ALL ABOUT GREYHOUNDS: Your Greyhound's Racing History
Tracing your Greyhound’s Lineage and Racing History
As you seek to better understand your ex-racing greyhound, you might find it interesting to learn about his racing history. Although not all dogs are in the online databases below, you have a pretty good chance of finding your greyhound in one of them if he once raced. What You Can Discover 1. Your dog's racing name. Some of them are pretty funny, some are cool. Some adopters rename their new greyhound based on the racing name. 2. Your dog's racing record, including detailed accounts of how he did in each race. The information isn't always complete, but for some dogs you find records of over a hundred races. You'll see the exact dates he raced, how he fared in terms of wins and grading. You may learn that he was moved across the country from one track to another (usually moving up to a better track if he was doing well, or down if he wasn't so good). You may see a break in his racing dates, perhaps indicating an injury that was given time to heal. It may be our imagination, but we've seen a dog's personality in the home reflected in his earlier racing career--stable and steady performance in one, dramatic swings from first-place wins to trailing the pack in another. 3. Names and records of your dog's littermates. You may find it interesting to see how your dog's littermates did, where they raced (often at a different track from your grey. Sometimes you can find out who adopted them once they stopped racing. If their adopters posted info about them, you may be able to make contact with their owners in retirement. 4. Your dog's lineage. You'll find a record of his ancestors on both sire (father) and dam (mother) sides going back several generations. You can have a lot of fun with this. For example, as you learn more about the champions of racing, you can see if your dog has champion blood in him. For example, Downing, pictured above, one of the all-time champion racers, was perhaps the most in-demand stud dog. Many people find a little Downing in their grey's ancestry. Also, if you have more than one greyhound, you may find relationships between them. For example, we discovered that the grandfather (E. J.'s Douglas, a famous champion greyhound and long-time mascot in retirement at NGA headquarters) of a foster girl of ours is the father of our Antony, making them (to us) uncle and niece. So of course we had to keep her! Steps
1. Find Identifying Racing Information The records you'll be accessing are kept by the racing industry for its purposes, so you won't be able to use your grey's pet name or GreySave tag number. You'll need to know your pet's former identity as a racer. You can do this in two main ways: a. Identification by Racing Name. If you know your pet's racing name, you can go directly to step 2 below. GreySave probably can give you this info about a hound that you adopted from us. If your group cannot supply your dog's racing name, and the search by tattoo numbers described below doesn't work, you can seek help from the National Greyhound Association (NGA), in Abilene, Kansas. NGA maintains the master racing greyhound database. You can e-mail them at [email protected] or call them at (785) 263-4660. They will need your tattoo numbers, but they are willing to help out if you can't read one of the numbers by trying a couple of possibilities. Please note that they are the national racing organization and that they check their databases for adopters as a courtesy; please use the service only after you have tried the other methods of identification described here. |
GREYHOUND Q & A
ABOUT THE GREYHOUND BREED
THE HISTORY OF THE GREYHOUND
WHERE GREYHOUNDS RACE
ADOPTION MOVEMENT
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b. Identification by tattoo. If you don't have your grey's racing name, you can use his tattoos to find it. Every racing greyhound has identifying tattoos in each ear. The first step is to make a note of the tattooed numbers in your greyhound's ears. You should also find them on the adoption paperwork you received when you adopted your greyhound. If the tattoos are hard to read, it helps to shine a flashlight beam through the ear from behind to illuminate the digits. If you find your greyhound’s tattoos hard to read, the volunteers probably also had a hard time reading them, so they might not be correct on your adoption paperwork. But we're successful at figuring out the identity almost all of the dogs we get.
Left Ear: If your greyhound was registered in the U.S., as will almost certainly be the case, the left ear should contain a 5-digit National Greyhound Association litter registration number. (Right: right ear litter registration tattoo)
Right Ear: The right ear will have 2 or 3 numbers and a letter. Here's how to read the right ear tattoo: the first one or two digits indicates the month the dog was whelped, and the last number (always a single digit) is the year of birth. The letter indicates the order in a given litter in which that dog was tattooed (not the birth order). For example, 76B means a birthdate in July 2006, and the second dog tattooed. 105C means a birthdate in October 2005 and the third dog tattooed.
2. Go to the Online Greyhound Databases
Database 1: Greyhound-Data
Start with Greyhound-Data: Click on Dog-Search if you have your dog's racing name, or on Tattoo if you have that. For the tattoo search type the 5-digit registration number into the "left ear" box, and hit search without adding any other info. Then use the other things you know about your dog (gender, color) to identify him from the litter list. Click on his name. If you do the name search, bear in mind that the name might not be entered in the database exactly the way you have it written down. You may need to experiment.
Once your dog's record comes up, you'll be able to see his lineage on his father's and mother's sides going back five generations. Click on any of the names to find out more about that dog. Click on Direct Sire (or Dam) line to see the direct line ancestors of your dog on both sides going back dozens of generations. Click on the links in the third row at the top of the screen (Pedigree, races, stats) to go to different screens of info. Pedigree is the screen you're now on (see a part of this screen above). XX races, where XX is the number of races your dog has run, gives you info on those races. Note that this may not be a complete list, and that as of April 2009 Greyhound-data still is unable to retrieve info on races run since August 2008. You'll need to go to the GreyMatter TrackLink site (below) to get more recent info on races run. Stats gives interesting statistics about your dog's performance overall, but bear in mind that this info will be based on incomplete information if your dog raced after August, 2008.
You may also be able to figure out what state your greyhound came from by researching the tracks that they raced. Also, check out the littermates and the parents, especially where the Dam came from.
Database 2: GreyMatter TrackLink
The information on this site is more limited, and a bit harder to understand, but it's up to date. Also, you'll have to know your dog's racing name to be able to pick him or her out of the litter. You will be able to see your dog's racing record up to the present. You'll also be able to see all the other greys that your dog's parents have birthed or sired.
Go to GreyMatter Track Link Click on "Dog/Raceline Viewer" in the upper left-hand corner. Click in the appropriate button to seach by Dog name, Sire, Dam, or Left tattoo. Use "Left tattoo" to start with if you have it. If you do, you'll get a list of the members of that litter. Clicking on your dog's name will bring up a screen like the one below:
You'll see a record of races run by your dog, beginning with the most recent. See the notes in red above for an explanation of how to read the chart. Note that there may be more than one page of races. The other piece of info on this site is lineage: click on the name of your dog's Dam or Sire in the yellow boxes to find other litters birthed or sired by them. NOTE: GreyMatter has revised its site, giving it an easier user interface. So the display of dog information looks nicer than the image above, but it is the same info laid out in the same way.
Post your greyhound’s info and picture
You can let the world know that your former racing greyhound now has it cushy in retirement. On the Greyhound-Data website, use the “Login” feature to set up an account and password. Once you've created an account, you'll be sent an email with an account activation link. You will not be able to log in until you receive this email and activate your account.
Once you do log in, search for your greyhound using the “Dog-Search” feature. When you've found him, go to “edit this dog” and add comments such as his adoption name, location, and temperament. You can also add the right tattoo information. You can add your email address without sacrificing privacy, because the website will allow users to contact you without actually revealing your email address. You may hear from the owner of your dog's littermate!
Next, you can add pictures of your greyhound. Select “add picture” (located above the track name). Follow the directions and add up to three photos. Once you've added the first picture, the "add picture" link disappears. To add more pictures, you have to double-click on the picture that is already there to return to the add picture function. Follow the directions. If you add more than one picture, they will all display by means of a several-second rotation of images. (For an example of how this works, do a “Dog-Search” of Bacs Mc Babe or Koko Beware.) You now have established a permanent record of your adopted greyhound on Greyhound-Data.com. Don't forget to log off.
You can let the world know that your former racing greyhound now has it cushy in retirement. On the Greyhound-Data website, use the “Login” feature to set up an account and password. Once you've created an account, you'll be sent an email with an account activation link. You will not be able to log in until you receive this email and activate your account.
Once you do log in, search for your greyhound using the “Dog-Search” feature. When you've found him, go to “edit this dog” and add comments such as his adoption name, location, and temperament. You can also add the right tattoo information. You can add your email address without sacrificing privacy, because the website will allow users to contact you without actually revealing your email address. You may hear from the owner of your dog's littermate!
Next, you can add pictures of your greyhound. Select “add picture” (located above the track name). Follow the directions and add up to three photos. Once you've added the first picture, the "add picture" link disappears. To add more pictures, you have to double-click on the picture that is already there to return to the add picture function. Follow the directions. If you add more than one picture, they will all display by means of a several-second rotation of images. (For an example of how this works, do a “Dog-Search” of Bacs Mc Babe or Koko Beware.) You now have established a permanent record of your adopted greyhound on Greyhound-Data.com. Don't forget to log off.
Other Resources
GreyFind
GreyFind is a database of retired racing greyhounds. Many owners are curious about the whereabouts of their grey's littermates, and this site allows you to search through thousands of hounds across the US and abroad. You can search the database for siblings, change your info, and add a new dog.
Registering Your Greyhound with NGA
The tattoos in your greyhound's ears identify him as belonging to the last owner registered with the National Greyhound Association. You can order a printed pedigree of your dog. You can also obtain a Pet Certificate from NGA that will make you the new registered owner and put him in your name in NGA records just in case he should be found without tags by a knowledgable person or a greyhound adoption group. Note: some, but not most, ex-racing greyhound owners do this.
Rosnet 2000
Rosnet Racing International's Rosnet 2000 is intended primarily for those betting on currently-racing greyhounds. It has information on some dogs not included in the Greyhound-Data database. You'll need to register to use the site, but you won't have to pay a fee. Rosnet has a searchable database of race data. The data tends to be for dogs on the east coast, so you may not find your dog listed here. It has webcasts of about two dozen tracks, including the one in Phoenix, Arizona.
OnlineRacing.tv offers live, streaming videos of races at a number of east coast tracks.
Tucson Racetrack Archived Racing Video: Go to the Tucson track website and click on the "Race Replays" button.
GlobalGreyhounds.com provides forums for discussing the racing careers of greyhounds. You need to register on the site to use the forums.
GreyFind
GreyFind is a database of retired racing greyhounds. Many owners are curious about the whereabouts of their grey's littermates, and this site allows you to search through thousands of hounds across the US and abroad. You can search the database for siblings, change your info, and add a new dog.
Registering Your Greyhound with NGA
The tattoos in your greyhound's ears identify him as belonging to the last owner registered with the National Greyhound Association. You can order a printed pedigree of your dog. You can also obtain a Pet Certificate from NGA that will make you the new registered owner and put him in your name in NGA records just in case he should be found without tags by a knowledgable person or a greyhound adoption group. Note: some, but not most, ex-racing greyhound owners do this.
Rosnet 2000
Rosnet Racing International's Rosnet 2000 is intended primarily for those betting on currently-racing greyhounds. It has information on some dogs not included in the Greyhound-Data database. You'll need to register to use the site, but you won't have to pay a fee. Rosnet has a searchable database of race data. The data tends to be for dogs on the east coast, so you may not find your dog listed here. It has webcasts of about two dozen tracks, including the one in Phoenix, Arizona.
OnlineRacing.tv offers live, streaming videos of races at a number of east coast tracks.
Tucson Racetrack Archived Racing Video: Go to the Tucson track website and click on the "Race Replays" button.
GlobalGreyhounds.com provides forums for discussing the racing careers of greyhounds. You need to register on the site to use the forums.
