The trendlines have been all too visible and all too visceral-nationwide declining foal crops and numbers of mares bred.<\/p>\n
Mainstays of the Thoroughbred breeding industry in the state that has produced the likes of Smarty Jones, Hard Spun<\/a> and Unique Bella, however, are beginning to see tentative signs for optimism.<\/p>\n \u201cOur number of mares bred has remained relatively the same the past four years,\u201d said Brian Sanfratello, executive secretary of the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association (PHBA).<\/p>\n
Indeed, the number of mares bred to Pennsylvania stallions has narrowly fluctuated between a high of 453 and a low of around 400 the past four years. The foal crop also hasn’t seen the same kinds of declines as in other states.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully soon it’ll start moving upward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n If you ask Sanfratello why Pennsylvania’s breeding industry has managed to weather the storm better than others, he has several theories. One concerns the racing product.<\/p>\n While other states’ racing programs can be limited, between Parx, Penn National and Presque Isle Downs, Pennsylvania offer something different.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you’re looking for a state with year-round racing, Pennsylvania is the place to be as we offer 331 race days between our three tracks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Another is a richly endowed breeder and owner award program<\/a>. \u201cSo, that’s super important to breeders to get back their money as fast as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He’s not the only one to hold the state’s breeding and owner incentives program in high esteem.<\/p>\n \u201cKentucky is a world onto itself that everybody cares about stud fees,\u201d said Bob Hutt, president and CEO of Uptowncharlybrown Stud<\/a>, a Pennsylvania-based Thoroughbred breeder and management firm with two stallions (Uptowncharlybrown and Eastwood) standing in the state.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Pennsylvania, it’s completely different. Pennsylvania has the best state-bred program as far as I’m concerned in the country,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n An infographic<\/a> on the PHBA’s website shows how a registered PA-bred can walk away from a $50,000 purse race at Parx with nearly $59,000 in the pocket. It breaks down this way: $30,000 from the purse, a 40% owner bonus worth $12,000 (the percentage changes for different tracks), and a 40% PA-sired breeder award coming to $16,800.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re very consistent on the awards that we paid out over the past 13 years-last year we paid out $23 million in awards and bonuses,\u201d said Sanfratello, pointing out how the 13-year annual average comes out at $27.5 million. \u201cOur highest breeding fund recipient last year was the Warriors Reward Syndicate and they received $819,519 in awards.\u201d<\/p>\n This program, agrees Hutt, is especially lucrative for the owner-breeders in the state. Through his own wallet, Hutt said Uptowncharlybrown Stud has walked away with an annual average of $768,624 for the past three years.<\/p>\n \u201cBroodmares bred to Uptowncharlybrown in the past three years have earned approximately $3 million,\u201d said Hutt. \u201cAnd whether I own the mare or I don’t own the mare, I still get the stallion awards of 10%. He’s earned personally for Uptowncharlybrown Stud over $200,000 a year.\u201d<\/p>\n Complementing Pennsylvania’s owner-breeder awards program is a comprehensive calendar of restricted races for Pennsylvania-breds including an extensive stakes-program, some restricted solely to PA-sired Pennsylvania-breds.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd this is our second year of our yearling show. Anybody that’s involved in that yearling show is eligible for bonuses at the end of their two-year-old and three-year-old years,\u201d said Sanfratello.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have $20,000 in awards that are broken between the top four two-year-olds in earnings and $20,000 that’s broken between the top four three-year-olds in earnings. And those earnings can be anywhere,\u201d Sanfratello added. \u201cIt doesn’t have to be just in Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n The state also offers a Pennsylvania-bred maiden claiming waiver (for races at $25k and above) at Penn National, \u201cas we want to get breeding costs back to the breeder as soon as we can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n All these programs combined amount to a \u201cvery significant amount\u201d of money, said Sanfratello. \u201cSo, keeping these programs going will help to greatly stabilize the horse population and the number of race days that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n More broadly, stakeholders have put the necessary hard work and financial investment into the state industry, Sanfratello said. \u201cWe had one of our longtime breeders put a lot of money into a great farm, where he stands a few stallions. I think that helped, too, because people now have a spot where they can make choices,\u201d said Sanfratello, of Rich Miller’s Mountain Springs Stables<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone who’s looking for a stallion can go there and they may say, ‘Well, I like him, but maybe he’s too big for my mare or he’s too small.’ But there’s another six stallions there to look at. It makes it a little bit easier for them to choose,\u201d said Sanfratello.<\/p>\n
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