What does it mean when name has been released?

[francesca]

Does this mean that the horse is dead?

[Tomtheterrapin]

Does this mean that the horse is dead?

It can mean the horse is dead, they usually release names 10 years (or is it 5) after a horse died or in some cases sometimes the Jockey Club will release the name if the previous horse with the name is a retired gelding. To be honest, there is no rhyme or reason to it, I've seen multiple horses with the same name (sometimes from the same country) running at the same time. For instance, we had a horse that we owned that I had on my stable mail and every once in a while, a horse training clear across the country in CA would pop up with a workout or a race with the exact same name. I would get an alert that my horse was getting ready to run at Golden Gate and I was like, um, I thought my horse is on the east coast.

[Heidilady]

I don't get how there's a 2yo named Devon Lane and a sire named Devon Lane born in 1993. Seriously the horse's 11 years old at the time and is a sire and apparently the name's released. I mean people on this board have bred to him. Weird.

[Sam]

I don't get how there's a 2yo named Devon Lane and a sire named Devon Lane born in 1993. Seriously the horse's 11 years old at the time and is a sire and apparently the name's released. I mean people on this board have bred to him. Weird.

No, the name hasn't been released... in the US.

The 2004 Devon Lane is a South African horse by Mogok.

[Bacchus]

TJC releases a name when the horse is at least 10 years old and has not been used for racing or breeding (registered) in the previous 5 years.

Remember, sometimes people don't actually use the correct name when they train a horse;)