Hi Jessica:
If you know the gelding’s name, try equibase.com (sorry I probably didn’t read your post closely enough - I’ve got a colicky yearling & am not thinking as straight as usual!).
You might have to “join” equibase, but there is no charge. Then you can create a “virtual stable” (still no charge) & put both the horse & the trainer into your stable (and anyone or any horse you want to watch). This will tell you where the trainer & horse race. It is easier to track trainers than owners.
Anyhow, like I said, the virtual stable will tell you where that horse will race, and where that trainer will race. If you want to get a message to the trainer about that horse, you can leave a message at the stable office where the trainer will be. Or Google for contact information for the horseman’s organization at the track(s) where that trainer runs the most.
If the horse drops in class (from $15,000 claimers to $10k to $5k or something like that) they might be starting to look for a home for the horse. Or they might not.
But if you contact them & are interested, you need to let them know if you’re buying & what condition the horse must be in, for you to buy it.
For example, we breed horses that go to the track, so always try to make sure the current owner & trainer know I will take one back, no questions asked, if they want it off their feed bill. I’ll pay above killer price for one I bred & if possible, pick it up within 24 hours of them telling me they don’t want it, even if it is permanently lame. I just want to get it out of the situation & into a place where I can evaluate its quality of life & make appropriate decisions for it.
Unfortunately, two times a trainer/owner has known we would take the horse & has given one away anyway(or in one case, possibly sold it to a killer buyer). There really are no guarantees.
Fortunately, the other one got into Barbara Luna’s Turning For Home program at Philly Park. While we’re sorry to lose touch with the filly, I think she probably got a great home.
But if your interest is only as a riding horse, you’ll need to stress that it must be sound for you to buy it.
And it isn’t always possible to tell if the owner and/or trainer will be happy to get the horse into a good home for little money, or if they’ll have some inflated price they’ll want you to pay. I’ve run into both kinds of owners & trainers.
And lots of trainers HATE getting calls from people who aren’t willing to make a firm offer. So know what your bottom line is, before you make the call.
Example #1: We bought a mare who was racing at a track in a neighboring state. She was running in $5,000 claimers; we offered $3,000 & were turned down. The owner/trainer dropped her into a $4,000 claimer - figuring if we wanted her, we’d pay the $4,000 to claim her.
We didn’t.
A month later, he called & offered her to us for $3,000.
Example #2: We’ve had great horses offered for free because we looked like a good home.
Example #3: We’ve paid what I consider “the high side of retail” because I just had to have it - and we contacted a trainer about it, even though they were perfectly happy to own it for a long time to come. We wanted it enough that we had to pay the price or lose the horse.
So, for you, could go either way.
Good luck!
