Name Shame ? - Galloping Grocer (and other crazy monikers)

[Alibhai's Alibar]

Stinky Twinkie is right up there in the pantheon of horrible TB names

[ZiaLand]

What's in a name? I think more may ride on the naming of a thoroughbred than we realize. I think a horse with an attractive name just has a shade more appeal than a horse with a nonsensical or silly name. Personally, I prefer the one or two word names, especially the ones that just seem to roll of your tongue and sound like the name of a champion...

Secretariat....Citation....Ruffian...Affirmed...Skywalker....Pharlap...

Winning Colors....Risen Star...Man O War (close enough LOL)

I think silly names do impact the status of the horse, no matter how good he or she is or was on the racetrack. There was a filly just this weekend named Posie Poo or something to that affect. (Some of you probably know the filly I mean.) The TVG announcers were making fun of the name saying how silly it sounded to say "And here comes Posey Poo, she's running like a machine!" Just seemed more likely to draw laughs than cheers. The filly ended up winning -- really too bad she was saddled (no pun intended) with such a ridiculous name. I remember a QH racing stallion by the name of Tinky Poo that very few would breed to, dispite his being a grandson of Easy Jet (by Easy Poo).

I'm also not too fond of the names Saddler's Wells, Giants Causeway, Petionville (uninspiring), Distorted Humor, Judge Smells or Ghostzapper (undignified). Probably wouldn't stop me from breeding to them, though.

I love the name Subterfuge. Good choice!

Laurie

[Lucy]

Stinky Twinkie is right up there in the pantheon of horrible TB names

I used to ride a horse named Stinky Dinky (Judge Smells x Darby Dinky). He WAS a real little stinker, and I used to joke that his lousy attitude was due to his having such an embarrasing name!

Tom Durkin sure had fun calling his name during races, though.

[Bettina]

Hello,
at the moment are running 2 thoroughbreds in England name Nanabanana and Etlaala. For me it sounds, they were named by a Teletubby.

Regards, Bettina

[mary]

The worst name I've come across lately is an IA bred at Prairie Meadows named "Iams Bound" Adrienne mentioned him some time ago. I can't believe the Jockey Club let that go through. Also, there was a horse running at Canterbury a couple of years ago named "Shitala" . What were they thinking??

[Mahubah]

Actually, I like "Giant's Causeway" -- if memory serves, it's the name given to a rock construction built by the early Celts that in legend was supposed to be part of a bridge or walkway built by giants between England and Brittany in France. I guess tastes differ. But some names are just plain awful. Who in his right mind would name a racehorse "Trash Bag," "Stupid," or "Dumb and Ugly?" (I kid you not; these names are in the registry.)

[ZiaLand]

That's an interesting story behind Giant's Causeway's name. I just kind of scratch my head where the inspiration for the name cat from. What does it have to do with Storm Cat or his dam's name (Mariah's Storm)? I think I would have played around with the double Storm names. On the other hand, I see his dam is a daughter of Rahy, a rather small sire. I don't know how big Giant's Causeway is, but I wonder if the name was intended to suggest a horse of larger stature?

Laurie

[chiggins6]

For some reason, I always loved the name Whirlaway. Its just an instant image of a horse pulling out in front and leaving the others in the dust. There's a highway sign I pass, Ashaway, which isn't great except it has that "away" sound i love. Flyaway, Twirlaway, Runaway Home. I mean, really. What if War Admiral was named Pee Wee's Poo? You just couldn't have anything but a super horse if he was named War Admiral, now, could you. I alway thought my mare's sire's name was a bit clever, Inyureye, as in "here's mud in your eye" a good name for a race horse. So my mare was named "Here's Suds". Ha ha.

[Joe]

Actually, I did hear the entire story behind the Galloping Grocer name up at Saratoga this year. It makes a lot of sense. It's a good story.

I've seen him run twice, a very nice horse.

[FOS]

Hi guys

A couple of names that occasionally still show up on catalogue pages:

SCORCHED PANTIES (by Fire Dancer)

HORIZONTAL HELEN...she was the starting point for some very "funny" names (in her family)

PHOEBE'S DONKEY...A nice stakes-winning filly.

Respectfully

[Sam]

What does it have to do with Storm Cat or his dam's name (Mariah's Storm)?

Who says it has to?

See, that's what I DON'T like. If you can come up with something GOOD, then I don't have too much of a problem with looking to incorporate the parents name into the horse, but I would MUCH prefer you come up with something original. To me, relying too heavily on the parents for inspiration shows a distressing lack of imagination most times.

400 foals by Kissin Kris .. do you have any idea how many of them have "Kiss" or "Kris" in the name? Kissin Kris x Hasty Pasty = Hasty Kris ... gee. He also has the full sibs Hasty Kiss, and Kissin Paster.

The Storm Cats are even worse (and I thought "Storm Cat" was fairly silly as well). Seems like every friggin one of them is Something-Cat. I can never tell if its a subtle attempt at weeny wagging or not. "Hey, look how cool I am, I can afford a foal by Storm Cat and I'm going to put "cat" in the name just so everyone knows."

Or how about all the horses out there with Prospect in the name .. because most of us are too stupid to read a pedigree and realize the horse is a Prospector descendant.

[Mahubah]

Well, I never thought much of the name Kissin Kris either -- given his ability, he should have had a name with a bit more of a ring to it. But looking at the names given to the other foals of his dam Toes Forward, it would seem her owner wasn't particularly gifted in coming up with ideas. The one really good name in the lot was At Attention (by Lt. Stevens).

A clever name that hints at the animal's parentage is fine (I always liked Periscope, by Man o' War--*Scrutiny, in that regard), but simply combining parts of the parents' names to get something -- anything -- gets a bit old.

[Roguelet]

Bettina: LMAO!

Can you imagine hearing the race call: Here comes Tinky Winky, and on the outside Dipsy, closing in on LaLa, and here's a late run from Po?

On second thought, should I be admiting that I'm that familiar with Teletubbies?????

[monicabee]

Rougelet, I had the same thought as you but couldn't remember the name of a single teletubby. That is almost worse.

My personal "ouch" favorite is "Sir Snorzalot." I would aim for a bit more elegance, but I have to say that colorful names enliven the program. There was a day this last summer when Runninforpresident and Quayle were in the same race, causing some amusement.

Sam the Bugler in New York is particularly peturbed by one horse called "Shoot the Bugler" and I believe a rash promise was made to him at Saratoga to name one "Save the Bugler" instead, though by the time that is made good on they are unlikely to be in the same race. There is another horse called "Durkin's Call."

[Mahubah]

"Shoot the Bugler" was probably named by an owner who had suffered through Army basic training once upon a time, or else lifted from the lyrics of the WWII song "Oh, How I Hate To Get Up In the Morning" (which of course dealt with the same thing).