Vetting an ottb

[doodle]

That is a very good point about only racing once. Question why it has been only once as normally they would race a few times before deciding they are not good enough. Has there been a bad injury? When was the horse last raced? You can find information on racing post searching by racing name.

 

[Trouper]

Definitely have a 5 stage. In the great scheme of the finances of keeping a horse the difference is negligible. I, too, would be suspicious of a once-ran horse and would try to find the race on one of the racing sites to see how he actually performed. Keep searching and asking questions until you are sure you have all the answers.

 

[Teaboy]

If it was shocking at home and then proved shocking in its first race too they often won’t continue with them. I’ve known a couple only have the one run. In fact one of the nicest horses I’ve seen being super smart, nice ride, literally not one blemish was diabolical on the gallops at home and totally shocking in his first run he was sold straight away out of racing.
On the vetting front I would only 2 stage personally.

 

[Laafet]

I had a two stage but I also had Stormy's full vet/training history including X-rays which my vet scrutinised before and agreed that a 5 stage would be a waste of time/money. I knew her issues and liked how she rode so went on that. My vet also is very experienced with racehorses so was very realistic on what we were vetting.
That said, I have bought a few horses unvetted and vetted over the years so was confident enough anyway. I wouldn't have bought her unvetted.

 

[AdorableAlice]

That is worth asking, it may be 4 with only one run but it could have been in training for 2 years or so with numerous issues stopping it actually getting on the track, it is fairly unusual for a horse to have just one run however slow it seems in the race if it showed some talent at home they tend to get a few runs to see if they get the hang of it, after all it takes months to prepare them so worth having a couple of tries.

Two years of bone chips and wind ops perhaps !

 

[exracehorse]

Try and speak to trailer. I was going to buy an ex racer from Braintree in Essex. Failed badly at the vetting. Knackered legs. Turned out it was retired from racing due to various injuries