TO NAME OR NOT TO NAME?

A hot topic of discussion at last year’s Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale was whether thoroughbred breeders in South Africa should name the horses they breed, which has been the norm, in years past, or leave the naming to the purchaser. In terms of the current rules of the National Horseracing Authority this is optional, and of the 68 vendors at this year’s sales nearly a third has elected to go the latter route.

Leaving it to the purchaser to name his or her horse has its pros and cons. On the plus side, it offers the buyer the opportunity to brand the horse in a very personal way or one which possibly advances his business interests (prominent company or trade names may not be used unless written permission is obtained from the company concerned). On the minus side, it can lead to some extraordinary choices which do not dignify either the horse or its owner/s.

A couple of years back, Karoo breeder, Schalkie Van Der Walt, was astonished to find that a horse which he had accorded a fairly dignified name had been re-registered by trainer Paul Lafferty as “Donkey”. A man who loves a good joke, Lafferty trains for a syndicate which enjoys a spot of fun and they went on to name horses after a whole string of farmyard animals, like Chicken, Turkey and Goat. It didn’t stop the horses winning and Goat became one of the country’s top fillies. But Schalk Van Der Walt finally had to concede that there was method in Lafferty’s madness when the KZN trainer chose to re-name another of his horses Old McDonald, to provide a coda to this inspired bout of lunacy.

According to the website of the National Horseracing Authority, the first South African Thoroughbred Stud Book was printed by the Jockey Club in 1904 and this contained the records of the produce of known thoroughbred mares going back to 1886. Since then, 29 volumes have been published, which means that the
number of horse names used over the past 145 years must be vast.

Horse names must be limited to 18 characters, including punctuation marks and spaces, and may not be the names of well known people, unless permission has been obtained from those personages to name the horse after them. Julie Andrews once graced the South African turf, as did Minelli, though someone got the spelling wrong, in that instance. More obscure was the name Elda Ribetti, who was actually a second tier Italian opera singer, but a great friend of the late Graham Beck and his wife, Rhona. They named the filly in her honour and when she later gave birth to a colt they called him Malcolmino, a term of endearment used by Elda Ribetti for her South African husband, Malcolm Smith, this country’s Consul in Milan.

Naming mistakes have been made along the way, one of the most glaring having been the name afforded to a daughter of the mare Aerialist. The grandam’s name, Amelia Earhardt, had been misspelled as Amelia Erhardt but that error was compounded when this daughter of Aerialist was named Beryl Marquard, which should have been Beryl Markham, in honour of the Kenyan aviatrix and racehorse trainer. It didn’t seem to make much difference to Beryl, as she went on to win two Listed races for trainer Gary Alexander.

This year’s catalogue contains a couple of very clever and intriguing names but many distinctly uninspiring ones, as well. When a horse rejoices in a name like Politician or Dynasty it’s bound to do well but simply combining the names of the sire and the dam is often the kiss of death, and fails to inspire purchasers.

So the prize for the most inspired name this year goes to the Nutfield Stud, whose Lot 418, a colt by Count Dubois out of Size Em Up, has been called Size Does Count, even if the name sails perilously close to
contravening the National Horseracing Authority’s rule prescribing that names which are in bad taste or which have an unacceptable connotation in another language may not be used.

Honourable mentions must go to: lot 574, a Spring Valley Stud colt by Mullins Bay out of Avion, which has been called Ryan; to breeder Rennie Price for Lot 4, Twelve Apostles (National Emblem – Cape Wonder); to Wilgerbosdrift for Lot 30, Dangerous Liaison (Right Approach – Clandestine); Bellwood Stud’s Lot 542, a colt by Silvano out of Aerial Dancer, called Where Eagles Dare; Lot 474, a full brother to Gr1 winner Tyson, by Silvino out of Telle Belle, which Yellow Star Stud has rightly named Ali; and to Wilgerbosdrift’s Lot 530, Bare Necessities (Tiger Ridge – Woodland Melody).

I would enjoy as the owner the chance to name a horse.

Lets be fair if you buy a cat or a dog its your call, this includes goldfish.

But you don't send your cat or dog (or goldfish) to go and live with someone else ......lol

True but when you buy it, and pay for its food its yours

If you adopted a child, would you change it's first name?....

Well if it was called Mabawsa Ritchie I would have to consider it?

You can always change the name. It's been done often, frequently to good horses, which rather shows up the idea that changing a horse's name brings bad luck as the superstititious cr@p that it is. Barry Irwin has committed the twin superstitious "sins" of renaming horses and racing them in green colours - and it hasn't stopped them one little bit.(

Plenty paid at the sales and then the buyer still has to pay the NHA money for a change of name???

To think of the fun we could have naming horses

Runner tonight at Turffontein well named

Earthquake

Damage Is Done - On Sheiky Ground

hotline Wrote:

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> Plenty paid at the sales and then the buyer still
> has to pay the NHA money for a change of name???

It's still an option. You might like the name it came with anyway. In any case, is it free to register a name for an unnamed horse? I know I bought one once and gave him a name, but it was a few years ago and I can't recall if we had to pay. All I remember is that I put a lot of thought into a "nice" name (Belmont Park, by Sportsworld out of Full Of Joy) and the bugger then died without seeing a racecourse.

It can't count as a bad luck superstition story, though, because it wasn't a change of name.()

Trust me you pay.....i think if a breeder sells it at a sale without a name that cost should surely be credited against the sale of the horse.......?Just my 5 cents worth....