Tiger relishes the chance to name a foal
Naming a foal is one of the fun privileges of being an owner and breeder of standardbred horses. Don Tiger relishes each opportunity.
“It also can be nerve-racking because you want it to be a cool name,” Tiger said. “Most of the time a name is given off of the dam or sire or a combination.”
Tiger’s best and most notable horse is Charlie May, who is prepping for his 5-year-old season.
“He was my first bred and my wife (April) wanted, insisted he be named Charlie.”
Tiger balked at the name. April then said: “Charlie may become a superstar.”
“Thus, Charlie May,” Tiger explained.
Tiger has named foals after movies and characters in movies, among other considerations.
“Sometimes it’s gut or feel,” Tiger said. “You can put a different spin on a name.
Here are some of the great and favorite names of champions of the Hambletonian, Little Brown Jug, Breeders Crown and Adios Pace: Cool Papa Bell, Mack Lobell, Wigglieit Jiggleit, Jaguar Spur, Frugal Gourmet, Nihilator, Sweet Lou, Foiled Again, Dragon’s Lair, Kadabra, Albatross, Storm Damage, Marauder, Run The Table, Camtastic, Barberry Spur, Dorsoduro Hanover and Bythemissal.
Naming a foal
Names are limited to 18 characters and four words. That count includes spaces, dashes and apostrophes, so one may need to get creative if there is a longer name choice.
Names cannot have less than two characters; numbers and symbols are not allowed. If one wants more time to choose a name, one can register a foal as “UNNAMED” by checking the “Leave as unnamed” box on the application or online. The horse will need to be named before Jan. 1 of its 2-year-old year, otherwise the $35 fee would be assessed.
Name choices are checked via automatic processes and, if the name passes those checks, would be sent on to the United States Trotting Association’s (USTA) naming committee for further review. Some of the automatic checks are that the name is not an exact or phonetic match for a horse that:
Has raced or been bred in the past 15 years
Has been awarded honors, i.e., Dan Patch Award, O’Brien Award, Nova Award or inducted into the Hall of Fame
Ss considered “outstanding” (has earnings of $100,000 or greater or has a 2:00 or better mark for foals born in 1980 and earlier; has earnings of $250,000 or a mark of 1:55 or faster for horses born after 1980)
Is the dam of an “outstanding” foal
Some other name checks that are conducted at the USTA office are:
Name choices that sound like a name already in use, i.e., if a horse is named, She’s Beautiful, we cannot accept the name choice Sheez Beautiful.
Registered farms may reserve names for their use only such as Hanover, Southwind, Lindy.
Some names are reserved for a family line. The sire or the dam must have the family name in their own name before it can be used for the foal, like Dragon, Captain, Miki
Names of famous or notorious people, trade names, names used for advertising or names deemed inappropriate will not be approved ‘
Additional rules are outlined in Rule 26, Section 7 of the USTA rule book.
Naming rights
In their own words
Moira Fanning, chief operating officer, Hambletonian Society, Cranbury, N.J.
“I like it when people take the time to name their horses with something clever or a reference to the sire or dam. Sires like No Nukes, Sweet Lou and Captain Crunch have provided endless naming opportunities.
“I like pop culture or TV and film references… one of the best was the horse named Enzo The Baker from the line in the Godfather. We had a filly we named Do Your Job from the line Bryan Cranston yells in Argo.
“I’m not crazy about political names or political references, one because the relevance or timeliness kind of fades quickly and a horse named as a yearling may get to the races three years later when the name isn’t as pertinent. People often try to get something scatological past the USTA, which does an excellent job of screening names but sometimes they get through as do the occasional misspellings which drive me crazy.
“As for great horses having great names — I always thought Nihilator was one of the best, and of course being a son of Niatross the naming tradition continued. Somebeachsomewhere and Bulldog Hanover — the horse enhances the name — were good names to start with.”
Wendy Cameron, former co-owner of Camland, a harness racing business, Washington, PA
My father, Wilfred R. “Pete” Cameron, began owning, training and breeding horses when The Meadows Racetrack opened.
As he owned and operated Cameron Coca-Cola at the time when he was extremely busy, he often had his horses with trainers. When I was old enough, I worked with him and trained them until I went to college and then worked at the company.
Their first “Cam” horse was Nan Cam who we raced and bred.
My father and mother, Nan Cameron, followed the USTA naming rules which you referenced and then determined the rules for naming their “Cam” horses.
Colts’ names would start with Cam and be one word. Filly’s names would start with a name and the second name would be Cam and were two words.
“My parents named more than 50 “Cam” horses. At least 20 were family names, as with their first, Nan Cam. Many were tied to the Cameron Coca-Cola with brands such as Camsurge, Classic Cam, Cambrand. Additionally, they tied the name to the sire, Cambret, the sire was Bret Hanover, and Camtown with the sire being Big Towner.
“After Cameron Coca-Cola was sold and my father passed away, my mother and I decided to continue racing and began breeding again. I also started training again. We named quite a few together.
Probably our favorite name is Always Cam, named after the slogan Always Coca-Cola. She was our best racehorse, winning many major stakes including the Breeders Crown. We bred her and followed the same rules of naming with her foals, Camsprite, Camvault after Coca-Cola brands, Delightfully Cam – sire was Bettors Delight and Cammikey after my son. I am not a fan of naming horses after family because there is more emotion and I find it more difficult to sell them.”
Carl Cocciolone — trainer and owner, Monessen, Pa.
“We had a mare named Millers Corrine,” Cocciolone said. “She was a half-sister to Millers Effort and Millers Scout. Back in 1975-78 these two brothers were the fastest full brothers in harness racing.
“We bred Millers Corrine, and all her foals were named after our Italian Heritage. Examples included a newspaper that came from Italy, it was called “Attezione,” which of course in English meant “attention.” So, we named it after that newspaper.
“Ironically, this was Millers Corrine’s second foal. He had a full brother the next year called: Pronto Pronto. Both were nice horses, open pacers, at that time.
“But going back to Attezione. There was an up-and-coming young driver, who just started on his journey to greatness. Attezione was one of the first times or maybe actually the first time, Dave Palone, won the open pace.”
Dirk Simpson, owner, trainer and driver, Meadow Lands, Pa.
“People name their horses based on many factors’ names: kids, wives, ex-wives and girlfriends. I named a horse after a street — Montvale. A lot of good names are wasted on bad horses, unfortunately.
“I have a son who has down syndrome who most people in the industry know as Ben. We’ve named a horse – Where’s Ben? Because when he was small, he was always taking off and that was a common phrase for him. There’s also been a horse called Man Ben, who was also named after Benjamin.
“Most farms do try to include part of their farm name in their horse’s name as Fox Valley standardbreds do in Illinois.
“I must give credit to the grooms for giving most of the nicknames. The grooms spend the most time with them and it’s from their characteristics or quirks they get names for the horses.
“Some get nicknames from the way they perform or just because their names are so long. It’s easier to give them a nickname in the barn.”
Jeff Zidek, track announcer The Meadows, owner, Greensburg, Pa.
“The (name) that comes to mind to me is a horse named Oliver Cloz Off.
“I don’t think the local trainer that is involved in the story was the one who named the horse. But he ended up training the horse. One night, when the horse was down in class and expected to win, a female was inserted to drive.”
As it was, the horse hit the top of the stretch.
“So, (then track announcer) Roger Huston could say, as they hit the top of the stretch: ‘Here comes (driver name) with Oliver Cloz Off.”
Missy Rothfuss, Owner and Outrider, Spencerport, N.Y.
“Most of the names we’ve used are from songs from the 1990s, rap or saying for the racehorses. The outriding horses are simple one-word names because I am not good naming those ones.
“We named What Up Moe after a friend’s greeting. My daughter named our trotting filly — Oh No U Just Didn’t. I call still hear Roger Huston saying when she made a break: ‘Oh yes, she just did.”
Norm Parker, driver, trainer and owner, Washington, Pa.
“Dew N Doughnuts name came because my second trainer Terry Brewer had Doughnuts’ mother -Artbitration — at The Meadowlands racing and was staying at the Hampton Inn across the street. Every morning he would leave the hotel and take a Mountain Dew and two cinnamon donuts to the barn and he would eat one donut and have his Mountain Dew and feed the other to Artbitration. I have a horse named Mr. Dagger. He has a blaze on his face that looks like a dagger.”