Racing: What’s in a name? Everything if you want to trial a horse

The Redwood-Queen Margaret colt. Photo / Race Images

One of the most enjoyable yet often frustrating experiences in horse racing has gone into hyper drive this week after a radical change of rules.

This week is set to be the busiest in the history of New Zealand horse race naming as from next Tuesday all thoroughbreds that trial or get their official barrier certificate have to be named.

For years thoroughbreds have been allowed to trial under their parents’ names, for example when NZ Derby winner Sharp ‘N’ Smart first trialled he was simply known, even in commentary, as the Redwood-Queen Margaret colt.

But those days are gone. From now on: No name, no trial.

That has seen a rush of naming applications to New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing this week because before the rule change the vast majority of un-raced horses who trialled in the thoroughbred code were unnamed.

Some of better-bred fillies get named earlier by their owners, hoping to secure a good name for their future breeding career, while high-priced colts often get something catchy early, too.

But many are left unnamed as potential overseas buyers often like to name horses themselves and many are superstitious about changing horses’ names.

So hundreds of horses will be named in coming weeks in what NZTR’s chief operating officer Darin Balcombe says is an overdue move.

“We have had a lot of people tell us they want horses to be named so they can keep an eye on them,” says Balcombe. “Our business has to be about maximising turnover and this can only help people keep up with where horses they see at the trials are going and create interest.

“We also had the issue that when horses weren’t named sometimes we didn’t know who was in the ownership and that is a potential integrity issue.

“We have had horses going to the trials still officially owned by the breeders because nobody has named them and changed their paperwork, but that will stop now,” he says.

“It will make for an initial frenzy like we are seeing this week but once trainers and owners get used to it, the advice would be when you find a name you like, submit it.”

NZTR have a page on their website where owners can type in potential names to see if they are available. Some names are protected (eg Phar Lap) while others can’t be used if they were carried by horses who raced recently or are still being bred from.

“But the system is a lot better than the old days when people used to have to submit a whole list of names and didn’t know which one they would get. You can now check if the name you want is available,” says Balcombe.