Alex Waldrop, president of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, said the silver lining is that some horses may be more affordable to new buyers because of the declining market. But Waldrop acknowledged it has been extremely tough for breeders.

“Breeders have invested a lot of money in the stock, and it is not a good thing for them, especially the commercial breeders, to see that value decline,” Waldrop said. “People make investments based on a certain return, and when they don’t get that, it can become financially unfeasible. What’s good for the owner might not always be good for the breeder.”

Owners of mares aren’t the only ones hurting in the thoroughbred breeding business. Owners of stallions, who charge thousands of dollars in stud fees for each mating, have had to slash those fees or reduce the number of mares on the calendar.

Lane’s End Farm will stand Curlin next year for $75,000. Will Farish, a former U.S. ambassador to Britain who owns the Versailles, Ky., farm, says the horse could have gotten as much as twice that in last year’s economy.

Even the nation’s top sire, A.P. Indy, saw his stud fee cut from $300,000 to $250,000. That is half what the recently retired Storm Cat received at stud in 2007.

During the bloodstock boom of the 1980s, Big Brown’s grandsire, the late Northern Dancer, stood for a record $1 million. Those days appear to be long gone, Farish said.

“In this day and time, that’s asking a lot,” he said.

All this at a time when NTRA reported that handle was down for the third quarter nationally by 10 percent.

Three Chimneys lowered most of its stud fees but raised one and kept two others stagnant. Clay said the farm has booked about 25 percent of next year’s appointments with its 12 stallions, which he says is slightly ahead of the pace at this time last year.

Despite that, he acknowledges there has been plenty of penny-pinching in an industry whose key players aren’t accustomed to that.

“The normal thing to say is that nothing affects those people,” Clay said, “but most everybody’s balance sheet has been affected in this economy.”

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