It is that time of the year again when I evaluate the status of the production of thoroughbreds. Horse racing faces an existential threat as the breeding industry undergoes a crisis of underinvestment. Recently, I spoke with Dr Sophia Ramlall, an outstanding veterinary practitioner. The global decline in available thoroughbreds came up inevitably, and interestingly, she is concerned that despite government-backed incentives instituted in the United States to attract investors, the response is lukewarm at best.

The last three decades have seen a concerning, major decline of the horse racing industry in the USA and Canada. In 1992, there were 70,393 races in the USA; by the end of 2025, this had declined to 29,401. Foals of 1992 amounted to 35,051, but the breeding sheds only delivered 16,025 in 2025. Canadian farms bred 1,701 foals in 2019, which plummeted to 950 by the end of 2025. Incidentally, the Canadian peak of 7,614 races in 1991 stood at 2,593 at the end of 2025.

The estimated 2026 figures are now available: US farms, the global industry leader, show a decline of around 100 fewer foals, and in Canada, the same number. This is somewhat encouraging, as there have been years when the decline was tenfold this year’s return. The fact of the matter is that the trajectory overall is hardly comforting.

Down under, the Thoroughbred Breeders Australia (TBA) is the national body established for the benefit of the breeding industry. This is a not-for-profit organisation with 4,200 individual breeders and other operatives of the six breeders statewide represented on the island continent to produce around 12,500 foals annually for the TBA to remain the next highest global exporter of bloodstock.

This collaborative model was effective here in Jamaica as well, when individual breeders numbered as many as 200. It seems like such a long time ago since the local sheds delivered 300-plus foals annually up until the end of the first decade of the 21st century. It will be interesting to see precisely what the local breeders have in store for the promoter in 2026.

Dr Simone Johnally in the process of administering Lasix on a horse.

Over in Britain and Ireland, a somewhat healthy 2026 return of 11,374 foals is being compared to 2022’s delivery of 11,943 post-COVID 19. The last two decades have seen a significant overall reduction from the 2007 record of 18,472 that the breeding sheds delivered when the financial crisis between 2008 and 2012 took its toll, and the combined foal crop registered 11,912.

To underscore this concerning decline, the US pari-mutuel handle of US$9.6 billion in 1992, with 255 million inhabitants, was only US$11.03 billion in 2025, even though the US population has since topped 345.5 million. The Canadian handle, from a peak of $823 million in 1990, stood at $683 million by the end of 2025. Proportionately, the downward trajectory is similar in Puerto Rico.

The digital progression of data processing has presented an expansive opportunity to operators of the business of profitably exploiting professional sports over the last two decades. The global reach of the technology saw sports betting return $175 billion in 2024 and is expected to top $354 billion by 2032. Aided by huge audiences in different time zones worldwide, revenue is increasing exponentially, but with a lack of growth, horse racing is incapable of taking advantage.

Truth be told, the organising and promotion of horse racing is a complex exercise. It is vastly different from a team sport, and the challenge lies in the expense of administration and the maintenance of the facilities, as well as sustaining a profile to gain the trust of breeders, actual and potential.

Contact: wesmartin@horseracing.com