As entertaining as the Kentucky Derby is, the horses’ names come in a distant second.
Horses running in the Roses often have unique names, a result of official registration rules and, often, ancestry — and this year is no different.
No plain old “Lucky” or “Sugar” among the 2022 Derby horse names, although those two are in the top 20 of last year’s 90 most popular horse names.
And Benedict Cumberbatch, X Æ A-12 Spray, Moon Zappa, and Englebert Humperdink would like to have a word with some Churchill Downs racers whinnying about their “unusual” Derby horse names.
Colorado horse racing is a popular hobby, so visit your local racetrack in Arlington, Fredericksburg, Houston, or Selma to get in on the action. Currently, there are no online horse betting platforms available.
However, if you are interested in seeing more gambling options in the Lone Star State, keep an eye on key legislators working to make it happen.
What’ s in a very Derby winner’ s term?
Perhaps one of the most humorous Derby winners’ names is 2012’s I’ll Have Another. It immediately invokes an image of a tipsy horse in a bar at closing time, possibly crooning Frank Sinatra’s “One for My Baby.”
Another horse that may have had a drink or two is 1994’s winner, Go for Gin.
2010’s victor, Super Saver, sounds like the poor horse was purchased at the local A&P. With coupons, of course.
Unintentionally, perhaps, 2016’s Nyquist gives a sense of cold medicine.
When his owners named the 1932 winner Burgoo King, they couldn’t have foreseen the future’s fast-food era. (For the record, the original Burger King opened 22 years later in Miami).
When you think about it, really, who wouldn’t like a Derby winner named Charismatic, just like the 1999 first-place finisher?
The most intimidating Derby-winner moniker? Assault in 1946.
And maybe it’s not a coincidence that Assault and the next year’s winner, Jet Pilot, ran in the first few years after the end of World War II.
The Most Ironic Name Award goes to Maximum Security. The three-year-old thoroughbred finished first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby but was controversially disqualified for interference.
The Itchiest Name came from non-winner Cotton Sandals in 2007.
The first Kentucky Derby winner was Aristides in 1875. Other winners with fun, quirky, unique names have included:
| Apollo, 1882 | Stunning Bid, lates 1970s |
| Lieut. Gibson, 1900 | Sunny’ s Circulo, 1983 |
| Evaluate Himes, 1903 | Spend money, 1985 |
| Ruddy Star, 1907 | Funny Cide, 2003 |
| Conduct themselves Yourself, 1921 | Smarty Williams, 2004 |
| Bubbling Over, 1926 | Street Good sense, 2007 |
| 20 or so Grand, 1931 | Always Fantasizing, 2017 |
| Small needles, 1956 | Rationalize, 2018 |
| Venetian Way, 60 | Country Property, 2019 |
| Unreasonable Pleasure, 75 | Authentic, 2020 |
Precisely how Kentucky Derby racers manage to get their monikers
At times, horses get their names from one or both of their parents, like many of this year’s contenders, including Summer Is Tomorrow and Top Pride.
Sometimes, a horse gets named after a visible characteristic, like one-eyed El Ojo. (He was withdrawn from Derby entry this year.)
The Jockey Club handles the registration of horse names. Horses must be named by February 1 of the year they turn two years old or a fee is required.
The Jockey Club lists 17 restrictions on horse names, including no names:
- Exceeding 18 characters (spaces and punctuation count)
- Of living persons unless the person in question has given permission with the Jockey Club
- With vulgar or indecent names
- Of horses in the racing Hall of Fame
- That have “commercial significance”
- Composed solely of numbers or solely of initials
- The Jockey Club has the final approval of any name.
Typically the stories in back of the names on this year’ beds Derby mounts
Jon Good of the Louisville Courier-Journal delves into the names of this year’s Derby contenders. Here’s some of what he discovered:
- Cyberknife got its name from owner Al Gold’s treatment for prostate cancer. Gold told the Courier-Journal that he “wanted to get the word out” that while a cancer diagnosis can be scary, prostate cancer can be treated.
- The inspiration behind Tawny Port’s name is a Portuguese wine.
- Happy Plug apparently embodies a “sunny attitude.” His owners gave him the other half of his name at birth.
And sometimes owners can’t really explain how they came up with a name, like the owners of this year’s Derby favorite, Epicenter.
The closest the thoroughbred’s owner could get to explaining the name? Perhaps there was “some documentary or a Weather Channel story about earthquakes at the time that subliminally entered our consciousness.”
