Figure out who this horse is..

[RnR]

Hey everyone. I wasn't sure the appropriate board to but this under, but you all seem very knowledgeable about pedigrees and I have seen a few others do this before.

My trainer was given a horse off the track who had an injured ankle. When we got him, we believe the woman told us he was 2, almost 3, and this was 2-3 years ago. We have no papers on him, but know he was raced, and I have always been wondering the story behind him.

We recently found a picture of him racing in his old folder the woman gave us, and it says Calder race course, 10/18/2006. I looked up if they had a race then, and they didn't so I am assuming the picture is of him being exercised.

The woman who gave him to us said his name is "Boy." Nothing else... There are no race horses by that name when I looked up the pedigree, but I thought I would gave this a flying shot and just see if somehow I get lucky and someone may know who this horse is!

If it helps any, he is about 17H, Dark bay, with a big white star on his head. We have been retraining him for eventing and he is intelligent as a fox, I am just curious about his past.

Thanks for your help!

[horsecents]

Tattoo number?

[RnR]

It is fairly unreadable, but if I can get a few numbers/letter off of it would it help? How many letters/numbers are there normally so I can try to get an idea of what to look for?

[horsecents]

It will start with a letter, which designates the year of birth, and follows with a 5 digit number which is his JC registration number. There are threads on COTH which give you suggestions for easier :lol: reading.

[RacetrackReject]

Try taking him to a darker area and using a flashlight on the tattoo.. Sometimes that works better.

[2016 RoyalCrown KTug]

Were you able to read his tattoo?

[tommygirl]

use a black light to read it... glows like a charm!

[RnR]

Thanks so much for the help so far!

The tattoo was a no luck deal. His lip is pink/black so it's really hard to see. Next time it is dark out and I have time I am going to try the flash light idea, thanks! The only # I could make out was a 0, and maybe a 7, both towards the end of his tattoo.

[FoxChaser]

How about trying under the racing forum?

[RnR]

Wow, I feel dumb! I didn't even know there was a racing forum. I guess I just never looked. Good idea, thanks!!

[forbes79]

I second trying the racing forum. Also, if you can get a helper, try taking two or three pictures of the tattoo and posting them to someplace like photobucket and posting a link back here. We've got some people on the forums who are pretty good at figuring out semi-readable tattoos, and we can also try enhancing or reversing the colors in photoshop - sometimes that helps. Even if we can't figure out the whole tattoo, we may be able to narrow it down enough to identify the horse.

[Mach Two]

We recently found a picture of him racing in his old folder the woman gave us, and it says Calder race course, 10/18/2006. I looked up if they had a race then, and they didn't so I am assuming the picture is of him being exercised.

The woman who gave him to us said his name is "Boy." Nothing else... There are no race horses by that name when I looked up the pedigree, but I thought I would gave this a flying shot and just see if somehow I get lucky and someone may know who this horse is!

If it helps any, he is about 17H, Dark bay, with a big white star on his head. We have been retraining him for eventing and he is intelligent as a fox, I am just curious about his past.

Thanks for your help![/QUOTE]


You have gotten some good advice about reading a tattoo, and a vet with experience with race horses can often figure one out too. If the horse is in race tack, and the jockey is in silks and there is a number cloth under the saddle, it's a race picture. If they are in every day gear (like, for instance the excercise rider won't have on race boots) it's a work photo. Could the date be incorrect by a week or two? (if it IS a race photo) There would be no reason for anyone to take a photo in race silks on a non race day. If it is a color photo, you might be able to ID the owner by the silks (with some help from a track official at that race track)

[FoxChaser]

Congrats on finding out about your Boy!! Those folks on the Racing forum really do know their stuff :)

[forbes79]

That was even faster than I expected. Who would have thought "Boy" was really his complete, registered name? :cool: