Running in the 141st Belmont Stakes are a few horses whose names might sound oddly familiar to off-and-on horse racing fans. The word “Bird,” for example, has manifested itself repeatedly in recent years – in Belmont favorite Mine That Bird, in competitor Summer Bird, and in 2004 champion Birdstone.
There’s a method to this apparent madness. Mine That Bird, Summer Bird, and Birdstone are all related. The first two are brothers. The latter is the pair’s father. And their relationship marks one of the most fascinating traditions of modern horse racing: to name a young foal after his parents.
The more impressive the pedigree, the more likely a horse’s name will reflect a combination of those that preceded him. Some combinations are simple, like that of Chateaupavia, born to Chateaugay and Glenpavia.
Others involve a sort of ingenious creativity. Consider Miner’s Escape, named after the sire Mineshaft and the dam Spy Novel. Whereas the reference to the father’s name was fairly direct, working within the theme of international intrigue was a fitting way to include the mother’s.
Also in the creative category would be Blushing Groom, a French horse from the mid-1970’s that was born to Red God and Runaway Bride.
Some entire lineages contain repeated memes, like that of Belmont contender Chocolate Candy. The horse’s mother is Candy Ride; its grandmother is Candy Girl; its great-grandfather was Candy Stripes; its great-great-grandfather was Bubble Company.
The name-mixing tendency, to be sure, is not universally followed, and most of the horses racing in this year’s Stakes don’t contain nomenclatures that recall their parents. Horse names come from a multitude of sources, ranging from tributes to location – like when Seattle Slew was sold to owners from White Swan, Washington – to laughable double-entendres – like Hoof Hearted, which prompted an announcer to make mention of “Hoof hearted in the winner’s circle.”
Not anything goes in the world of horse naming, of course. Names must be registered with the Jockey Club, the governing body of horse registration. The Club approves as many as 800 names a day and forbids names that are offensive, overly commercial, over 18 characters long, already taken, or named after a living or dead person without permission.
What creative names might exist among Mine That Bird’s future progeny, you ask? Unfortunately, none. The horse is a castrated gelding, making him the final member of his own familial line.
