So, what is often the first thing a horse racing novice brings up when talking about horse racing? Names. How do they get those names? Many women will like or dislike a horse because of its name. My wife is one of those. “That’s not a very cute name,” she may say. “Where did they come up with that name,” I’ve heard her ask.
The owners name their horses and they must follow the Jockey Club rules when doing so. There are many rules but one of the most important is the limit of 18 characters in a name. Although it is not required, many owners hold on to a tradition of trying to maintain similarities to the family names in the pedigree.
The Breeders’ Cup will be televised on November 4th and 5th and many that will watch know little about the sport, but they get a kick out of the names owners give the horses. Let’s look at a few names of past runners found in Breeders’ Cup history that maintained a similarity to their family names:
Cash Included and She’s Included both ran in 2006 and are daughters of Include. Delightful Kiss was sired by Kissin Kris. The sire of War Monger is War Chant. Black Magic Mama was sired by Black Mambo. Storm Treasure came from Storm Boot, who was sired by the very successful sire Storm Cat.
From the past we also see some creativity in naming a thoroughbred with an indirect relationship to a family name. Forever Together was sired by Belong to Me. One of my favorites is Church Service, which came from the stallion Pulpit. Got the Last Laugh ran in 2006 and was sired by Distorted Humor. And, how could we forget Deciphering Dreams, who came from the stallion Freud.
Many creative owners try to tie in both families into a name. One of the best I remember is Nownownow. His dad was Whywhywhy and his mom was Here and Now.
This year is no different. Those who like to see how creative the names are may see these runners in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup:
Holiday for Kitten sired by Kitten’s Joy,
Sidney’s Candy and Twirling Candy both sired by Candy Ride,
The winner of the Belmont Stakes, Ruler on Ice, was sired by Roman Ruler,
Ask the Moon comes from Malibu Moon,
Ransom Note sired by Red Ransom.
My favorite name of the prospective runners in 2012 is Excelebration. This talented 3 year old colt was born in Ireland and sired by the Australian stallion Exceed and Excel. Excelebration has been racing in France and England.
More information on naming thoroughbreds can be found on the Jockey Club’s website, www.jockeyclub.com