‘Stallions’ as a nickname at a Kentucky high school is being viewed as offensive

California Chrome better watch out. Little does he know the name of his soon-to-be new career is being labeled as offensive.

The background is a new high school in horse-farm rich Lexington, Ky., is coming under fire for adopting “Stallions” as its nickname.

On Monday it was announced that Frederick Douglass High School would be known as the Stallions. Quicker than you can type change.org, Diane Cahill had started a petition to change the name because it is “inappropriate and sexist,” especially to the girls’ sports teams.

She delivered the petition to school board superintendent Manny Caulk, who offered up this alternative.

“Moving forward, we will keep the Keeneland green and orange colors and horse image in the school logo to pay homage to Lexington’s rich history in the horse industry, but we will allow the incoming students of Frederick Douglass High School to choose their mascot,” Caulk said in a statement. “We’ve already received suggestions of Thoroughbreds or Racers as possible alternatives to Stallions and we will solicit additional ideas from our students before they choose a horse-themed mascot grounded in the land’s equestrian heritage.”

It seems the school is built on the site of the Hamburg Place farm, where six Kentucky Derby winners were sired.

A horse is called a stallion when his primary job is breeding.

The use of gender specific names is not unusual in sports. In fact, Colorado State, Cornell, Fordham, Rhode Island and Virginia Commonwealth all use Rams as a nickname. Though the name has recently been more associated with bad football, at least on the professional level, it is also name of a male sheep. Female sheep are called ewes.

“What message does this send to our daughters and granddaughters? Our sons and grandsons?” the Lexington Herald Leader reported the petition said. “We demand that the name be changed to something more gender neutral and more indicative of Douglass’s brilliant mind, successful career and vision for equality and to send a message to all students that they are respected and valued.”

Douglass was an abolitionist who in addition to fighting slavery was an early backer of the women’s suffragette movement.

The school is set to open in the fall.

john.cherwa@latimes.com

@jcherwa