Is the naming of fillies better suited to witty wordplay around the subject of love and attraction? It certainly seems so from the brilliant names of some recent US winning fillies and mares. Take, for instance, Indiana victor Neck on the Nile (Cairo Prince) and out of Kiss a Vet. The name is an original [...]

1st-Belmont, $90,000, Msw, 7-3, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:04.38, ft, 5 1/2 lengths. LOST ARK (c, 2, Violence–Marion Ravenwood {SW, $112,598}, by A.P. Indy) is a half-brother to both GI Belmont S. runner-up Nest (Curlin), GISW, $1,130,550 and GI Santa Anita H. winner Idol (Curlin), GISW, $426,964. Sales History: $275,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, [...]

Whoever named Chelmsford 3-year-old winner Queen of the Skies (GB) (Lope de Vega (Ire) is well up on both early aviation and historic achievements. “West With The Night” was the title of a famous memoir by Beryl Markham (1902-1986), an aviator of incredible distinction. Markham grew up in Kenya and started to fly there as [...]

Think of Robin Hood, or the Scarlet Pimpernel. Or even Jesse James. There was a little bit of the Great Outlaw in Lester Piggott: enigmatic, often in trouble, and adored by the people in the street. Lester defied the rules of charisma: very soft voice, never very friendly, always composed, always keeping to himself in [...]

Churchill Downs, $80,418, Msw, 5-20, 2yo, 4 1/2f, :52.05, ft, 1/2 length. LATE SEPTEMBER (c, 2, Munnings–Hello Maggie May {MSW, $264,687}, by Lemon Drop Kid) O-Dew Sweepers LLC; B-Coteau Grove Farms, LLC (LA); T-George R. Arnold, II A number one song in America in the long hot summer of 1971 had these very first two [...]

It was so good to hear the Longchamp live commentator call the brilliant winner of the Prix Vanteaux with the full title & name of “Marquise De Sevigne.” It is the sometimes disputed call of history that the pen is mightier than the sword, but it is undeniable that the simple act of writing very, [...]

Let's hear for mature females running the show–and running in the show! They work hard for the breed, especially when they race past their first youth. Was Walt Whitman maybe thinking a little about older mares when he wrote: “The female contains all qualities and tempers them, she is in her place and moves with [...]

Mr. Baffert, c, 2, Bodemeister–Commandaria, by Smart Strike. Monterrico, 11-14, Maiden, 1000m. B-Sanford Robertson (KY). The one and only Mr. Bob Baffert has had quite a share of intriguingly named winners in the last few weeks. Incidentally, Baffert is himself the namesake of a brilliant Peruvian (and U.S.-bred) colt by his old alumnus Bodemeister–the 2-year-old [...]

“England expects that every man will do his duty” were the eloquent and terrifying orders of Viscount Horatio Nelson before the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), where the great admiral annihilated the French fleet and destroyed Napoleon's maritime ambitions forever–losing his life to an enemy musket ball in the bargain. The Oct. 2 Churchill Downs winner [...]

The name of the wonderful and deserving winner of the 2021 Arc De Triomphe worries me. Why the letter 'R' at the end of the first noun? No-final-R Torquato Tasso (1544-1595) was another Italian poet who thought as big as Hollywood and wrote incredibly long epic poems about knights in shining armors and their girlfriends, [...]

DEGAS It's wonderful to have a son of established stallion Munnings (Speightstown) called Degas. From artist to artist: from celebrated English traditionalist Alfred Munnings (1878-1959) to major French Impressionist Edgar Degas (1834-1917), both great painters of horse scenes–and not only, obviously. Artists have got to stick together. 7th-Timonium, $52,080, Opt. Clm ($16,000), 8-28, 3yo/up, 6 [...]

One single racing day in England–Thursday, Sept. 9-was rich in suggestive racehorse names. Two winners in Doncaster within two hours of each other-juvenile colt Harrow (Ire) (El Kabeir–School Run {Ire} by Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and 5-year-old gelding Harrovian (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}–Alma Mater {GB} by Sadler's Wells)–manifested ingenious connections (via their dams' names) to the famous [...]