Jockey Club adds tattoo lookup to ID My Thoroughbred app

The Jockey Club added tattoo lookup to its ID My Thoroughbred app, giving owners, trainers, aftercare groups and racing officials a faster way to verify a Thoroughbred by the mark many older horses still carry as their key identifier. Users can now enter a tattoo number and get the horse’s name and detailed markings, a practical change for barn checks, veterinary visits, sale inspections and aftercare work.

The Jockey Club first launched free Tattoo Identification Services on April 15, 2009 to help owners identify tattooed but unknown Thoroughbreds in their possession, then expanded those services on July 1, 2009 by adding access to its markings database. It later rolled out Thoroughbred Connect in 2011 as a free online service to help place Thoroughbreds after their racing or breeding careers. The new app, released on February 19, 2026, initially let users search Thoroughbred information with a microchip number before tattoo lookup was added.

That combination of tools fits the way horses move through the sport. A microchip can be scanned quickly, but tattoos still matter most for many retired runners and older horses whose identity may need to be confirmed in the field, at the barn or in an aftercare setting. The new lookup can speed that process, but it still depends on two things that can complicate real-world verification: the tattoo has to be readable, and the registry data behind the result has to be accurate and current.

On February 24, 2026, The Jockey Club distributed 100 microchip scanners free of charge to identified aftercare organizations as part of the same effort to make horses easier to track and confirm. That work follows the Equine Injury Database, launched in July 2008 as the Thoroughbred industry’s first national database of racing injuries, and extends The Jockey Club’s long-running focus on the integrity, health and safety of the breed and the sport.