Cross Breeds

How exactly do race horses get their names?

You know names like Man O War, Hard Tack, Phar Lap, Seabiscuit, Busher, Secretariat, and other such names.

Public Comments

1. It's about as measurable of a science as band names, m'am.
2. The Jockey Club requires all American racehorses to be registered with a 'unique' name, meaning no other horse can have been registered using the name within a certain length of time, and 'famous horse's names' are off-limits forever. The name has to be under a certain number of letters with several other restrictions and several names must be submitted for each horse with the jockey club making the choice. So, 'common' names have already been taken, and may not be used again meaning owners need to get creative! Keep in mind that racehorses are not called by their registered names around the barn-- their trainers and grooms will use a 'barn name' for that. For example, Man O' War's 'barn name' was "Red."
3. A lot of owners pick their horse's name from the dam and the sire name of the horse.
4. With regards to the specific horses you've mentioned: Man O' War was foaled in 1917, when the world was embroiled in World War I. His breeder, August Belmont, had intended to keep the horse and race him, but went into the Army (not as a foot soldier, but as an officer involved in administration/logistics) and so decreed that all his yearlings should be sold at the Saratoga yearling sale. Belmont's wife had named the horse Man O' War both in honor of her husband and as a tip of the hat to the war effort. A Man O' War is a kind of warship. Hard Tack was sired by Man O' War and was out of a mare named Tea Biscuit. Mrs. Gladys Phipps, who owned the Wheatley Stable that bred the horse, named him in a clever reference to the names of his sire and his dam. Hardtack is a kind of cracker or flatbread that is very hard, very dry, and keeps darn near forever. It was a staple food on board early naval and merchant vessels, where it might be difficult/impossible to bake bread and foods had to be stored for long periods of time without spoiling. Phar Lap is Thai for lightning. This website gives the origin of the name: http://museumvictoria.com.au/pharlap/horse/lightning.asp Busher got her name from her dam, Baby League. Baby league is a term for the lowest level of minor league pro baseball, where the development of players who go on to the majors takes place. "Bush league" baseball is minor league baseball, mostly played out in the rural areas-- out in "the bushes." A "busher" is a minor-league player who plays in the bush leagues. Secretariat got his name after the first five names submitted by Meadow Stud were rejected. The names submitted, in the order of preference submitted by Meadow Stud, his breeder, were: Scepter, Royal Line, Something Special, Games of Chance, and Deo Volante. Meadow Stud secretary Elizabeth Ham, who had worked for diplomat Norman Davis, suggested the name "Secretariat" because she liked the sound and because of the association of the word Secretariat with the UN and diplomacy. How each racehorse gets its name is a personal matter. Many people try to combine the names of the sire and the dam to come up with something clever; an example of this was the good stakes winner Private Thoughts, who was sired by Pretense and out of a mare named Let's Be Gay. Some names relate to the appearance of the horse: Seattle Slew was supposedly named "slew" by his owners because he toed out slightly and was "slew footed." (When he became a stakes winner, his owners quickly denied the physical attribute, which might have been an issue in attracting mares, and said instead that they named him because of a "slough" near their hometown of Seattle.) The great Thoroughbred Swaps got his name because Rex Ellsworth, who bred and owned the horse, and his trainer Mesh Tenney, swapped name suggestions back and forth. Kitten's Joy, a recent superior runner, was named by owner Ken Ramsey to honor his wife, Sarah, whose nickname is "Kitten." Each individual name has a story associated with it. Some owners take great pride in coming up with clever and interesting names; others just try to get something that passes muster with the Jockey Club.
5. the owners pick the names, but sometime they are designed by their sire and mares name, by mixing those names to make a name