2.6% | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| 2007 | 18480 | 39.5% | 23.4% | 19.5% | 10.6% | 4.4% | 2.4% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 2008 | 16552 | 39.1% | 26.0% | 16.4% | 11.7% | 4.2% | 2.3% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 2009 | 17553 | 41.1% | 23.6% | 18.7% | 10.7% | 3.8% | 1.9% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 2010 | 15893 | 42.4% | 22.9% | 17.6% | 11.0% | 3.9% | 2.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2011 | 15017 | 43.1% | 24.5% | 17.7% | 9.7% | 3.2% | 1.7% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2012 | 14519 | 44.9% | 24.2% | 16.1% | 9.6% | 3.5% | 1.6% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2013 | 13799 | 45.0% | 24.5% | 15.3% | 9.5% | 3.8% | 1.8% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2014 | 12992 | 44.8% | 24.0% | 15.3% | 9.5% | 4.4% | 1.8% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2015 | 12858 | 45.5% | 24.0% | 16.1% | 8.1% | 4.2% | 2.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2016 | 13069 | 46.6% | 24.4% | 15.7% | 7.7% | 3.8% | 1.8% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2017 | 13075 | 46.7% | 24.8% | 14.9% | 7.3% | 4.0% | 2.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2018 | 13019 | 45.4% | 27.1% | 14.2% | 7.7% | 3.4% | 2.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2019 | 12749 | 45.2% | 27.7% | 14.4% | 7.1% | 3.3% | 2.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 12666 | 44.7% | 27.9% | 14.7% | 7.2% | 3.1% | 2.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 12527 | 44.5% | 28.0% | 14.7% | 7.3% | 3.1% | 2.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2022 | 12659 | 44.7% | 27.1% | 15.0% | 7.6% | 2.8% | 2.6% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
Western Australia’s contribution has also slumped. It provided 9.1 per cent of the foal crop in 2001 and reached a height of 11.7 per cent in 2008, but was just 7.6 per cent last year. The WA crop was approaching 2,000 a year in the late 2000s, but in 2022, dropped below 1,000 to 964.
The drop in numbers is even more dramatic in South Australia, which produced 1,053 foals in 2001, or 5.8 per cent of the national total, but in 2022, its foal crop was 358, or 2.8 per cent.
The contribution of Australia’s smallest state, Tasmania, has remained largely consistent over the past 22 years, between that two to three per cent of total foal crop.
The fascinating thing about Tasmania is the growth of stallions standing in the island state. It had 23 thoroughbred stallions on rosters last year, nine more than South Australia, and the same amount it had in 2001. Nationally, the total number of thoroughbred stallions has fallen by 62.7 per cent over the same time period.
A more selective approach to commercial breeding as the 21st century has progressed has led to a national trend of stallion rationalisation. In New South Wales, the number of stallions on rosters in 2001 was 409, while last year it was 143. Similarly, in the same time period, Victoria’s stallion population has reduced from 256 to 119.
In terms of state-by-state representation, New South Wales remains the dominant location with 32.5 per cent of the total. That has fallen slightly since 2001 when it was 34.6 per cent.
In contrast, Victoria’s share of the stallion population has grown steadily from 21.7 per cent in 2001 to 27 per cent last year. In real terms, the number of stallions reduced at a slower rate than NSW and then steadied/slightly increased in the past five years.
Queensland’s share of the stallion population peaked at 25.5 per cent in 2010, but slipped to 20 per cent in 2019 before a slight bounce in the years since, partially attributable to Aquis’ focus on the Sunshine State. The total number of stallions dropped below 100 last year for the first time this century, which when it started out saw nearly 300 active Queensland stallions.
South Australia’s numbers have also collapsed, from 62 in 2011 to just 14 last year. During the pomp of Lindsay Park, the state was an emerging breeding powerhouse, but from hosting 5.3 per cent of stallions in 2001 that representation dropped to 3.2 per cent last year.
Stallions by Australian state/territory 2001-2022
| Year | Total | NSW | VIC | QLD | WA | SA | TAS | ACT | NT |
| 2001 | 1182 | 409 | 256 | 297 | 133 | 62 | 23 | 1 | 1 |
| 2002 | 1045 | 365 | 239 | 247 | 110 | 55 | 28 | 0 | 1 |
| 2003 | 992 | 351 | 233 | 231 | 108 | 42 | 25 | 1 | 1 |
| 2004 | 967 | 330 | 227 | 224 | 103 | 52 | 30 | 1 | 0 |
| 2005 | 938 | 302 | 225 | 220 | 111 | 49 | 30 | 1 | 0 |
| 2006 | 877 | 296 | 211 | 202 | 93 | 49 | 24 | 1 | 1 |
| 2007 | 860 | 292 | 188 | 209 | 98 | 44 | 25 | 0 | 4 |
| 2008 | 890 | 292 | 208 | 217 | 102 | 45 | 22 | 1 | 3 |
| 2009 | 869 | 279 | 203 | 214 | 108 | 38 | 25 | 0 | 2 |
| 2010 | 819 | 259 | 195 | 209 | 94 | 36 | 25 | 0 | 1 |
| 2011 | 794 | 252 | 197 | 190 | 92 | 38 | 23 | 1 | 1 |
| 2012 | 758 | 248 | 184 | 186 | 82 | 32 | 24 | 1 | 1 |
| 2013 | 695 | 228 | 177 | 161 | 76 | 30 | 22 | 1 | 0 |
| 2014 | 667 | 229 | 152 | 158 | 77 | 30 | 20 | 0 | 1 |
| 2015 | 644 | 214 | 163 | 147 | 70 | 32 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | 617 | 209 | 144 | 146 | 67 | 33 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 613 | 202 | 153 | 140 | 66 | 32 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 584 | 200 | 159 | 122 | 60 | 27 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 500 | 156 | 148 | 100 | 54 | 26 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 523 | 172 | 151 | 108 | 54 | 21 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 473 | 150 | 137 | 96 | 55 | 16 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 440 | 143 | 119 | 98 | 43 | 14 | 23 | 0 | 0 |
With such a fall in stallion numbers in South Australia, what has logically followed is a drop in the broodmare population. From 2,248 broodmares resident in the state in 2001, it has fallen to 986 in 2020. That 56.1 per cent reduction, most of which happened in a five-year period from 2009 to 2014, was the largest of any of the states over that time period.
As of 2020, New South Wales had 37.5 per cent of Australia’s broodmares, a ratio which has barely changed in 20 years, while Victoria’s representation has grown in line with its stallion population to 27.7 per cent.
Queensland registered breeders had 20.8 per cent of Australia’s broodmares in 2001, but that had fallen to 17.5 per cent by 2020. WA’s share of broodmares stood at 12.3 per cent in 2010, but had dropped to 9.2 per cent a decade later. Tassie’s broodmare population has not kept pace with its stallion options and in 2020 was at a historically low 2.3 per cent of the national total, or just 437 mares.
Reductions in the number of stallions, foals and broodmares are not necessarily a negative indicator of the health of the breeding industry. Indeed, in many ways they point to a much more efficient industry, with a higher percentage of mares getting in foal and more of those foals getting to the track.
What has also changed is that the Australian industry has become more centralised, with New South Wales and Victoria now standing 59.5 per cent of the stallions, compared to 56.2 per cent in 2001. Accordingly, they have 64.4 per cent of the broodmares when it was 59 per cent 21 years ago, while as mentioned, they have 71.8 per cent of the foal crop, compared to 64 per cent. All indicators say it’s a position that will only continue to strengthen.