Tattoos -- At what point is a TB tattooed?

[CrzyCorgi]

At what point does a TB get tattooed? I just recently sent in to the JC a tattoo # to have researched and got back the info stating the horse is unraced. Someone told me yesterday that since he has a tattoo, he must have raced at some point. I have always thought that that meant they had trained, but just because they were tattooed didn’t mean that they had actually raced. He is also pinfired on one of his hind legs which that same person said that also meant that he must have raced (which I don’t quite believe either, maybe he was injured while training and never made it to an actual race) Could you guys help me out here

Darci

[Barnfairy]

It can vary but I know horses who got their tats about the time they started gate training. One mare in particular turned out to be so fractious about the gate she flunked out and couldn’t get her gate card, hence, she was tattooed but never raced.

Same deal with pinfiring or freezefiring, the horse could have been injured in training and never made it to racing.

[jengersnap]

Generally speaking, “before their first race”, but the implications of that can be very broad. The tattooers tend to travel circuits and do areas at a scheduled time. You must have your certificate of registration to tattoo, but other then that there isn’t a minimum or maximum age. In general though, they pretty much from any time around when they are in training as 2 year olds on the farm or in pre-race training at the track. Sometimes you can have a horse race once without being tattooed. They use the rest of the identifying marks on the papers to verify the horse. There is a lot more on the papers then just “bay with star and right front sock”.

The pinfiring would be indicative of race training, but not necessarily racing. Your horse may have recorded works though.

[Petstorejunkie]

It is my understanding that they can be unraced and tatooed. I have a friend that breeds TB racehorses. I asked her one day how to look up my horse’s race record. She asked me if i had his papers and “birth certificate” I did, and she took one look and said “nope not raced”
Apparently there is a lined section on their papers that lists races they were in… his was blank.
My horse is tatooed, and pinfired on both fronts but has no evidence of previous injury.

[Xctrygirl]

We had one that was tattooed the day after she came in to be trained. She hadn’t even galloped yet.

You can get a tattoo very early or very late, like right before their first race. We had one that was tattooed on Friday am and ran on Saturday.

As for the looking at the papers and seeing if it raced, thats not a foolproof way. The lines being empty mean the horse never won. Not that it never raced.

It’s better to look it up on www.drf.com or some other site that you can get Past performances for a price.

~Emily

[jengersnap]

Petstorejunkie, that doesn’t make sense. There is a lined section on the back of races won, but not of every race the horse ran in. You’d be out of room quickly on some horses if that was the case.

[Acertainsmile]

Just wanted to add on the pinfiring… usually that is done for bucked shins, and no, you wont see any evidence of an injury… except for the pinfiring!

We usually get our 2 yr olds tattoed once they get close to running… if they actually make it to the first race is always the question…that is with any horse.

The best way to know if your horse was raced would be to look him up on Equineline.com… it will list his lifetime starts, even if he is not a winner.

[Xctrygirl]

Another alternative is www.drf.com

Their Past performance records only cost $5 as oppossed to equineline which costs upwards of $8.

~Emily

[tincbaby21]

tattoo goo

i worked for a TB breeding farm here in PA for a little bit over a year and learned a lot of interesting things about racing… The general Idea is that a horse gets tattooed when they are being “trained” for the track… If they raced it will without a doubt be in their records from the Jockey Club… I also personally just bought a TB who is tattooed but never raced - it states it clearly in his racing records… The Jockey Club tries their best to make it as clear as possible whether your horse raced or not.

[Acertainsmile]

From equinline you can get a tabulated race record for $3 bucks… just thought I’d throw that out there!

[halo]

[QUOTE=Petstorejunkie;2792873]
It is my understanding that they can be unraced and tatooed. I have a friend that breeds TB racehorses. I asked her one day how to look up my horse’s race record. She asked me if i had his papers and “birth certificate” I did, and she took one look and said “nope not raced”
Apparently there is a lined section on their papers that lists races they were in… his was blank.
My horse is tatooed, and pinfired on both fronts but has no evidence of previous injury.[/QUOTE]

As someone already said, a horses registration papers only lists the races they have WON, not run in. A horse can run 50 times without a win, and his registration papers will be blank.

[CrzyCorgi]

Thanks for all the info guys! That is pretty much what I thought!

Darci

[TBrescue]

Tattoos – At what point is a TB tattooed?

MY OTTB is tattooed but never raced according to the JC. Since he is a rescue I paid for his pedigree search by registration # and was told he is unraced. He has pretty impressive bloodlines-he is a Mr Prospector grandson

[rebeginner]

and then there are oddball cases

My mare never raced at the track (only in her pasture…), but I wanted a way to identify her. I made an appointment, took her to the track in Houston, and brought my JC papers. They gave her a tattoo – at age 8!!!

[JHUshoer20]

[QUOTE=CrzyCorgi;2792758]
At what point does a TB get tattooed? I just recently sent in to the JC a tattoo # to have researched and got back the info stating the horse is unraced. Someone told me yesterday that since he has a tattoo, he must have raced at some point. I have always thought that that meant they had trained, but just because they were tattooed didn’t mean that they had actually raced. He is also pinfired on one of his hind legs which that same person said that also meant that he must have raced (which I don’t quite believe either, maybe he was injured while training and never made it to an actual race) Could you guys help me out here

Darci[/QUOTE]
Hi Darci,
As you’ve seen there are no hard and fast rules about it but most TBs get tattooed when they get their gate card. They must have a tattoo in order to race as well as a gate card so those 2 things will be gotten before their first start.

Although is possible your horse may have never started in a race, obviously somebody was pointing him in that direction if he was tattooed and/or subjected to the veterinary quackery of pinfiring.

Just as an aside Standardbreds on the other hand are tattooed as part of their registration procedure. Thus, very often those horses will never have even been near a track yet still be tattooed.
George

[CrzyCorgi]

Thanks guys! (again) My horse has some pretty impressive breeding on the top. Out of Sovereign Dancer who of course is by Northern Dancer. His registered name is Wichita Waltz, which I think fits him His dame is german breed I believe.
I was sooo excited when I got his pedigree! I’m a nut I know LOL!

Darci

[TBrescue]

Tatoos

My TB is tattooed but never raced according to the JC. When I sent in the money to get his pedigree/race record they actually called me to tell me he had never raced, and they were charging me accordingly. Since he is a rescue, we had basically no info about him before we got him, and still have very limited info, but at least I now know he is a Prospector grandbaby-and looks just like his granddaddy!