Apologies for the potentially dumb question, but are there obvious places to look if one’s trying to find, say, Afleet Alex babies who are ready for second careers? Thinking that his smaller size and mellow temperament, plus a solid decade of progeny, could mean there are some potential gems out there for not-so-competitive aspiring dressage riders like me. Is there a way to start looking for babies that doesn’t involve searching every individual retirement/rescue foundation? I feel like I’m missing something obvious but so far I’m failing at Google :D. Thanks!
I have no idea if this would work, but maybe you could contact Gainesway Farm where he stands at stud, and ask them if they happen to have any leads for you?
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For those who are dedicated but chose not to spend money, you can do a progeny search on pedigreequery. It won’t be 100% comprehensive or up to date, but it gives you a good starting point. Search the progeny by year, and perhaps find damsires you fancy. See if pq has any additional info of note. Write down any/all horses who interest you.
Then go to equibase and painstakingly search each horse by name. Add them to your virtual stable if still racing; watch race videos, get to know if the horse is sometging you like. When they become less competitive, consider reaching out to the trainer with an offer to purchase the horse when it is done running.
Horses that aren’t currently racing via Equibase, you can do a general name search through Google or Facebook and sometimes you get lucky and find a CANTER or private listing for sale.
It takes a lot of legwork. If you’re willing to pay, you can get a complete progeny report from equineline. But I don’t mind digging, so that’s what I do.
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This is all very helpful, thanks. Love the suggestions of reaching out to trainers, and I might as well contact Gainesway because why not.
I had no idea it was so difficult! I’ll start digging around. On equibase so far, quite a few of his babies have disappeared and a few of the geldings died on the track. I hope some have found a soft place to land.
You might want to watch the sales for young stock and broodmare prospects selling low. Although they are quite far from the pnw, making logistics tough.
If you are on Facebook, some of the OTTB groups still managing to sell horses might be a good place to look. You can generally search groups for key words. I know for sure there have been multiple Afleet Alex’s on these because I myself had one and was always on the lookout for them, out of both curiosity and potential interest 
I liked my guy quite a lot and had to euthanize him due to a freak turnout accident.
I have purchased 2 horses off the track doing exactly what EventerAJ recommended. It can be hard to contact the trainers… some tracks have given me the numbers, and others I found on FB and messaged. Keeneland and other sales are also a possibility.
