A bill that aims to ban the Jockey Club’s 2020 rule limiting the number of mares bred per stallion was introduced in the Kentucky House of Representatives on February 14, with the Speaker of the House. David Osborne and Representative Matt Koch sponsored the bill.
The bill, HB 496, outlines six action items, principally “to create a new section of KRS Chapter 230 to prohibit a thoroughbred registry from limiting the number of mares to be crossed with a horse breed or refuse to register a foal based on the number of mares crossed with the foal’s foals.”
The Jockey Club adopted a new rule on May 7, 2020, creating a fundamental change in the North American commercial Thoroughbred livestock industry by limiting the annual bookkeeping of all horses. Breed to a maximum of 140 mares. The “Stock Helmet” is applicable to stallions born in 2020 (i.e. ponies that are 2 years old this year) and older and does not affect current active stallions.
A similar limit for Standardbreds was introduced in 2011 by that breed’s registry, the American Trotting Association, which actually began restricting stud books in 2009.
This rule was created to address declining diversity and related Purebred genetic resources. The decline in genetic diversity was linked to a trend since 1996 by one study in the stallion breeding books of more than 100 mares. According to statistics from The Jockey Club, the percentage of mares bred to stallions with a book count of 140 or more has increased from 9.5% of all mares bred in 2007 to 27% in 2019.
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The rule did not have popular support. Spendthrift Farm, Ashford Stud (under the name Bemak NV) and Three Chimneys have filed lawsuits against The Jockey Club and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC has been designated as respondent due to official capacity with the regulator). The Jockey Club filed a dismissal of that lawsuit in March 2021.
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In an additional October 28 response to the Jockey Club’s layoff proposal, the farms stated Mares Bred’s 2021 Report showed they would be significantly impacted by the new rule and therefore , has the legal standing to challenge it. The Mares Bred report shows that these three farms have 23 of the 45 North American stallions that have bred more than 140 mares in 2021 and 11 of the top 13 stallions by mares. insemination. These 23 stallions covered 4,397 mares in 2021, representing 26% of all mares bred in Kentucky. The farms argued that if the “sampling cap” was in place, it would equate to a reduction of 1,177 males mating with these sires.
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The bill also seeks to “direct the Kentucky Equestrian Commission to select and use the Thoroughbred registrar; require the registry to submit to Kentucky jurisdiction and comply with KRS Chapter 230; instruct the racing commission vehicle issues administrative regulations regarding the Thoroughbred registrar; amends KRS 230.210 to remove the Purebred domain registrar example; and amends KRS 230,400 to allow a development fund registrar Kentucky Thoroughbred stamps the certificate of the domain registrar.”
Upon arriving at the New York office, Jockey Club president and chief executive Jim Gagliano declined to comment.
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