Glen AtwellNaming A Race Horse...
October 6th 2006 11:44
You've got yourself a neat beast.
Battle-ready, well-bred, straight-lined and ready to race.
So what's in a name? When it comes to naming racing thoroughbreds, the process is a lot more complex than you might think.
The rule of length is perhaps the most important. Australian race horses can have names of up to 18 characters (including spaces). In recent times, owners and trainers have been taking advantage of a naming loophole that allows the words in a name to be joined together, but the horses name is still pronounced as if it was spelt with spaces.
In Australia, no initials are allowed. But playing with phonetics is. For example, a horse could not be registered as 'M.C.G' but could be allowed to use 'Emm See Gee'.
No proper names are allowed. A horse could not be named 'Steve Irwin' but could be named 'Crikey'. A horse 'ANZAC Parade' caused quite a stir amongst the digger fraternity when its name was registered, but it was contended that the horse was named after a Sydney street and not the war effort.
A lot of New Zealand horses that cross the Tasman to race in Australia have their names altered. In most cases 'Mr' or 'Miss' and 'Our' are used as a prefix. Examples include 'Our Bahare' and 'Mr Tambourineman'.
Of course no vulgarity is allowed.
So what makes a good name? Is there a formula to success?
The horse 'Centenary' was aptly named after its owners had applied for 99 names and been rejected on every occasion. For their 100th attempt, and in jest, the owners applied for Centenary!
But what really makes a good name is success. Prize money. When Makybe Diva was being whacked around in a maiden at Benalla, her name was thought to be terrible.
Three Melbourne Cups and a Cox Plate later, it's a name forever remembered.
Kingstown Town stands out in my mind as one of the greatest ever names, but is that only because it was so successful?
Phar Lap? Mummify? Count Chivas? All household names, all successful horses!
So if you ever have the chance to name a horse, have a good hard think, you could be making a decision that will influence an entire nation.
Bring on the 2006 Spring Racing Carnival!
Battle-ready, well-bred, straight-lined and ready to race.
So what's in a name? When it comes to naming racing thoroughbreds, the process is a lot more complex than you might think.
The rule of length is perhaps the most important. Australian race horses can have names of up to 18 characters (including spaces). In recent times, owners and trainers have been taking advantage of a naming loophole that allows the words in a name to be joined together, but the horses name is still pronounced as if it was spelt with spaces.
In Australia, no initials are allowed. But playing with phonetics is. For example, a horse could not be registered as 'M.C.G' but could be allowed to use 'Emm See Gee'.
No proper names are allowed. A horse could not be named 'Steve Irwin' but could be named 'Crikey'. A horse 'ANZAC Parade' caused quite a stir amongst the digger fraternity when its name was registered, but it was contended that the horse was named after a Sydney street and not the war effort.
A lot of New Zealand horses that cross the Tasman to race in Australia have their names altered. In most cases 'Mr' or 'Miss' and 'Our' are used as a prefix. Examples include 'Our Bahare' and 'Mr Tambourineman'.
Of course no vulgarity is allowed.
So what makes a good name? Is there a formula to success?
The horse 'Centenary' was aptly named after its owners had applied for 99 names and been rejected on every occasion. For their 100th attempt, and in jest, the owners applied for Centenary!
But what really makes a good name is success. Prize money. When Makybe Diva was being whacked around in a maiden at Benalla, her name was thought to be terrible.
Three Melbourne Cups and a Cox Plate later, it's a name forever remembered.
Kingstown Town stands out in my mind as one of the greatest ever names, but is that only because it was so successful?
Phar Lap? Mummify? Count Chivas? All household names, all successful horses!
So if you ever have the chance to name a horse, have a good hard think, you could be making a decision that will influence an entire nation.
Bring on the 2006 Spring Racing Carnival!
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