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Yep, bored with Bollins, Bonds, Comptons, Beauchamps, Dubais etc. No offence against the owners, but it gets confusing with all the different ones, and a bit tedious.
I like originality with names (like the one Ian mentions), and also horses like Celibate. Even the Ballydoyle Cat/Tiger obsession is becoming boring.
Some of Hamdan’s horses are confusing, even though I like some Arabic names. Godolphin seem to have curbed the Dubai names for the meanwhile. Often the Highclere syndicate horses get single names, which aren’t too bad. A lot of John Gosden/Stoute horses are well named.
IMO for the Flat horses from Juddmonte farms/Cheveley Park stud/Sheikh Mo are the best named.
<br>i agree horses were much better named in the past
some of these arabic names whilst they might have wonderful meanings can be a rightmouthful if you are trying to get a wedge on in a hurry:biggrin: :biggrin:
also in agreement that numerous comptons bollins and names that refer to the owners occupation become very tedious
the americans and the irish and jumps owners seem to name their horses very well
as for the flat highclere cheverly and judmonte as mesh mentions are very good sheik mo is good when giving european names.
i like the cat names for balydoyle (there again i like cats) at least they have being offspring of storm cat some relevence
Mesh,
Some of Hamdan’s names are confusing – what could be simpler than Bint Salsabil and Bint Shadayid – both masterpieces of nomenclature.
Or were you referring to Mukddaam and Mukadammah, or Muhtafel and Muhtafal?;)
Personal favourite at the moment is the beautifully-bred Haafhd – I am sure it means something nice in Arabic but sounds like a ball of phlegm produced by a night on the Woodbines.
For once I am in total agreement with you Ian;) <br>Gone are the days of Hellcatmudwrestler!!!<br>I too get bored with the regular occurrence of Bollins and Comptons, but what can be done?<br>Prince Regent is right about the arabic names, I just think sometimes they are are out of place over here, and should be kept to the arab states.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<br>One of my fav names was ‘ Getting Plenty’ by Oats!
<br>Nobody is ever likely to improve on Louis Freedman, who named one of his home bred fillys as follows –
Lowawatha b f Dancing Brave – Shorthouse
AP
I think the best named horse was put in place by the Late breeder Paul Mellon.
He named his chestnut by Seeking The Gold out of You’d Be Surprised –
WAIT FOR THE WILL
I like the way John Magnier name their horse and also another favourite is LET THE LION ROAR although its tedious listening to Derek Thompson call them home especially when playing upon horses names.
What would have been one of my favourite namings was not allowed, because it is a little too close to a rude word.
The filly is by Warning, out of Waterfowl Creek.  The owners wanted to call her Duck.<br>:) ÂÂÂ
So Ian, are you trying to say that all of these wealthy Arabs just race their horses over here because they want to be popular with the public? <br>If i had horses in Japan, Outer Mongolia, Timbuctoo or whereever i would want the name to one that i could say. The natives may struggle but ultimately it will be the owner who has to say the horse’s name most frequently.
I remember once reading an interview with Prince Khaled Abdullah who said that he always allowed his stud staff to name his home bred horses. <br>Nebvertheless, he did remark that he himself had problems with the pronunciation of some of these English names. So it does work both ways.<br>
Making his debut today at Newmarket is Dr Thong, by Dr Fong out of Always On My Mind :biggrin:
One of the problems faced by owners is the limited number of names available.  Often the most appropriate (and pronouncable!) name has already been taken.  The situation would be far worse if everyone insisted on giving their horses names from the English language.
Besides, it’s nice to have some multi-culturalism in horses’ names – most of my knowledge of Russian ballet dancers comes from the offspring of Nijinsky, Nureyev and Sadler’s Wells!
So it’s good to be multi-cultural, as long as it’s still the culture we’re already familiar with? :biggrin:
I presume you have the same issues with Irish Gaelic names?
No, I’ve read that 4 times (even after the editing) and it still doesn’t make sense.
Last time I looked, Nijinsky was a Russian word.  Was that the language of the country the horse was in training in? ÂÂÂ
No good suggesting that it is a proper name, as many of the Arabic names are names of people or places, taken from religion or history – it is just that they are not as familiar to many people in this country as Nijinsky.
I enjoy finding out origins of names – before I heard of the horses I didn’t know that Salsabil was a sacred fountain, Baryshnikov was a ‘northern dancer’ and Lammtarra meant invisible like a bride in the snow.
Mujahid. Mujtahid.
It’s bad enough on track but then they go off to stud. Hamdan Al Maktoum has to be one of the laziest namers of horses in history.
Khalid Abdullah’s pretty good in my book. Ed Weetman clearly has the sense of humour of a breadstick – Weet For Me was okay-ish as a one off, the less credible ‘play on word’ efforts he’s come up with are pathetic and irritating.
Two words. Andrew Reid – Pants. Says it all.
Pocket Rocket, this isn’t directed at you, but IMO there’s altogether too much deference exhibited towards rich owners on this forum. <br>I know some people here might work for them, but please, a bit of self respect wouldn’t come amiss.
Ian, you are the people’s champion! Have you ever thought of running for parliament? Are have you already?:biggrin: <br>
Ian – wide of the mark here my friend. Owners coming to this country to race their horses are perfectly entitled to name their horses as they wish without regard for the preferences of you or I. Moreover I find it adds to the glamour and aesthetic of racing to have Arabic, Gaelic, French, Italian, German etc names in the pot. It isn’t a recent phenomenon either. Caracalla II, Souverain, Supertello, Aquino II, Souepi, Elpenor, Macip and Zarthustra were all ‘foreigners’ who won the Ascot Gold Cup between 1946 and 1957.<br>My personal preference is for horses to be named in a way which somehow reflects the beauty, grace and bravery of the thoroughbred so ‘Sadmadbad’ isn’t in my top ten. <br>I think Sal’s point may be that you cannot claim to be ‘multi-cultural’ on the one hand and then debar names which are unfamiliar in the ‘local’ culture. Are you saying multi-cultural is OK so long as it’s something Ian Davies has heard of? Depends on what you define as global culture I suppose. Are you excluding, in Bush-esque fashion, the Middle East from this ‘global culture’ of yours?<br>
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