Update on the "Please Help Me Name My Thoroughbred Thread."

In My Humble Opinion
1

A few months ago I asked Dopers to help me name one of our fillies. Here’s the thread:

As I expected, the Dopers came through, and came up with many clever suggestions.
I typed up a list and submitted them to be considered along with the names some of the other owners suggested. It took several rounds of voting to get a clear winner, but we did.

And I am happy to announce a Doper suggested the winning name!

The 2008 Kentucky Oaks winner’s name is…….No Sir Ender Cat!

And the winning Doper is Snooooopy! You can see his submission in post #21. His submission was actually Sir Ender. But that seemed odd for a filly, sounding so male. And it sounded a bit like our horse would do the surrendering, we couldn’t have that!
But they liked the idea, and played with it a bit, but original idea came from Snooooopy, so he gets credit.

You can see it officially listed here if you type it in.
http://www.registry.jockeyclub.com/tjc/namesbook.cfm?rand=191&search=&CFID=1985043&CFTOKEN=43131898

Honorable mention goes to **ShirleyUjest ** for Viva la Cat, and a **Spoons/Alpine ** collaborative effort which resulted in Dellacat Reign.

Thanks again to all who made suggestions. I think we will start a little earlier this year since we will have 5 to name. I can’t wait to see what you all come up with this next bunch.

And to Snooooopy… In the original post I said if anyone here suggested the winning name, I would send them a copy of her first Winner’s Circle photo. I will still do that, but since you are in Louisville, and her first start will likely be at the Churchill Downs’ fall meet, I will also give you the chance to be in that photo. You can invite a bunch of your friends for a fun day at the track, come in the paddock, wish her and her jock a safe trip, and join us in the owner’s area to watch her race. And if the Racing Gods are favorable to us that day, join us in the Winner’s Circle for pictures. If you want, just email me, and I will let you know when she will make her first start. Win or lose, we always have a great time, and I am sure you and your friends would too.

Most of our horses aren’t fully mature until they are three, and we don’t start them on serious training until they are ready. But No Sir Ender Cat is on the small, slight side, but very athletic, and we think she may be one of our earlier starters. And her sire has a couple of nice sons on the Derby trail this year, so he seems to be producing early maturing kids. So a Churchill Downs fall start may happen for No Sir Ender Cat.

Thanks again for all who submitted names! I will be back soon with our next group of yearlings who could use some help with their names. Our group is growing each year, and ideally each group would have theme. We haven’t quite mastered that though. This year is a mismatch of No Sir Ender Cat, Century’s Song, and Copracabana. But down the road, with some help, I think we may come up with a fun theme that will produce some great names.

And thanks again Snooooopy. I hope she will do you proud!!

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Hah! Thanks for the update on the filly’s name. So … what barn name did you decide on? :slight_smile:

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Thanks for the update, Grits and Hard Toast. Not so long ago, I was remembering that thread, and wondering what the name would finally be. Well done, Snooooopy!

Keep us posted as to when No Sir Ender Cat runs, Grits. Thanks to the wonders of technology, and the gambling laws in place in my jurisdiction, I can catch races from Churchill at my local teletheatre (that is, our version of an OTB), so I could get to watch her race and put a few dollars on her besides.

And I’ll look forward to your next “name the thoroughbred” thread also. Thanks again for the update; and once more, good job, Snooooopy!

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Oh, cool! Snooooopy, do take up the offer to go to the races in the filly’s party, if you possibly can. I got to be part of the entourage for Cambest Prince, a (now retired) champion harness pacer, when he raced at Plainridge in an invitational handicap. Woot!

My friends and I joined the owners’ party in the posh part of the stands, got treated to a buffet, had a great view of the racing, and got to scream ourselves hoarse cheering the Prince home to a thrilling come-from-behind stretch-run victory. It was DAMNED exciting! And yes, we got to stand among the beaming cluster of humans in the winner’s circle for the pictures. You won’t believe what a blast it is.

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Allow me to beam for a moment …

BEAMS

Mmm, that was pleasant!

I would be honored to join you at Churchill Downs (or any other track within reasonable driving distance, such as Keeneland). You may find this hard to believe, but I’ve never been to a horse race in my life.

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Oh, are you ever in for a treat! You don’t have to be a racing fan, or even a horse lover, to have a blast at the track, especially in an owner’s party. And to do it at Churchill Downs? Man, do I envy you! :smiley:

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YAY!
I gots an Honorable Mention!

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By barn name, do you mean the other question I asked on here, about a name for the group that makes the breeding decisions? Unfortunately my timing was off on getting a name change. So we are still just “the breeding group,” which I hate. I have not given up, and will suggest again we give ourselves another name. Some of the suggestions were awesome, and if this group doesn’t use them, I am going to pass them on to some other groups who I am sure will have some fun with them.

I will definitely let you know when she makes her first start. No Sir Ender Cat does have some Canadian connections. Her sire is by Storm Cat, who is the leading sire in the line of the famous Canadian bred Northern Dancer. And her dam’s, dam’s sire is also by Northern Dancer. And one of her co owners lives in Ottawa. So you can feel good about cheering a horse with some Canadian connections! Glad to have you on board!

ETF, I am familiar with Cambest Prince. It is long story, but I found a Stud book from the 1880’s from a Lexington farm. I thought it would be a fun project to see if by chance any descendants from that farm ever went on to win the Kentucky Derby. It was a long shot, but I thought it would be fun to research. Instead I found out that the descendants from that farm were actually winners, record setters, and well known in the Standardbred world. Very cool! And Cambest Prince is a record setting standardbred that can trace his roots back to that farm!

I also had a chance to be in the Winner’s Circle of a big stakes race. Unfortunately for me, it wasn’t one of my horses; I was the guest of the winning trainer. But what fun! Our horses have visited the Winner’s Circle a number of times. But never in a race where after pictures, the President of the track invites you to his office for Champagne. Now, that would be a fun job. :wink: It was a day of all stakes races, and the President had each of the winning connections in for a toast. We won the 9th race, and he was a bit loopy by then. It was pretty funny. And some of the connections from earlier races were still there, they were trashed! Made for a very interesting day. I can’t wait until I get to experience that with one of our homebreds. Maybe No Sir Ender Cat will be the one to bring us there!

And I won’t bring up the other thread, and I have no pictures so I won’t start a new thread yet, but the weather warned up, and we had a baby! For right now all I can do is show you her handsome father, Van Nistelrooy. http://i5.tinypic.com/2w5lqw2.jpg
http://i9.tinypic.com/4dlssaw.jpg

But she is healthy and a big girl. Chestnut with a white star. And she has an experienced Mama, so things are going well. One down, six to go!!

Excellent!! And since you live in Louisville, I do have a hard time believing you have never been to a horse race. I thought the rule was you lost your Louisville citizenship card if you have lived here for more than six months and hadn’t been to the races. You must have slipped through the cracks!

But we will fix that. It doesn’t have to be about betting. It is about spending a day honoring what put our fair city on the World map. You leave the US, and say you are from Kentucky, the first thing they say is, “Oh, Kentucky Fried Chicken,” and then they mention the Kentucky Derby. You need to spend a day at Churchill Downs. And you will love it. Especially if you come and have bragging rights on naming a horse that is running. It will be great fun! I am glad you are up for the adventure. I will email you details about “your” horse, so you will be up to speed.

And if you should want a practice run first, another of our horses, from the year before No Sir Ender Cat, should be running at Keeneland. He is scheduled for his first start at Gulfstream Park this Saturday. We figure he will run twice there, and then come back home and run at Keeneland early in the meet. We have high hopes for this one as his trainer had two horses in the Breeder’s Cup (that is like the Superbowl in horseracing) last year. He only takes on horses that he sees potential in. So we were thrilled to get a top level trainer to take our unraced colt.

There is an old horse racing saying, “No one ever committed suicide with an unraced 2 year old in the barn.” Our boy is actually three now, but the saying still works. Until he runs, we can imagine him as a Superstar. Once he runs we might have to shift our thinking, and hope he can just pay for himself. But until then, we are optimistic he is “Keeneland Material,” and it doesn’t get much better than that. So if he should do well enough at Gulfstream, and runs at Keeneland in April, you can join our group in the paddock and wish him well. It may be arugued, but most race fans will say Keeneland is the best track in the US. Nothing compares, and that may be a good place for you to break your maiden. ( nothing personal in that comment, just a horse term for the first time a horse wins. In your case, it will apply for the first time you visit a track.) I will keep you informed!

Congratulations again, glad to have you as part of No Sir Ender Cat’s Connections! You may be in for a very wild ride!

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Ditto!

It was fun - I can’t wait for the next round.

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I think the fact that I like basketball is juuust enough to keep me in the good graces of the Louisville citizenship board. Also, bribes.

I have been to Churchill Downs once in my life. But it wasn’t for a race; it was for one of those high school leadership conferences. I vaguely remember walking under some kind of arch with the name of … hmm … Venetian Way stamped on it, I think.

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Ooh, I forgot to congratulate all those involved! Now, about the “barn” name - no, what I was thinking of (I think LOL) was the nickname that you call the horse around the barn? Or something like that? I love horses, but really don’t know much about them, unfortunately; I -think- that’s what I remember from the naming thread. I hope. :slight_smile:

And congrats on the new baby! :slight_smile:

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So we have a connection! How cool is that? What was the name of the farm? I’d love to tell my friend whose husband is part-owner of Cambest Prince, in fact he’s retired to their place in Delaware now.

Oh, is he gorgeous! I Googled him and found him in the Interactive Stallion Directory, which has another lovely photo of that lovely fellow. He looks like he might be a sprinter rather than a stayer, with that short-backed, compact body. Am I right? My first impression on looking at him (well, after “Damn, ain’t he purty!”) was that he’d make a really nice cross on Quarter Horse mares.

Speaking of Northern Dancer, I see this fellow has him twice, tail male through Storm Cat and also in his dam’s pedigree. He’s also got Hail to Reason and Secretariat. It don’t get much better than that!

On further Googling (I’m such a nosy booger), I see he bred 86 mares in 2006. Popular fellow, isn’t he?

More Googling: Holy cow! Will you look at the price he sold for in the Keeneland September yearling sales?!? Top seller in his year, 2001, and third-highest ever!

Which leads me to an article about the burden of being a record-auction-price racehorse.

Van Nistelrooy seems to have outrun the curse, both on the track and in the breeding shed. :smiley:

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tarragon918
Yes, now I remember. The barn name for the horse. I did specifically mention a good barn name was a plus, because they are usually not referred to by their racing names. So far, she is being called Sir Ender around the barn now. Or in people’s minds they may be saying, Surrender. That may morph into something else in time. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Shirley and Alpine…since you all were in a photo for place your first time out, that will likely make you all the early favorites next time out. One of my favorite betting angles! Good luck! Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Snooooopy, I relunctanly admit that college basketball does trump horses in Louisville. But they are connected. In fact this year one of my early choices for the Derby is a horse you could root for. Buffalo Man. Check this out: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070128/COLUMNISTS01/701280568/1005

How fun is that in Kentucky? Rick Pitino partnered up with Jamal Mashburn in a horse. Buffalo Man didn’t run in the race he was pointed for in that article, he had a cough and they scratched him. But he came back two weeks later and won another stakes race very impressively making him a legitimate Derby contender.

So now you have a horse to root for in the Derby Preps while waiting for No Sir Ender Cat to start. And I will be rooting for him as well, since one of our mares is by El Prado, the sire of Buffalo Man. A Buffalo Man win would look great for our future foals. Here is our El Prado mare with her sweet Sweetsouthernsaint 2006 foal. http://i18.tinypic.com/3z8z0ux.jpg

And I don’t know how long ago it was that you visited Churchill Downs, but in 2005 they completed a $121 million dollar, much needed renovation. So I am guessing it will look a bit better than when you were last there. But the arch with Venetian Way (1960) is still there, as are all the Derby winners. All 132 of them stamped somewhere around the grounds.

EddyTeddyFreddy, I am signing you up to be on our Breeding Group next year to help us pick out dads to go with our moms. You do exactly what we do, look them up, check them out, and picture what great babies they could have. You are right on target with all your impressions of him. He was very well bred, and perfect looking. To be honest, when I first heard of this yearling, who had never even been on the track before, selling for $6.4 million dollars, I could not imagine why anyone would do that.

Then I saw him at Ashford Stud in person. Then I got it! He carries himself like no horse I have ever seen. It was funny, we were there to look at a couple of stallions in our price range (very low.) Because Van Nistlerooy was considered a flop because he didn’t earn back the high price they paid for him, he was on the lower end of the group. So we have them bring out Van Nislerooy. While we wait we are secretly envying the two other groups across the way looking at their choices. One group was looking at Fusiachi Pegasus, for $125,000 a pop. The other group was centered around Giant’s Causeway, for $300,000 a pop. We are feeling like paupers, dreaming of having that kind of money to spend on our mares.

Then they bring out Van Nistlerooy. He is everything a horse should be. He takes this pose as if to say, “you lucky humans, you can now can gaze on what a horse is supposed to look like. When God made the horse, this is what he had in mind.” I don’t normally imagine horses having such lofty thoughts, but with him, you couldn’t help it. We were in awe. I remember thinking I wished I was a painter because I would so like to catch that pose. He had such an affect on all of us. It was funny, no one talked, we just took him in.

The next thing we know, the other two groups are looking over at our $7,500 fee horse. They are mesmerized, as we are. They leave Fu Peg and GC and come over to be spell bound by Van Nistlerooy. He never flinches. Just poses for us. Most stallions they bring out get bored just standing there. They start to play with the groom, or try to grab the lead. Shuffle their feet, look bored. Not Van Nistlerooy. He stood perfectly still the entire time, with a top model’s sixth sense how to stand just right to show every asset to perfection. And the look on his face…. He was gazing over the rolling hills, looking so thoughtful. We all looked to see what he was looking at. We couldn’t see anything but hills. The groom noticed us trying to see what Van Nistlerooy was looking at. He filled us in. “Over the hill is where the mares are.(Now this is being said in that wonderful Irish accent all the Ashford employees have) He can smell them. He is anxious to see them again.” The ladies in our group blush, the guys are giving Van Nistlerooy the thumbs up. It was a very memorable moment.

We were hooked, we found a mare he fit well with, and now have this darling. http://i16.tinypic.com/47np6pe.jpg
We are going to use Van Nistlerooy again this year for another of our mares. We usually have a mix of proven sires and unknown sires we take a chance with. So he is our unknown. But he is so well bred, and looks so good, emotion may have over taken logic. But that is OK. It’s horse racing. It’s a gamble. But we really like what we have seen so far of our two day old baby.

And I am serious. Next year when we start researching who would be good with who, I am to give you some assignments!

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Well, if people wind up associating this horse with one of the rockingest Cheap Trick songs ever, so much the better!

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Hey, with an honorable mention, I think I’m in that photo too! There…see? In the mirror image? :smiley:

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Ha! Watch me pick matches that produce a stakes winner and a cheap claimer!

The babies are adorable! I love foals, they’re so full of spunk. And it’s such a blast watching them run and play. I never got to see this fine fellow when he was a baby, only pictures from his breeder, but since I wound up with this guy, I can’t complain.

Yeh, I’m a sucker for high white socks – why do you ask? :smiley: