All Thoroughbred horses must have their names approved by The Jockey Club.
Roughly 60,000 Thoroughbred name requests are submitted every year, and registrar Rick Bailey must sign off on each one. Roughly one-third of the requests are rejected, primarily because they match existing names. In an effort to free up more names, the Jockey Club now “recycles” them after 10 years, so it is possible for horses from different eras to share the same name. There is a mind-blowing litany of other rules and regulations, but in general, no horse can have a name longer than 18 characters, a name that breaches a copyright or has obvious commercial significance, or the name of a “notorious” person. Emphatically forbidden are “names that are suggestive or have a vulgar or obscene meaning; names considered in poor taste; or names that may be offensive to religious, political or ethnic groups.”
It’s amazing how these names got through:
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Blow Me (1945)
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Pussy Galore (1965)
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On Your Knees (1977 & 2005)
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Jail Bait (1971 & 1983)
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Hardawn (1937)
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Wrecked Em (1983)
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Golden Shower (1955)
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Titanic Blow (2006)
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Ménage Á Trois (1974)
You forgot – Hoof Hearted – which Is by far the best racehorse name ever….
What about “Hoof Hearted”
I used to work for the Daily Racing Form and each of those names probably were run by me at some point. Those experiences gave me an ability to detect a problem name from acros the street.
Two names that come to mind were Gnatnoop, Cunning Stunt–and if either is listed by you, my bad. I couldn’t remember once I opened this page.