The change of name of the Philanthropist gelding Joyphillypist to that of Jay P just 24 hours before he was to run at Turffontein in mid-January, reminded us how seriously the racing authorities treat horse names.
Do they make too much fuss of fun and too little about the pressing issues?
Let us know what you think by posting a comment!
The Racing Post reported recently that its’ not only the new president who is cracking down in the US at the moment, as Santa Anita racegoers have discovered.
The Jockey Club has taken the highly unusual step of forcing connections of a three-year-old California-bred filly to change her name after her debut, seemingly because it was offensive.
So Ellie Von Shtupp, who finished last at Santa Anita last month, was Ellie Mae when she trailed home ninth of ten there on Saturday.
The filly was apparently named after a character in the film Blazing Saddles, a German seductress played by Madeline Kahn whose performance earned an Academy Award nomination.
But ‘Shtupp’ is a vulgar word in the Yiddish language and after receiving a complaint the authorities stepped in to ask owner-breeder Terry Lovingier to make a change.
Jockey Club registrar Rick Bailey told the Paulick Report: “We made the decision that the original name was approved in error. The owner agreed to change the name and Ellie Mae was approved as the new name.”
In Britain, BHA rules outlaw the registration of any name that the authority considers to be “suggestive or has a vulgar, obscene or insulting meaning”, is “in poor taste”, “may be offensive to religious, political or ethnic groups’ or ‘may otherwise cause offence”.
But it is not easy to keep on top of the vagaries of an evolving language and the occasional rude word or phrase can slip through, as was the case with these horses. . .
Finmental
The name of this very useful sprinter of the early-1990s may have been a fair description of his trainer’s state of mind when he was disqualified from first at Ayr in 1992.
Geespot
The naming of Dominic French Davis’ dual seven-furlong winner may have been slightly saucy but it was also a perfect reflection of her breeding as she was by Pursuit Of Love out of My Discovery.
Mary Hinge
Julie Cecil’s Listed winner appears innocent enough . . . .until you do a Dr Spooner and transpose the first letters of her name.
Wear The Fox Hat
A commentator’s nightmare, as saying her name quickly could only sound rude.
Who Gives A Donald
No reference to President Trump, as this two-year-old was racing in 1989, when he would have raised the eyebrow of anyone familiar with Cockney rhyming slang.
The National Horseracing Authority of South Africa’s has a strict ‘names’ policy:
NAMES OF HORSES – NHA Rules
35.1 All names shall be subject to the approval of the CHIEF EXECUTIVE who shall not approve
the REGISTRATION of the following names:
35.1.1 those consisting of more than 18 characters, including punctuation marks and/or spaces,
save that 18 characters may be exceeded when a country code suffix is required;
35.1.2 those of well-known people, save where written permission is obtained from the individual
or the descendants of the individual concerned, by the PERSON seeking to REGISTER
the name;
35.1.3 those on the International or National List of Protected Names;
35.1.4 those containing numbers or initials or a combination of numbers and initials;
35.1.5 those of a similar spelling or pronunciation to those already REGISTERED;
35.1.6 those in bad taste or which have an unacceptable connotation in another language;
35.1.7 prominent company, product or trade names, except with the written approval of the
company or body associated with the name.
35.2 A REGISTERED name shall not be changed except with permission of the CHIEF
EXECUTIVE and then only on payment of the prescribed fee. The CHIEF EXECUTIVE shall
not approve any change in the name of an IMPORTED HORSE unless such change of name
has been approved by the racing authority of the country of foaling.
35.3 The CHIEF EXECUTIVE may order a REGISTERED name to be changed.
