PRESIDENT’S REPORT

from 2023 Spring/Summer | NSW Breeders Update

FROM HERE ON

Welcome to the latest edition of the Breeders Update Dear Members,

For those of you (many that you were) who attended our annual Awards lunch held at Rosehill Racecourse you would’ve undoubtedly enjoyed yourselves. More importantly you would’ve learnt something from me during my speech. Admittedly, everything you would’ve learned was pilfered by me from the Racing Australia Fact Book for 2022 which is available publicly. It contains some statistics worthy of your attention. To wit - in the 10 years to 2022 nationwide– prizemoney rose by 73%; the foal crop dropped by 16%; the number of races dropped by 3.5%; broodmare sales receipts lifted 240%; 2yo sales receipts rose 109%, weanling sales receipts increased by 240% and yearlings by 144%; the number of imported horses was up 111%; stallions at stud dropped 34%, shuttle stallions dropped 40%, broodmare numbers fell 27%, foal numbers decreased by 16%; the fertility rate for mares increased 9.5%. What’s all that mean?

Well 10 years on, we race roughly the same number of times for 75% more prizemoney, we sell yearlings for 140% more, mares for 240% more, we import twice as many horses, we breed to a 1/3rd fewer stallions with a ¼ fewer mares but with a 10% better chance of producing a foal. Or more broadly - the breeding industry is smaller, denser, wealthier, more parochial, more efficient but definitely more expensive. Ruminate on that for a minute. Anyway, on the ground the 2023 breeding season has begun with a promising outlook. Increasingly, we are witnessing that NSW is the breeding ground of top end bloodstock, as the globalisation of bloodlines continues partly driven by the surge in prizemoney in NSW.

The popularity of the online sales has understandably grown in numbers and revenue which has given the tried horse market a huge lift. In many cases this has given horses that may have retired earlier another opportunity to perform in lesser grades.

Stallion Parade week always inserts a buzz around the industry, and it is a catalyst to bring NSW Breeders together to see Australia’s top Sires lining up in NSW. New Sires to the state come from a variety of sire lines and include Anamoe, Artorius, Best of Bandeaux, Daumier, Ellsberg, Jacquinot, State of Rest, In the Congo, Hitotsu.

The Workforce Development Program and the affiliated group of industry cohorts are ensuring the continual funding from the new NSW State Government Education Department. Fee Free accredited courses have been popular again in the last few months. TBNSW again produced the very informative and well received pre-season seminars. Some presentations are recorded for future resources to members via our website. Our thanks to the veterinarians of Scone Equine who again very generously gave up their time for these informative seminars.

TBNSW are very grateful for the generosity of our loyal sponsors and would like to thank the Australian Turf Club, G1 Goldmine, Horsepower, HQ Insurance, Carrazzo Consulting, IRT and our newest sponsor, Breedr, for their continued support.

I would like to welcome Vicky Leonard to the Committee and Kirsten Tydd as the new Executive Officer. Both Vicky & Kirsten join TBNSW with a broad understanding and passion for the industry and they seek to continue to engage with breeders and embrace the TBNSW initiatives.

On behalf of the TBNSW Board we wish all breeders’ a successful Spring and look forward to a busy sales season.

Mr Hamish Esplin President