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gc, guru of all things pointing, what do u make of a mare called Sericina (Roddick trained)?
I’m no GC on matters pointing but Nicholls was/is after her but the owners don’t want to sell – she’s 2/2 this season so far under Chloe Roddick.
She won 5 or 5 last term too before falling in Chelt foxhunters.
I have her unraced 3yo half sister.
gc, guru of all things pointing, what do u make of a mare called Sericina (Roddick trained)?
Naming racehorses is a fun but tricky business.
Our Only The Best, illustrates the point (we didn’t name him!). He looks a very promising horse but to name a horse "Only The Best" does saddle him with the burden of living up to his name. The similarly named "Best Horse" is another in the yard that suffers the same fate. DPRP also previously had Haut de Gamme which translates to "Top Specification" or "Best of the Best". There is not really a precise translation but I understand from French friends that it is a generic term referring to products like Bentley, Rolls Royce, Rolex etc.
We have actually named very few of our horses, most having been bought with form & thus already named. We have named a few though & have thus had to observe the UK naming rules (18 characters maximum, 7 syllables maximum & not offensive or likely to confuse). The first partnership that we set up was one of ten friends & the first horse we bought was an unnamed horse that we called Ten Aces, a reference to the ten partners & also to a card game regularly played by them. The horse ran once in a bumper but was then injured & sadly lost. Undeterred, the same partnership bought another unnamed horse by Commanche Court & named him Ten Commanches continuing the "ten" theme & referencing his breeding, a common thing to do in naming a horse. The horse was 3rd in a bumper on his debut but was also sadly lost before making his 2nd run. The third horse of the partnership again followed the themes of ten & referencing the sire. He was a gelding by Fourstars Allstar & the partners named him Tenacious Star. He ran a few times before breaking a leg at Carlisle. The partnership had had 3 horses in 3 years and lost all to injury. Thus when a 4th unnamed horse was purchased, the eventual choice of name was very apt. He was a full brother to a horse called "The Dark Lord" & so they flirted with the idea of calling him Harry Potter or Voldemort or even Dumbledore but none of those really struck a chord. Having bought,named & lost 3 horses in 3 years it was with a sense of dark irony that they decided to call this horse Deja Vu!
Another horse that we named was a 3yo by Alderbrook out of a mare called Bohemian Return & we took cues from both sides of his breeding to name him Bohemian Brook. We did not name him but Aces Four follows a similar pattern being by Fourstars Allstar out of Special Trix, as do Anglican, Lucky Nellerie & Divers being out of mares called Anglaise, British Nellerie & Divination respectively. Pistol Basc is by a sire called Maille Pistol (son of Pistolet Bleu) but the Basc part of his name remains a mystery…presumably not a reference to the Britiash Association for Shooting & Conservation!
Pakineo Des Pictons name was interesting in that it was 1 character too long to comply with the BHA rules. However, as he had already been named in France, he was allowed to keep his name. The Pakineo prefix remains a mystery to me but the Pictons part of the name refers to the region where he was bred. You will notice lots of horses with "Pictons" in their name – all bred by the same people in the same area of France. French breeders tend to take the local region & use the name for naming their horses – all of the Sivola horses are bred in the same region & generally by the same people, incuding our own Nine de Sivola. He regularly gets called Nina de Sivola or Neen de Sivola by commentators. We were unsure of the origin & thus correct pronunciation of his name so one of the partners contacted the French breeder. It turns out that it is the English word nine, as in number nine! There was no Eight de Sivola nor indeed a Ten de Sivola so we still don’t know why he was called Nine de Sivola.However, we do know that the correct pronunciation should be as in the number nine!
Delray Beach’s name owes nothing to her breeding & she seems to have been named after a Florida resort, presumably a favourite of her owners! Kalmo Bay sounds like it may be a similar story but actually I think that his name references his breeding in a traditional way. He is by Alamo Bay our of a mare called Kermesse – I think that they took the "k" from Kermesse & worked it into Alamo Bay
Rich Lord’s name has no rhyme nor reason to it, except that his first trainer James Bethell had a few horses with the prefix "Rich" at around the same time & so maybe it means something to him.
The other problem with Only The Best’s name is that it does not easily suggest a shorter,more familiar stable name for him. Clemax was "Clem", Aces Four was obviously "Aces", Nine de Sivola is "Sylvester" or "NDS" and Delray Beach was "Della". Lucky Nellerie you might think would be "Lucky" but he is more often referred to as "Nelly" though PJ Mcdonald (who won 3 on him) always called him "Smelly"! Any delusions of grandeur that Haut de Gamme may have had were shattered when we called him "Ginge" at home !
I am happy to report though, that one of the Only The Best owners has suggested a super stable name for him; George…as in George Best! So he now has not one but two names to live up to!
The truth is though, as long as they do the business, you can call them what you like!!
Having pulled up sharply at Cheltenham on Saturday, Galant Nuit has been checked over by our vets. Whilst nothing serious, he does have soreness in a heel & as that means missing a few weeks work, he is out of the Welsh National. We will see what happens but most likely scenario is that he heads to Newcastle for the Eider chase, to Cheltenham for the Kim Muir (3rd last year) or to Uttoxeter for the Midlands National.
Does the trainer not have a yard agreement? If not then the Tote offer a sponsorship….details from Weatherby VAT desk on 01933 440077
The conflict of interest is clear and his assertion that he can’t see it shows how far removed from reality he is. Judgement clearly in question so he must go.
Yes, only his arrogance in assuming he has done nothing wrong exceeds the error of judgement he made in allowing the conflict of interest to arise.
For those that can’t be arsed to read it all:
"On July 15, I successfully had the six-month ban overturned by the BHA’s appeal board and I was left to pay a fine of £4,500. I have not made any public comment since. Which is more than can be said for the BHA, whose Head of Communications Paul Struthers continues to have discussions about the details of my case on internet racing forums."
Ignoring the public comments he has made since then, including this one on the 10th Sept – http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/racing/findlay-accuses-bha-of-vendetta-2075247.html – I’ve searched all my posts for the last few months and, unless I’ve missed something, I’ve not said anything, barring a comment I made last week on Twitter (and maybe on here) asking where all the hand-wringing was about the 6 months for Hassiakos being harsh. So that part of the article is palpably untrue.
I also told Mark Davies that what he’d heard/wrote was utter bollocks.
Interesting language & turn of phrase from our regulatory body…is that part of Racing for Change?!
Best viewing is from the seats in the old members stand…theres a kiosk at the side of the stand selling a special pass to get up there for £2…well worth it but they do sell out so be quick!
Yes thanks. Mark Johnston horses appeal at the sales as they come with very thorough documented histories.
Think the new one today is destined for Kalahari King owners.
We have bought an ex Mark Johnston/Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum flat horse to go juvenile hurdling & I like him a lot. Good mover & nice attitude: CAPRICORNUS
I think they were slightly cheaper on Thurs /Fri but very cheekily, they included the same articles each day. Even a sad man like me doesn’t want to read the same thing each day!
I have the view that at meetings like Aintree & Cheltenham where it is £60/70/80/90+ to get in the door that they should be handing you a racecard free. Even if the cost was built into the admission charge it would be better than charging somebody £60+ & then immediately asking for another fiver.
Every horse declared so the 40 runners are the top 40 as of yesterday ie last one in Abbeybraney. 4 reserves Silver Birch, Cerium, Royal Rosa and Knowwhere
David ParryHi David,
Sorry, I’m not in the market for the tickets but you’ve reminded me of last year’s Aintree experience, thanks to your generosity. Which in turn reminded me of a runner from last year who I had down as a future winner at that venue. Game on this year, perhaps? If that is the case, my very best wishes.
KCant remember who that would have been!
If it was Divers then he indeed runs on saturday in the 2m hcap hurdle (if he gets in). If it was Galant Nuit, he is entered but won’t get a run in the Grand Nationl.From today’s Racing Post;
"THE Turf Club has announced that parts of the course at Fairyhouse were found to be unfit for racing due to waterlogging when inspected on Wednesday morning.
The situation will be monitored over the coming days prior to the start of the four-day meeting on Sunday, which features the Grade 1 Powers Gold Cup.
The highlight of Monday’s card is the Powers Whiskey Irish Grand National."
Not sure that Galant Nuit’s running; if you check the William Hill/Kim Muir thread on the Cheltenham section David Parry said the race might come a bit soon for him. However, I’m sure he’ll keep us informed and, I agree, would rather fancy him to run a big race if he takes his chance. Good luck to him if he does.
At risk of opening myself up to criticism if we change our minds later
; Galant Nuit very unlikely to run. Race will be too soon.Diificult to argue with your basic sentiments regarding robust debate
reet hard
. However when you dismiss half of the contributions (presumably the half that you do not agree with) as "
the sycophantic utterings of the ‘name’ worshippers
", it does rather lead one to think "why bother?".
; Galant Nuit very unlikely to run. Race will be too soon.