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Good point Ginge, also Cause of Causes went close in it after he won the cross country a few years back also.
It was stamina-sapping ground at Cheltenham in the Cross Country. That would be my main concern for Delta Work come the GN. How much did the CC take out of him?
I really wish Death Duty had a nicer name, going into National can you images be animal rights
VF x
I agree, it seems a very bizarre choice of name vf. Would love to know whatever possessed whoever named him.
It doesn’t seem to be a clever wordplay based on the names of the sire and dam or anything like that (Shantou – Midnight Gift).
Death Duty- brought to you by the owners of:
Insult (fatally injured aged 7)
Broken Soul (last seen in a maiden hurdle aged 6…by the cheerfully named Beneficial out of the lovely Alicia’s Charm and saddled with the most miserable crappy name ever)
Embittered (doing OK so far)
Conflated (eh?)
Hell On Earth (as good as his name)
Eviscerating (offloaded to England in autumn with the rest of the losers)Who named him? Was it Gigginstown or the breeder?
Did the owner or breeder Geoffrey Thompson have a death in the family when the horse was named?
Was the horse sold to pay death duties?Value Is EverythingHe was bought un-named as a 3yo store in the Tatts Derby sale by Dessie Hughes for Gigginstown so I assume named by the O’Learys.
There are some truly grim names there greenasgrass. Conflated is a bit strange but tolerable; the rest are terrible.
Bestowing a derogatory name on any horse is somewhat demeaning to the animal.
Imagine someone spending good money on two racehorses. He calls one of them Winning Colours and the other Born Loser. Whichever stable lad gets to do Born Loser** won’t be happy, and this may well communicate itself to the horse. These animals are pretty good at reading body language.
Other stable staff will also be ungracious, or downright rude, about Born Loser such that the beast will be in danger of getting depressed. Visible signs of behavioural despair include an open-eyed wide-eyed, dull, unfocused gaze, and immobile head & ears. A bit like Matt Chapman.
This horse’s only chance is to win his first race by about 22 lengths, whereupon he will become popular overnight and surely set for a name change. Otherwise he will require the services of an equine behaviourist to get his mind right.
Offhand I can think of but two horses with a derogatory name who won a good race. The Bas**rd won the Yorkshire Cup in 1930 before being shipped to Australia where, against national stereotype, sensitive locals renamed him The Buzzard. Filho da Puta (Son of a Bitch) won the St Leger in 1815. Doubtless there have been a few others, which I can’t be bothered to seek out, but good races tend to be won by good horses with decent names.
Of those listed by greenasgrass, Broken Soul wins. It’s just a desperately offensive name.
**There have been three racehorses named Born Loser.
The 2008 winner was saddled with quite an unpleasant name although I liked the horse a lot.
Mr Elliott suggests Death Duty will go to Fairyhouse instead. Escaria Ten, Mount Ida and Farclas are ones he seems to have firmed up for Aintree.
Elliot Floueur and Fakir D’alene among his Irish National possibles.Along with Death Duty
Elliott also expects to have a similar number of runners in the Randox Grand National at Aintree on Saturday week.
“We’ll have five or six in each. Obviously we’ve not decided yet,” he went on.
“Run Wild Fred will either go Irish here or to Aintree. I’ve not decided yet, Fury Road could be a possible runner, Mount Ida goes to Aintree, Escaria Ten goes to Aintree, Farclas goes to Aintree, Hardline could run irish
“Samcro has yet to be decided. Coko Beach has to be decided, Floueur will go irish, Aramax will goirish, Frontal Assault will go irish, Grand Paradis probably won’t run, then we’re down to the 70s and I don’t think they will get in.”
On that evidence I imagine he’ll be running Delta Work, Mount Ida, Escaria Ten, Farclas, Samcro and Run Wild Fred with Death Duty and Coko Beach going to Fairyhouse. Battleoverdoyen to be sold in the build up.
Everything with a bucket of salt, of course.
Chris’s Dream has had a setback and won’t go according to De Bromhead in an interview with the Irish Times. Weights to go up 1lb with Minella Times topweight.
I’ve cashed out. Such a shame.
Comply Or Die, Don’t Push It and Many Clouds don’t have particularly cheery names, but I wouldn’t put them in the same category as some of the dreadful Gigginstown names above.
The latter smack of someone who has so many horses that they don’t particularly care about them as individuals, and see them more as commodities.
Interesting comments Seasider, and I am sure you are correct that there is a correlation between racehorse names and levels of success.
Lol the nationals greatest winner didn’t have the best name …. Do anyone know how he got his name ?
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
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