Horse racing: why do they give horses the types of names that they do?

Question

Where did the custom start?

No, I don't expect them to give names like "John Jones" or something like that, but they seem more like ship names.

The Kentucky Derby got me thinking about this.

Answer 1

Naming racehorses...among the more frustrating things involving the racing game.

Jockey club rules:

1. Names consisting of more than 18 letters (spaces and punctuation marks count as letters);
2. Initials such as C.O.D., F.O.B., etc.;
3. Names ending in "filly," "colt," "stud," "mare," "stallion," or any similar horse-related term;
4. Names consisting entirely of numbers. Numbers above thirty may be used if they are spelled out.
5. Names ending with a numerical designation such as "2nd" or "3rd," whether or not such a designation is spelled out;
6. Names of persons unless written permission to use their name is on file with The Jockey Club;
7. Names of "famous" people no longer living unless approval is granted by the Board of Stewards of The Jockey Club;
8. Names of "notorious" people;
9. Names of racetracks or graded stakes races;
10. Recorded names such as assumed names or stable names;
11. Names clearly having commercial significance, such as trade names;
12. Copyrighted material, titles of books, plays, motion pictures, popular songs, etc., unless the applicant furnishes The Jockey Club with proof that the copyright has been abandoned or that such material has not been used within the last five years;
13. Names that are suggestive or have a vulgar or obscene meaning; names considered in poor taste; or names that may be offensive to religious, political or ethnic groups.
14. Names that are currently active either in the stud or on the turf, and names similar in spelling or pronunciation to such names, see 6(E);
15. Permanent names and names similar in spelling or pronunciation to permanent names. The list of criteria to establish a permanent name is as follows:
a. Horses in racing's Hall of Fame;
b. Horses that have been voted Horse of the Year;
c. Horses that have won an Eclipse Award;
d. Horses that have won a Sovereign Award (Canadian Champions);
e. Annual leading sire and broodmare sire by progeny earnings;
f. Cumulative money winners of $2 million or more;
g. Horses that have won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes, The Jockey Club Gold Cup, the Breeders' Cup Classic or the Breeders' Cup Turf; and
h. Horses included in the International List of Protected Names.

G. In addition to the provisions of this Rule 6, the Registrar of The Jockey Club reserves the right of approval on all name claiming requests.

That really puts some limits on the names a horse can be given.

Many breeders who race their own and owners who buy yearlings that haven't been named yet try to be clever with the pedigree as a way of coming up with a name. My all-time favorite in this was stakes winner Private Thoughts, who was a son of Pretense out of a mare named Let's Be Gay.

It is truly, truly hard to come up with a decent name for a Thoroughbred. Since you usually don't know how good a racehorse a foal is going to be at the time you name it, you try to be careful-- you don't want a horse that's so bad he's going to come puffing home 20 lengths behind a field of $3500 claimers at Dustbin Downs named "The Greatest;" and you don't want a horse that wins stakes to gain fame under the name of "Dead Petunias" or something like that.

...And when all is said and done, after the name is given, the stable help usually call the horse something else again. Real Quiet, who won the Derby in 1998, was affectionately known to the Baffert stable help as "the Fish" because he was so narrow that when you faced him, he almost disappeared-- like an angel fish in an aquarium.

some articles about naming Thoroughbreds:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/sports2day/269038_s2dhorsenames04.html

http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/57522.html

Answer 2

Most times they go back to the sire and dam of the horse.
All names must be approved by The Jockey Club so you submit a few choices and if acceptable they give you your first choice if not the go down your list until they hit on one that is acceptable.
You are only allowed so many letters.
Some names can not be reused. Each year they release a list of names that can be used over agin.
Sometimes they will use the horses nick name or barn name and some times is it just what someone picked.

Answer 3

Most registered horses have a name that connects them back to their sire and dam. An example would be is the mare was "Bonnie Dun Lass" and the stallion was "Hope's Great Joy", then the colt may be called something like "Bonnie Hope's Lad".

Answer 4

Do you have pets? If you do, you name them anything you want. The same with horses.