Wednesday, August 8, 2007

So I can't name my horse after a slave?

Since I've seen other people have posted this, I guess I should mention we originally posted this yesterday afternoon. We moved it up to today because, well, because we can. And we need filler. Enjoy.

There have definitely been some interesting horse names over the years. Our personal favorite was IMAWILDANDCRAZYGUY who finished 4th in this year's Kentucky Derby. Awful Announcing also brought you the thrilling finish of "Who Farted." It would seem with names like these, you could pretty much name your horse whatever you wanted.

That, however, is not true.

In this year's Kentucky Derby there was a horse named "Awaiting Justice" who came in fifth. That wasn't the horse's desired name. The horse was supposed to be named Sally Hemings, the same Sally Hemings who bumped uglies with Thomas Jefferson.

Apparently the owner of the horse, Garrett Redmond, has been trying like hell since 2005 to give the horse the name Sally Hemings. And today a federal appeals court ruled that you can't do that. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said that The Jockey Club can legally bar Redmond from naming his horse after Hemings.

The Jockey Club, which regulates the registration and naming of North American thoroughbreds, had orginally denied Redmond's Sally Hemings name request saying it was in poor taste and could be offensive.

Why in God's name Redmond wants to name a horse after Hemings is beyond me. I think his problem is he chose a name that doesn't have the cover of a double meaning. Like Rear Admiral, Dunking the Beaver, or Fingering the Accused.

-WCK

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