Executive Review By Tracy Egan, Executive Director Mission Statement: To promote by monetary incentives the responsible breeding of quality Thoroughbred racehorses in keeping with the founding legislation to preserve New York’s irreplaceable farmland. There are many subjects covered in our annual report to the governor and legislature that demonstrate that the NY Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund is succeeding in supporting the above mission statement. The quality of New York-breds was demonstrated through graded stakes wins at tracks ranging from Dubai in the Middle East to California, by strong performances in the sale ring, and most of all by a nearly 5% increase in the 2017 foal crop. Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Brown keeps a close watch on the North American Thoroughbred industry and notes that, “The New York-bred program continues to be the finest breeding program of its kind in the United States. The quality of horses continues to improve in the sales ring and on the racetrack.” Benchmarks for the past year: Sixteen NY-breds scored wins in 19 graded stakes, with three of those victories coming at the Grade 1 level. The foal crop in New York grew for the sixth year in a row, representing a nearly 40 percent increase over 2011, when the foal crop hit its lowest point of the past decade. Led by sales of NY-bred weanlings, auction results demonstrated that demand for NY-breds expanded in 2017, providing further evidence that New York is the premier regional Thoroughbred breeding program. More than 800 restricted races were run at New York tracks. NY-breds ran for more than $42 million in restricted purse money. Revenues from Video Lottery Terminals dipped considerably in 2017, but the NYTBDF was still able to pay out 100% of awards that were earned. The Fund is the main supporter of research conducted by the Zweig Fund, with a 2017 contribution of $389,399. STALLIONS New York added 12 stallions to its Stallion Roster in 2017, which provided a larger variety of stallion lines for the state’s mare population. In total, 64 stallions registered by the NY Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund stood in New York State. While New York’s stallion roster was popular with NY breeders who prefer to breed in-state in the hope of receiving double the breeder awards when producing an athlete that wins on NY tracks, nearly half of NY mares delivered foals by out-of-state sires in 2017 (see the charts on pages 44 and 45 of this report). A major factor leading to the increase in the use out-of-state sires is the increasingly selective selection process for the Fasig-Tipton NY-bred sale held in August, which is the premier sales venue for NY-bred yearlings. This year, only 25% of yearlings in that sale were by NY sires. Late in the year, three new sires were set to join the stallion ranks for the 2018 breeding season. A Shin Forward is being returned to New York by his breeder Vivienne 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 GIII 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 and 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. NY-BREDS AT AUCTION IN 2017 Over the past seven years, the fortunes of New York-breds at public auction have gone from strength to strength. The successes are due, in part, to the national economic recovery from the recession of 2008, but unique factors have led to a dramatic expansion of the state-bred sales marketplace and transformed New York into the premier regional Thoroughbred breeding program in the nation. The watershed moment was the opening of Genting’s Resorts World New York Casino at Aqueduct Racetrack in October 2011, which infused substantial VLT revenue into the racing and breeding sectors. In response, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) hiked purses to unprecedented levels, and the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding Fund (the Fund) implemented a 50% across-the-board increase in breeders’ awards. Ever since, sales of New York-bred yearlings, weanlings and two-year-olds have enjoyed a dramatic upward trajectory. Total Sales 2010-17: NY-Bred Yearlings, Weanlings, 2YOs $35,000,000 $30,000,000 $25,000,000 $20,000,000 $15,000,000 $10,000,000 $5,000,000 $0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total Yearling Sales Total Weanling Sales Total 2YO Sales Each fresh set of year-end New York-bred sales data adds an interesting and nuanced chapter to the overarching story of growth, usually with one or another class of sales horse providing the main sales headline in any given year. In 2013, for example, the New York-bred yearling market took off. The following year, the most dramatic gains were made by New York-bred two-year-olds. In 2017, weanlings headline the New York-bred sales report. In 2017, New York-bred weanling sales hit new heights, increasing over the previous year by 81.5% in total sales, 59.2% in average price and 42.1% in median. At the most high-profile venue for weanling sales of the year, the two-week Keeneland November sale, New York-bred weanlings made a national statement, dramatically outperforming the general population of the auction. They posted a $94,335 average and $75,000 median, compared to the overall average and median of $69,392 and $37,000, respectively. The New York-bred yearling market was also impressive in 2017. After experiencing a “correction” in 2016, yearling sales rebounded in 2017, exceeding the 2015 levels and setting new records. The most significant auction of the year for the New York marketplace, the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling sale in Saratoga, posted a record average, record median and record total sales, and saw a new all-time top-seller. Finally, the New York-bred two-year-old market gained back significant ground after undergoing a correction in 2016. Following the banner year of 2014, when the juvenile market increased in value by 72.4%, those gains were maintained in 2015 but in 2016 double-digit declines were seen across the board. In 2017, however, total sales gained back 17.7% and nudged up the average by 3.2%. It will be interesting to see whether the juveniles will rebound fully in 2018 when the pricey 2017 yearlings hit the sales ring as two-year-olds. Underlying all the positive sales news is the larger story of the success of the New York breeding program. Because incentive awards and lucrative purses have increased competition in the sales ring for top-tier New York-breds, breeders are putting extra resources and effort into breeding better horses. These higher-quality horses, in turn, tend to be more successful at the racetrack, which raises the profile of the New York-bred “brand” and drives up auction prices in the next round. Thus, by way of a positive feedback loop, breeders must keep raising the bar to compete, which improves the quality of the program’s products with each passing year. In fact, at the end of 2017 the head of the oldest Thoroughbred auction house in the world, Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, noted that the performances of NY-breds at auction and on the track illustrate that the NY program “is truly the gold standard.” BECOMING A NEW YORK-BRED In order to encourage breeders to keep their mares and foals at New York State farms, the Fund has firm rules that must be followed to ensure that a foal that is dropped here is eligible to become a registered NY-bred. Breeders must make sure that their mares follow our residency rules, which in some cases necessitate that they breed their mare back to a registered NY stallion, file mare movement cards to help us establish compliance, and allow their mares to be inspected by our registry compliance team.