Naming Thoroughbreds Not as Easy as It Seems

Question: What’s a Skip Trial?

Answer: A son of former stakes-winning thoroughbred Bailjumper, of course.

Question: Why is Ogygian a good name for Tartan Farm’s top 2-year-old, an early 1986 Kentucky Derby prospect?

Answer: Because his namesake is Ogygus, an emperor of Greek mythology so powerful that his name has come to mean incomparable. And from the time Ogygian was foaled, he looked like a winner to Tartan Farm president John Nerud.

Question: What prompted Dennis Diaz to name his Kentucky Derby-winning colt Spend a Buck?

Answer: A number of things, including respect for his parentage, a sense of humor and a canny understanding of Madison Avenue-type marketing techniques. Though Diaz was still new to racing when he bought the son of Buckaroo, he already had learned one of its harsher facts of life--that you have to spend a buck to make a buck. Diaz also thought the colt’s name would appeal to the $2 bettor. He was right.

By now, you’re probably getting the idea: Naming a Jockey Club-registered thoroughbred is a much more thoughtful and time-consuming process than some of the whimsical, silly or outlandish monikers might suggest.

In fact, The Jockey Club has some pretty stiff rules regarding acceptable names for horses seeking registration papers to run on race tracks in the United States.

No name, for example, may be longer than 18 letters, including any spaces or punctuation marks as letters, and horses cannot be named after copyright-titled movies, books or songs until five years after the copyright was granted.

Neither can horses be named after a living person unless written permission is filed with The Jockey Club, and the use of names of notorious persons or commercial products are absolutely forbidden.

Vulgar, obscene or suggestive names also are prohibited, though slightly naughty names are not. Hence the horse Bedpan, the offspring of Run For Nurse and Look Out Below.

A sense of humor or whimsy is a frequent inspiration for a horse’s name. So are his family tree and the aspirations his owners have for him.