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As always, it’s good to know that those wonderful guys at RFC are undeterred by the recession or the Levy shambles, and are pushing ahead with their revolution.
Here’s the latest announcement from the racing admin website :
At the beginning of 2010, Racing for Change announced the intention to list all jockeys and trainers by their first names and surnames on race cards. This is part of a process to make the sport more inclusive for a broader and younger audience.
The switch to jockeys’ first names took place in the spring. This move, supported by a campaign to promote the achievements of our top riders, has already had a positive effect with wider public awareness of our best-known riders increasing 25% over the last six months. Racing for Change now wants to improve wider awareness of our leading trainers.
The British Horseracing Authority and Weatherbys have now finished the necessary computer development to make this possible.
The nmes as they will appear in future are shown on a PDF – amongst my favourite changes are the discovery that A Sadik is really Aytach Mehmet Sadik and the subtle move from ‘Sir Mark Prescott’ to ‘Sir Mark Prescott Bt’, which might just be a sign of disapproval!
Less attractive in the view of this ageing traditionalist is that the use of Miss or Mrs for lady trainer will be dropped in the pursuit of equality. So Miss H C Knight will now appear as Henrietta Knight. There is one route of escape from modernity – Lady Herries remains unchristened (unless of course her parents really did call her Lady!).
Still it’s a great move to open up the sport – what a surprise to discover that P F Nicholls is called Paul and H R A Cecil is a Henry …….. who knew?
AP
I think bringing the personalities more to life WILL help racing’s aims to attract a bigger and more loyal audience but quite why anyone thinks including the Bt at the end of SMP’s name makes it more user-friendly or accessible to the public at large is indeed a mystery.
There is one route of escape from modernity – Lady Herries remains unchristened (unless of course her parents really did call her Lady!).
As she is a daughter of a Duke and inherited a medieval Scottish Lordship in her own right, her correct courtesy title is, I believe:
Lady Anne Cowdrey, 14th Lady Herries of Terregles
Which may cause one or two formatting problems on racecards
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I know this has been mentioned in Another Place, but never mind Anne Herries – how on earth are we supposed to start calling AP
"Anthony Peter McCoy OBE"
?!?
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I think bringing the personalities more to life WILL help racing’s aims to attract a bigger and more loyal audience but quite why anyone thinks including the Bt at the end of SMP’s name makes it more user-friendly or accessible to the public at large is indeed a mystery.
Well, I assume RFC at least have clocked that at least 50% of the public is as much attached to genuine snobbery as to faux-democracy. They love a Bart – especially (as W.S.Gilbert put it in
Ruddigore
) a "Bad Bart."!
I always thought Ms/Miss/Mrs for trainers was odd, particularly when Mr isn’t used otherwise.
With regards to AP McCoy, I bet that jockeys and trainers can request a certain name to appear on the card. This is the case over here where first and last names are used but we still have A. R. (Anna Rose) Napravnik, J. D. Acosta, M. Clifton Berry, and T. D. Houghton.
I know this has been mentioned in Another Place, but never mind Anne Herries – how on earth are we supposed to start calling AP
"Anthony Peter McCoy OBE"
?!?
I always thought he was known as AP as a sort of comprimise because he was sick of everyone calling him Tony.
To which I entirely sympathise.
Could they publish the full name of a Maktoum family member when they own a horse that is running as well? I want it in Arabic as well as English….
Maybe they could highlight jockeys who have been warned off previously in bold for new punters/racegoers. Maybe they could highlight jockeys who have been banned for 10 days under a section of the non triers rule in red-ink/colour.
Well, ostensibly that’s good news, and a particularly helpful development for those – thankfully few and far between – lazier souls who provoke murderous impulses every time they confuse their Micky and Mike Hammonds, Peter and Philip Pritchards, Jonjo and John O’Neills, etc. on telly or in print. Hurrah.
However, I suspect AP brought up
the discovery that A Sadik is really Aytach Mehmet Sadik
with a wry smile on his face, knowing as I – and doubtless many others on TRF – do that Aytach Sadik tends to use neither Aytach nor Mehmet, but rather the unaccounted for Jeff, as his first name of preference!
Alan Brian Coogan, pretty much only ever known as Scobie, presents the same issue.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
PS For more information on the dangers and pitfalls of interpreting people’s names in ways they are not guaranteed to appreciate or take kindly to, please refer to the first two minutes and 45 seconds of the following clip;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTwxiKMWCkg
HTH,
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Well, ostensibly that’s good news, and a particularly helpful development for those – thankfully few and far between – lazier souls who provoke murderous impulses every time they confuse their Micky and Mike Hammonds, Peter and Philip Pritchards, Jonjo and John O’Neills, etc. on telly or in print. Hurrah.
However, I suspect AP brought up
the discovery that A Sadik is really Aytach Mehmet Sadik
with a wry smile on his face, knowing as I – and doubtless many others on TRF – do that Aytach Sadik tends to use neither Aytach nor Mehmet, but rather the unaccounted for Jeff, as his first name of preference!
Alan Brian Coogan, pretty much only ever known as Scobie, presents the same issue.
gc
Claude R. McGaughey III, better known as Shug, has Claude on the racecard, while others like Scooter Davis have their nickname on it. Again, it’s all personal preference.
Forgot to mention that Anna Napravnik hates being called Rosie, the nickname she earned as an apprentice ("Rosie the Riveter"). The increasingly senile track announcer Tom Durkin still calls her that even though she’s officially listed as A. R.
Doesn’t go far enough in my opinion – we need nicknames..
‘Plotter’ Prescott
‘Chubby’ Nicholls
‘Mad dog’ McCain (retired)
‘Cheaty’ (insert as applicable)Moaning for the sake of it this thread. Haven’t seen the pdf list, but if it means we see the names Alan Swinbank, David Evans, David Barron, Stan Moore, Rod Millman etc. instead of their current guise then it is another step in the right direction.
Well let’s hope that Monty Python’s three politicians from the Silly Party:
Kevin Phillips-Bong
Jethro Q. Walrustitty
and of course,
Tarquin Fin-tim-lin-bin-whin-bim-lim-bus-stop-F’tang-F’tang-Ole-Biscuitbarreldon’t turn to racing.
Mike
("Arthur Negus has held Bristols. That’s not a result, it’s just a bit of gossip")
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I reckon that move that helps newcomers fit in quicker and feel more at home must help.
"Ruby will ride What A friend" makes sense to just about everyone on this forum but a newcomer wouldn’t have a clue who Ruby was if his name appears as R Walsh.
People may think that’s kind of silly but that’s because they know who Ruby is and assume everyone else should.
Anyone who has had a computer go wrong and searched the web for a solution will know what I mean. As they no doubt have come across some nerd saying something like it’s your PSU that’s causing the problem and been left wondering wtf a PSU is.
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