The Canadian pacer Tattoo Artist, whose frozen semen will be available this season from Pete and Chantal Turpin’s Somerset Farms in Queensland, won the 2023 Canadian Pacing Derby, took a 1:47.1 mile record and earned $3.2 million in stakes.
He paced final quarters in 25.4 seconds or faster on 10 occasions – a record for a standardbred – and won an amazing 23 races in 1:50 or better.
Tattoo Artist won every season from two to six years, winning in elite company at The Meadowlands, Yonkers Raceway, Scioto Downs, Hoosier Park, Saratoga Raceway and Woodbine Mohawk Park.
As a two-year-old he won five of his eight starts including the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold and $225,000 Super Finals, while at three he totted up eight wins from 17 starts including five $100,000 OSS Gold Finals and the $85,000 Simcoe Stakes and finished runner-up to Tall Dark Stranger in the $1 million North America Cup.
Tattoo Artist was named Canadian 3YO Colt of the Year in 2020.
The following season he won a further eight races highlighted by a leg of the Graduate Series at The Meadowlands and ran third in the $250,000 Final. He took his lifetime mark of 1:47.1 at Mohawk Raceway at four.
As a five and six-year-old Tattoo Artist won 19 of his 49 starts and over $1.8 million including successes in the $615,000 Canadian Pacing Derby, $260,000 Jim Ewart Memorial, $250,000 Dayton Pacing Derby and $250,000 Joe Gerrity Memorial and was subsequently named the Canadian Aged Pacer of the Year in 2023.
Tattoo Artist is a quality young horse – he was foaled in 2017 – with the bloodlines, racing performance and conformation to commend him to the most discriminating breeder.