This article is taken from the April 2025 issue of The Critic. To get the full magazine why not subscribe? Right now we’re offering five issues for just £10.
One of the best wins I’ve had was a loser. In February 2004, Nicky Henderson told me that his novice hurdler, Fleet Street, was the best in Britain, and that he’d only get beaten in the Supreme Novices at Cheltenham if the Irish had a better one. He had very little public profile —his warm-up race was at unvaunted Taunton — and he was on offer at 40/1 for Cheltenham. Even better, he was 18/1 for a place on Betfair. I went mad and put all the money I could afford to lose on him for a place. And I kept piling in, right up to the evening before.
Nicky was absolutely right. Fleet Street finished third, beaten by Brave Inca and War Of Attrition (who went on to win the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup respectively, so it wasn’t a bad run!) and I made a small fortune. Fleet Street was given his name because most of the syndicate which owned him were journalists.
Sofa King Fast, Penny Tration, Ho Lee Fook and E Rex Sean were not approved
That was an obvious name to give him, but the naming of horses can be wonderfully inventive. I sometimes think there should be prizes for the best named. For example, Celibate, a chaser trained by Charlie Mann. His sire was Shy Groom and his dam Dance Alone. Brilliant, eh?
Then there was the champion miler Warning, winner of the Sussex, Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Anne. Warning was by Known Fact out of Slightly Dangerous. Even more clever was the naming of Polygamy, winner of the 1974 Oaks, by the stallion Reform out of the mare Seventh Bride.
Owners can have great fun with names. Paul Mellon, one of the richest men in the world, had a huge string of horses. I love the name he gave his colt by the stallion Seeking The Gold from the mare You’d Be Surprised: Wait For The Will. More recently, the owners of a horse by the dam Where’s Broughton called him Near Kettering. A very British joke.
Not every name is approved by the British Horseracing Authority. Sofa King Fast, Penny Tration, Ho Lee Fook and E Rex Sean were all vetoed, but risqué names do sometimes slip through. A horse by the stallion Pursuit Of Love and the dam My Discovery was named Geespot. And there was Bouncy Bouncy, whose grandmother was Supportive and mother Wunderbra.
For the likes of Coolmore and Godolphin a horse’s name is part of the lustre and is rarely derived from its parents’ names. The most lofty names are reserved for when a horse looks likely to rise to the very top. Famously, Dubai Millennium — probably the best horse Godolphin has had — was originally named Yaazer (meaning “white gazelle”) but Sheikh Mohammed renamed him after he showed early signs that he could be something special.
Camelot is said to have been held as a potential name by Coolmore for many years until 2009, when a foal was finally deemed worthy of it. Given he won the 2,000 Guineas, Derby and Irish Derby, the decision was clearly correct.
In his book Fifty Shades of Hay: the Extraordinary World of Racehorse Names, David Ashforth explains that Sue Magnier, wife of Coolmore’s John, is responsible for their names: “Sue Magnier’s mother … was born in Australia and when the horse of that name won the 2014 Derby Tom Magnier, John and Sue’s son, said, ‘There was a strong determination to ensure that the name “Australia” was given to a colt considered capable of going right to the very top.’ He did, going on to win the Irish Derby and Juddmonte International.”
That’s all very well, but you will be hard-pressed to find a better, albeit completely different, example of the importance of a horse’s name than a race in 2010 in Monmouth Park in New Jersey. In what has become a classic commentary, Mywifenosevrything battled down the home straight before finally edging out Thewifedoesntknow. It’s well worth watching on YouTube.
