Tracking down info for a story

[cmdrcltr]

To those who frequent the racing forum,

I am looking for suggestions for how to track down some information about a thoroughbred mare who came off the track in 2005. Currently her story has a wonderful happy ending with student of a good friend of mine who events, and I, an English teacher and writer, would like to record it in some way. I have had contact with the owner who first purchased her from racing people, and so have filled in that part of the story. I am working on the part of the story that brought her from Washington state to Maine. What I don’t have at all is the first part of her story…

I do know that she came out of Ohio, was owned or trained by Tom Walters, and Kevin Chandler was listed on her coggins paperwork. I do not want to be intrusive or in any way inappropriate, but I’d love to fill in the beginning of her life, so I can write her whole story.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

CmdrCltr/Heather

[CVPeg]

2 websites to check:
1st - equibase.com - that will open immediately to a search page, and just enter the horse’s name in the blank. If there is more than one horse of the same name (and some are designated as Quarter Horse’s - just ignore those) find which one matches her birth date. The results show you the connections at the time of the horse’s last race.
Click on the results and you get a list of their races. Go to one race and click on “chart” and you will get the chart - the details of that race.

2nd - pedigreequery.com - again - type in the name, and you will get the horse’s pedigree. If there is an “i” in a white circle next to the horse’s name, it should have some additional info. To the right of that is an icon if any pictures were ever added. This site is updated by individuals who have had connections to the horse, rather than being an official reference. Click on the upper left, on “reports” and you’ll get a drop-down menu of hopefully additional information - if she has any progeny, siblings, etc. The site can be updated by an owner (even post racing) with any additional information. Look up a few well know horse names that way, and you can see what information is generally added.

It may be very hard to trace the people who have had her after racing, however.

[cmdrcltr]

Thank you, CVPeg. Actually, I’m having an easier time tracking her after her track days…strange, I know. I am familiar with pedigreequery; I will check out equibase.

[HiraethFarm]

Was she at Emerald Downs? I have a few contacts in this area (I’m in WA) and can ask around. It may not turn up anything, but it’s worth asking. Basically I found the exercise rider for the ottb that I bought and was able to fill in some of his story. Also, on my gelding’s papers is a list of all his previous owners. They were hand written in every time he was claimed.
What is her registered name? And barn name?

[jennywho]

In in WA as well and may be able to help you if you will share her name

[Bagatelle]

Pedigreequery also has a forum, if you join you may find someone there who can help you find the facts you are looking for.

Click on Message Board (on the same line as reports and written in blue). Scroll down to the pedigree section and there is a forum for Information Seekers.

[caffeinated]

equineline.com might be better than pedigreequery - it’s more reliable/not prone to human error, and they list the breeder on there.

There is also a tool at bloodhorse.com that lets you search through sale results to see if the horse ever sold in a sale. That’s been useful a few times. https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/thoroughbred-sales/search

(if you wanted to share her name I’m sure people here could figure out a bunch of that information relatively quickly)

[cmdrcltr]

Thank you all for the posts. I will look into Pedigreequery and equiline, especially equiline for breeder information. She did not race in Washington, jennywho, but thank you. I was able to get contact information for her last racing owner and heard back from them. That owner provided me with a previous owner’s email and thought he’d be thrilled to hear that the mare was in good hands and doing well, so I’ve reached out but have not heard back. Really, everyone I’ve been able to contact so far has been so helpful; I’m grateful. I’ve just started a new graduate course, and this will be one of my pieces of writing. If anyone would be willing to track down breeder info, the mare’s name is Hunt for Joy.

[LaurieB]

If your mare is the 2000 chestnut mare by Dove Hunt o/o Becky’s Queen, her breeder is Dr. D.W. Frazier and she was bred in Florida.

[ejm]

Hunt for Joy was offered as a 2yo at OBS.

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/thoroughbred-sales/search/by-horse/results?horseType=Subject&hipType=AllTypes&horseId=1396596&rna=True [h=5]Page 1 of 1[/h] [TABLE]
[TR]
Sale/Hip/Type Name, Sex, YOB Pedigree / Cover Sire Consignor / Buyer Price Status [/TR]
[TR]
[TD]OBSAPR2002
Hip: 137
Two-year-old[/TD]
[TD]Hunt for Joy
F 2000[/TD]
[TD]Dove Hunt - Becky’s Queen,
by His Majesty[/TD]
[TD]C: J & C Training Stables, agent[/TD]
TD[/TD]
[TD]RNA[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Race record per Equibase:
http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=Horse&refno=5329764&registry=T

You can click on the owner and trainer for current statistics on them. It looks like her trainer was active last year so you may be able to track him down.

[Simkie]

@LaurieB

If your mare is the 2000 chestnut mare by Dove Hunt o/o Becky’s Queen, her breeder is Dr. D.W. Frazier and she was bred in Florida.

Information about Dr. Frazier:

http://www.drf.com/news/doctor-owner-dw-frazier-dies-73

Information about Hunt for Joy’s last trainer:

http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Res…=216146&rbt=TB

Looks like he generally runs at Belterra. Are they open yet?

@cmdrcltr you can go through Hunt for Joy’s starts and see where she changed hands and when. Facebook is a good tool to contact people, or if the track is open, you can call the stable gate and leave a message.

I’ve personally found trainers and owners fairly willing to talk. Just stay away from going all judgey on them (not that you would, but some certainly do…)

[cmdrcltr]

Wow! Thank you all for the information and links. I love CoTH! Sorry it’s taken me a few days to respond; I don’t pop on CoTH every day. I am a school teacher, and I have to wait until vacations to really spend some time digging, so I’ll be using all this in a couple of weeks when we’re on February break. Kevin Chandler’s wife is the trainer who did respond to me very positively, so I’m backtracking from there.

[cmdrcltr]

Good 4th of July morning, CoTH racing forum! I want to thank everyone who took the time to help me out here. I have been able to speak to several of Hunt for Joy’s owners, including her last race owner and trainer in Ohio. Now I’m looking to dig a little further back. Her breeder has passed away, but his trainer is still training. I saw in Equibase that he had a runner at Presque Isle on Monday and has a horse scheduled to race at Thistledown on Saturday. I am trying to track down an email address for him as he is the trainer of record on all but Joy’s last five races. I’ve tried googling, but I’m not having any luck…If anyone can point me in the right direction I’d appreciate it. His name is Miguel Feliciano.

[Simkie]

Trainers often aren’t real tech savvy. Many don’t do email. You could have better luck calling the stable gate and leaving a message for him.

[cmdrcltr]

Thanks, Simkie. So, having never done this before, what kind of message would I leave? I’m sure the person taking the message doesn’t want to write down my whole “writing a story” spiel.

[NMK]

Contact the racing office at TDN they will put you in touch with Feliciano.

[cmdrcltr]

Thank you, NMK! I actually ended up connecting with his nephew on social media. What a strange and wondrous time we live in!

[Simkie]

@cmdrcltr

Thanks, Simkie. So, having never done this before, what kind of message would I leave? I’m sure the person taking the message doesn’t want to write down my whole “writing a story” spiel.

I’d say that you like to chat with him about a horse he used to have and would greatly appreciate a few minutes of his time.

[cmdrcltr]

Hello again! Thanks to everyone here who has taken the time to help me out, pointing me in the right direction to track down information on this mare. My next question has to do with her breeder. He passed away a few years ago, so I can’t contact him directly. Is there an easy way to find a list of his farm’s foals from the same year as the mare I’m writing about? I didn’t see where I could search by that on equibase. Thanks!

[cmdrcltr]

Hello racing forum enthusiasts! Here I am in 2021 still working on my story about Hunt for Joy. Only now I am really working on it because it is the final project for my Master’s Degree. So…I have another question if any of you fantastic people who were following this can help me. Joy’s first trainer was Laura Posada, who apparently is now an outrider at Hialeah Park. I can’t find her contact information anywhere. I tried Facebook and even joined Linked-in where she has a profile but has never posted anything. Any chance anyone here knows Laura?