Naming your horse

Tanlic said:
Surely it's not that difficult to be original
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The internet and the BHA website have made things much easier. Trying to name Manhattan Beach in the late 80s involved several telephone conversations with the trainer's secretary.

On the upside, invoices were sent by mail and cheques regularly got delayed in the post.
 
archie said:
Years ago, I named a horse Manhattan Beach but that was after having half a dozen choices rejected. The sire was Tepukei and I did consider trying First Chukka.

If I get another chance, I've always said that I'll go with the title of one of the finest albums of the sixties, Forever Changes, and then use various tracks - Alone Again Or, Andmoreagain, You Set The Scene - if available.
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I LOVE to play that album
 
Bring-Own-Booze.jpg
 
Grey said:
There’s a good horse running at the moment, Haut En Couleurs, whose name means high in colour, which can mean pretty, sparkling, etc and also truculent. An enculeur, on the other hand, is explained by my dictionary as “he who sodomises”. So, commentators, take care with the pronunciation.
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True, but French commentators would never confuse the pronunciations.

English commentators' pronunciation would be irrelevant as 99% of punters wouldn't get the nuances.

The likes of Matt Chapman would bastardise the pronunciation of 'bum'. The guy claims he went to a public school yet he obviously didn't do French or, if he did, he was reading the Sporting Chronicle at the back of the class. His pronunciation of Monsieur Lecoq is excruciating, as is his pronunciation of Sceau Royal.
 
reet hard said:
Also noticed Fukuto the other day,though that was named in France.
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That was in a televised race a while ago, I can't remember who the commentator was, but he was really struggling with how to pronounce it to not make it sound rude. I thought just go with it, it got through.
 
G-G said:
That was in a televised race a while ago, I can't remember who the commentator was, but he was really struggling with how to pronounce it to not make it sound rude. I thought just go with it, it got through.
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I remember the horse running at Cheltenham trials day one year. Sadly he was tailed off. I’d hoped it would be involved at the business end when the course commentary might have been interesting (think it was before the ITV races)
 
Worth a browse rather than a long read:

Fifty Shades Of Hay by David Ashforth.

'The extraordinary world of racehorse names'.
 
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