What's In a Name

The promising 2-eary-old filly Kenwick (Bernardini) may have won in Pennsylvania, but her pedigree shouts Lexington KY from the very rooftops of two local neighborhoods. Kenwick is a central residential area of the city, while Bell Court, as in the dam's name, is an almost adjacent zone, closer to downtown. Both areas have an Old America feel to them: nothing fake, nothing too gentrified, just authentic, with a touch of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" ambiance. There is in fact a small theatre in the Bell House in Bell Court: the...

Maybe opera is not as popular in the nomenclature of horses as classic ballet or theater, but Ohio multiple winner Alfio (Mucho Macho Man) carries a very solid and thoughtful operatic connection with his parents in his name. In the celebrated one-act opera "Cavalleria Rusticana" (1890), Alfio is the jealous husband who kills romantic rival "compare Turiddu" in a duel to the death. A possible translation of "Cavalleria Rusticana" could be "Rustic Gallantry." Some say that the opera is the solitary masterpiece of one-hit-wonder Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945). Still, some of...

4th-Santa Anita, Mcl, 2-17, 3yo, 1m. TIZ TOK (r, 3, Tiznow--Weekend Prospect, by A.P. Indy). Lifetime Record: 4-1-0-0, $26,568. O-Hronis Racing. B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-John W. Sadler. As a play on words under the times we live in, naming a horse by Tiznow Tiz Tok simply is masterly, no doubt about it. BEHOLDER MILE S.-GI, $501,500, Santa Anita, 3-11, 4yo/up, f/m, 1m. A MO REAY, 122, f, 4, Uncle Mo-Margaret Reay, by Pioneerof the Nile). Lifetime Record: 12-5-1-3, $692,650. O-Hunter Valley Farm; B-T & G Farm of Kentucky LLC (KY);...

4th-Navan, Mdn, 3-29, 3yo, 10fT. GOOLOOGONG (IRE) (c, 3, Australia {GB}--Muwakaba, by Elusive Quality). O-Westerberg, Mrs J Magnier, M Tabor, D Smith; B-Capital Bloodstock (Ire); T-Aidan O'Brien. The name of Navan winner Gooloogong has an impeccable Down Under connection, being by renowned sire (and Epsom & Irish Derby winner) Australia. In fact, "Gooloogong is a village located in New South Wales, Australia, population 295", according to Wikipedia. The name of the hamlet also evokes (with a very slightly different spelling) that of Australian tennis phenomenon Evonne Goolagong, who was born...

4th-Kentucky Downs, $156,800, Msw, 9-1, 2yo, 1mT, 1:37.03, fm, nose. MENDEL'S SECRET (c, 2, Mendelssohn--Donnie's Secret, by Tiger Ridge) O-Turman Racing Stable, LLC; B-Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds (KY); T-Michael J. Maker The name of Kentucky Downs 9-1-2022 brave post-to-post winner MENDEL'S SECRET (2yo, Mendelssohn--Donnie's Secret, by Tiger Ridge) is intriguing on many levels. It is very likely that there is a close connection with up-and-coming freshman sire MENDELSSOHN (2015 Bay Horse by Scat Daddy out of Leslie's Lady, by Tricky Creek), named after the great Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). But...

Lady Clementine (GB) is a supremely fitting name for the Churchill (Ire) 3-year-old filly who won so well at Del Mar last Saturday. Clementine Ogilvy Spencer Churchill, nee Hozier (1885-1977), was the wife of the famous British politician and WW2 leader for 56 intense and fateful years. "Fortitude" is an expression that seems to abound in a recent novelized account of the life of Lady Clementine. The union was a loving and successful one by all accounts, even if the husband had quite a reputation for being mercurial and unpredictable,...

Is the naming of fillies better suited to witty wordplay around the subject of love and attraction? It certainly seems so from the brilliant names of some recent US winning fillies and mares. Take, for instance, Indiana victor Neck on the Nile (Cairo Prince) and out of Kiss a Vet. The name is an original mix of levity, cleverness, alliteration and more. Romantic mishaps are very much to the fore in the cases of Iowa winner Jilted Bride (Wicked Strong) out of Cry at My Wedding and Churchill scorer Runaway...

1st-Belmont, $90,000, Msw, 7-3, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:04.38, ft, 5 1/2 lengths. LOST ARK (c, 2, Violence--Marion Ravenwood {SW, $112,598}, by A.P. Indy) is a half-brother to both GI Belmont S. runner-up Nest (Curlin), GISW, $1,130,550 and GI Santa Anita H. winner Idol (Curlin), GISW, $426,964. Sales History: $275,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $49,500. O-Harrell Ventures, LLC; B-Ashview Farm & Colts Neck Stables (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. There is a tight connection between horse and dam in the name of Belmont 2yo winner Lost Ark. Marion Ravenwood is...

Whoever named Chelmsford 3-year-old winner Queen of the Skies (GB) (Lope de Vega (Ire) is well up on both early aviation and historic achievements. "West With The Night" was the title of a famous memoir by Beryl Markham (1902-1986), an aviator of incredible distinction. Markham grew up in Kenya and started to fly there as a "bush pilot," but her historic feat was a transatlantic crossing in 1936, when she flew westward from Abingdon (England) and against the prevailing ocean winds, eventually running out of fuel and crashlanding in Nova...

Churchill Downs, $80,418, Msw, 5-20, 2yo, 4 1/2f, :52.05, ft, 1/2 length. LATE SEPTEMBER (c, 2, Munnings--Hello Maggie May {MSW, $264,687}, by Lemon Drop Kid) O-Dew Sweepers LLC; B-Coteau Grove Farms, LLC (LA); T-George R. Arnold, II A number one song in America in the long hot summer of 1971 had these very first two lines: Wake up, Maggie, I think I got somethin' to say to you/It's late September and I really should be back at school. The song was called "Maggie May" and made mullet-haired, raspy-voiced co-author Rod...

Mr. Baffert, c, 2, Bodemeister--Commandaria, by Smart Strike. Monterrico, 11-14, Maiden, 1000m. B-Sanford Robertson (KY). The one and only Mr. Bob Baffert has had quite a share of intriguingly named winners in the last few weeks. Incidentally, Baffert is himself the namesake of a brilliant Peruvian (and U.S.-bred) colt by his old alumnus Bodemeister--the 2-year-old being a fast horse who won by almost five lengths at five furlongs on his racetrack debut (from another hemisphere in more ways than one?). 8th-Los Alamitos, $54,312, Msw, 12-11, 2yo, 6f, 1:09.21, ft, 3...

"England expects that every man will do his duty" were the eloquent and terrifying orders of Viscount Horatio Nelson before the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), where the great admiral annihilated the French fleet and destroyed Napoleon's maritime ambitions forever--losing his life to an enemy musket ball in the bargain. The Oct. 2 Churchill Downs winner TRAFALGAR, a courageous come-from-the-next-county closer, has more than done his duty and is thoughtfully named. 7th-Churchill Downs, $122,699, Msw, 10-2, 2yo, 1m, 1:35.61, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. TRAFALGAR (c, 2, Lord Nelson--Southern Drifter, by Dixie...