Executive Review By Tracy Egan, Executive Director In November of 2018 the Thoroughbred Daily News, which bills itself as the leading publication for owners, breeders and industry professionals, posted an article declaring “2018: The Year of the New York-Bred.” We have to agree. Over the past six years, New York-foaled horses registered by the Fund have demonstrated star power at the highest levels of racing, winning graded and open stakes races more frequently and setting new records at auction sales. Notable benchmarks for the past year: Twelve NY-breds scored graded stakes wins in 2018, with five of those victories coming at the Grade 1 or Group 1 level. Worldwide purse earnings topped $93 million and NY-breds earned more than $68 million on Thoroughbred tracks in New York State. NY-breds ran for more than $44 million in restricted purse money. More than 800 restricted races were run at New York tracks. Led by sales of NY-bred two-year-olds and yearlings, auction results demonstrated that demand for NY- breds expanded in 2018, providing further evidence that New York is the premier regional Thoroughbred breeding program. Revenues from Video Lottery Terminals recovered slightly from the declines seen in 2017, and total revenue from 2018 increased marginally from 2017 levels. The NYTBDF was able to pay out 100% of awards earned in 2018. The Fund remained the main supporter of research conducted by the Zweig Fund by contributing 2% of our total revenue. There was a small year-to-year decline in the foal crop, in line with predictions of the foal crop size made by The Jockey Club. The headcount of 1,631 foals dropped on NY farms in 2018 is 74 fewer than in 2017. While this figure represents a year-to year-decrease of 4.1%, it remains a 33.1% increase over the 2011 foal crop, which was the smallest of the past decade in New York. We can thank the spectacle of a winning Triple Crown campaign by Justify for elevating Thoroughbred racing’s exposure to the public during 2018. And the fact that the final jewel in that crown is the Belmont Stakes, also the highlight of NYRA’s Belmont Festival, New York racing maintained a winning public profile and took in more than $2.1 billion in handle from all sources. This was accomplished despite the fact that 193 races were taken off the turf and NYRA lost 10 full days and three partial days of racing due to weather. Even the Whitney Stakes, in which Diversify and Mind Your Biscuits provided a NY-bred exacta by finishing 1-2, was delayed by an old-fashioned Saratoga thunderstorm. Significantly, those two NY-sired horses had two more NY-breds join them as Grade or Group 1 winners here in the U.S. and abroad. We also had five Grade II winners and three Grade III winners to remind the public about the quality Thoroughbreds being produced on New York farms. Additionally, as you’ll see in the various charts and reports that follow, NY-breds raced for more restricted purse money ($44 million) than any other regional program and earned more money than any other group outside of Kentucky. NY-breds also earned more per start than any group outside the Bluegrass State with the exception of Massachusetts, which had fewer than 50 starters in 2018. STALLIONS New York added four new stallions to its roster in 2018, which provided a larger variety of stallion lines for the state’s mare population. In total, 54 stallions registered by the NY Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund stood in the state. While New York’s stallion roster was popular with breeders who prefer to breed in-state due to the double award rate for NY-sired horses, for the first time more than half of the foals dropped in our state were sired by stallions standing outside of NYS or by a handful of stallions that stand in New York but are not registered by the NYTBDF (see the charts on pages 31 to 33 of this report). A major factor leading to the increase in the use out-of-state sires is the increasingly strict selection process for the Fasig-Tipton NY-bred sale held in August, the premier sale for NY-bred yearlings. For the second year in a row, fewer than 25% of yearlings in that highly favored “Preferred” sale were sired by registered New York stallions. Below are the sires new to the state in 2018. A Shin Forward was returned to New York by his breeder Vivien Malloy to stand at Rockridge Stud in Hudson. The NY-bred son of Forest Wildcat and the Cure the Blues mare Wake Up Kiss returns to America from Japan with laurels from winning the 2010 edition of the Mile Championship (Jpn-I) at Kyoto Racecourse in stakes record time of 1:31.8. The stallion made 31 starts in Hong Kong and Japan with six wins, three seconds and three thirds, amassing earnings of 299,071,000 yen ($3,416,216). A Shin Forward formerly stood at Lex Stud in Japan. Market Rally is by Unbridled’s Song, meaning he is from a sire line that is very popular in the commercial market. Market Rally brings to stud a race record of 3 wins from 4 starts, including a G3 win. The five-year old is out of a stakes-placed Mr. Greeley mare and will stand as a joint venture with Dutchess Views Stallions and Irish Hill Century Farm at the latter’s location in Stillwater. Market Rally’s debut win at a mile was so impressive that he was purchased privately and sent to compete in Dubai. He won two stakes there, including the Grade III UAE Two Thousand Guineas Sponsored by Gulf News. His stud fee, live foal stands and nurses, is $3,000. Union Jackson, by highly commercial stallion Curlin out of the precocious Grade I winner Hot Dixie Chick by Dixie Union, carries a Kentucky Derby winner up close in his pedigree, as his second dam produced Always Dreaming, winner of the 2017 Derby. The handsome stakes winner and graded-stakes performer was on the board in nine of 11 starts and will stand at Sequel Stallions New York. He stands as a joint venture between Sequel Stallions and Stonestreet Stables. Significantly, this is the first time that Stonestreet Stables is participating in the New York program. His stud fee, live foal stands and nurses, is $5,000. Greek Sun, a 2001 son of Danzig, is new to New York State for 2018 but began his stud career in Maryland back in 2008. Greek Sun distinguished himself on the turf, winning four of eight starts with earnings of $343,097. Significantly, he won the Grade II Oak Tree Derby and the Grade III Cinema Breeders’ Cup Handicap, and placed second in the Grade I Secretariat Stakes for trainer Bob Baffert. The stallion will stand at Robert Wright’s Total Bloodstock for a private stud fee. Newcomers to the 2019 NY Stallion Roster It appears that in 2019 New York will have a very similar number of registered stallions to the 54 standing in the state in 2018. When a mare is bred to a registered NY stallion and delivers her foal on a farm in New York, the resulting foal will be eligible for double the breeder awards earned by the offspring on non-registered stallions or stallions standing in another state. Here’s a quick look at the new stallions on our 2019 roster: Camelot Kitten This son of Kitten’s Joy is a full brother to Grade I Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Bobby’s Kitten and is himself a multiple Grade II and Grade III winner. The six-year-old was a first-out winner for owner/breeders Ken and Sarah Ramsey who went on to make 23 starts with 6 wins and 3 seconds, for earning of $1,069,477. Among Camelot Kitten’s stakes wins are the American Turf Stakes (G2), the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes (G2), the Hill Prince Stakes (G3) and the Pennine Ridge Stakes (G3). He will stand at Questroyal North for a fee of $5,000. Destin This son of the late Giant’s Causeway comes to stud with the same good bone, balance and scope that he demonstrated as a sale yearling to bring a bid of $400,000. As a full brother to leading sire Creative Cause, who stands in Kentucky, breeders have the opportunity to save on the shipping and boarding fees and provide the same genes to their mares through this multiple Grade II winner. He is standing at Sequel Stallions New York for a relatively modest $6,500 stud fee. Frank Conversation This multiple graded stakes winner is by sire of the hour Quality Road, whose son City of Light vanquished all comers in the Grade I Pegasus Stakes in January 2019. Quality Road was also ranked the number one sire of 2018 based on number of Grade I stakes winners. The handsome and robust Frank Conversation raced 19 times with 4 wins, including a G2 and G3 victory. He will stand at Rockridge Stud for a fee of $5,000. Green Gratto This durable campaigner saved the best for last by winning the Grade I Carter Handicap at age seven. He raced 65 times collecting nine wins, nine seconds and nine thirds, and amassing earnings of $1,149,200. He is a large and imposing horse yet demonstrated that he was quick and handy on the racetrack, with plenty of gate speed.