{"id":46779,"date":"2016-04-29T14:42:54","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T18:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uncommongoods.com\/?p=46779"},"modified":"2017-04-18T12:54:33","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T16:54:33","slug":"kentucky-derby-party-idea-horses-cant-spell-aka-name-your-fantasy-thoroughbred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/2016\/kentucky-derby-party-idea-horses-cant-spell-aka-name-your-fantasy-thoroughbred\/","title":{"rendered":"Kentucky Derby Party Idea: Horses Can’t Spell, aka Name Your Fantasy Thoroughbred"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kentucky<\/a>

Kentucky Derby Winning Ticket Bottle Opener | UncommonGoods<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Dear UncommonGoods and Kentucky Derby fans:\u00a0We know you don’t need any more mint julep recipes. We did a search for them and came up with 600,000 pages of results. We wanted\u00a0to dream up a more creative Kentucky Derby Party idea… and we think we succeeded.<\/p>\n

Illustrated with\u00a0our unique collection of Kentucky Derby\u00a0drink gifts,\u00a0authentic Kentucky Derby\u00a0accessories and a handmade wood Kentucky Derby Game, here is our Official 2016 Kentucky Derby Party Idea.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, some background. On May 7, at 5:34 p.m. and<\/em>\u00a06:34 p.m.\u00a0Kentucky time,*<\/strong> 20 elite equine athletes will bolt from their starting gate stalls and, watched by more than 16 million people, spend two adrenaline-flooded minutes galloping\u00a0toward the Churchill Downs<\/a> finish line. Among these magnificent creatures will be:<\/p>\n

Nyquist<\/strong>, named for Detroit Red Wings right wing Gustav Nyquist. The horse\u2019s owner is a diehard Red Wings fan who has named several of his horses after players on the team.<\/p>\n

Mohaymen (\u0645\u0647\u06cc\u0645\u0646)<\/strong>, an Arabic word meaning “dominant.\u201d His owner is Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum<\/a>, Deputy Ruler of Dubai. He owns another Derby horse as well,<\/p>\n

Shagaf (\u0634\u0640\u064e\u063a\u0640\u064e\u0641)<\/strong>, which means \u201cfondness\u201d or \u201cpassion,\u201d so named because the sheikh was so taken with his classy looks as a yearling.<\/p>\n

Some of the Derby horses’ names need no explanation:<\/p>\n

Exaggerator<\/strong>
\nSuddenbreakingnews<\/strong>
\nGun Runner<\/strong>
\nAwesome Speed<\/strong><\/p>\n

The names\u00a0of the most famous Thoroughbred<\/a> race horses of all time include\u00a0Secretariat<\/strong>, Man O’ War<\/strong>, Seabiscuit<\/strong>, Black Caviar<\/strong>, Ruffian<\/strong>, Citation<\/strong>, Native Dancer<\/strong>, Affirmed<\/strong>, I\u2019ll Have Another<\/strong>, and California Chrome<\/strong>. The first Kentucky Derby, on\u00a0May 17, 1875, was won by Aristides<\/strong>, a Thoroughbred named after an ancient Greek general.<\/p>\n

\"Kentucky<\/a>

Kentucky Derby Churchill Downs Coaster Set | UncommonGoods<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Over 118,000 Thoroughbred foals are registered each year worldwide, and each of them needs a name. In order to avoid confusion in the racing and breeding industries,\u00a0The Jockey Club<\/a>, which is in charge of these things,\u00a0established strict naming rules.<\/p>\n

Names can\u2019t be longer than 18 characters or seven syllables. They can\u2019t be the same as, or even similar to, a name that another horse has, or that any \u201cdistinguished\u201d horse ever had. They can’t be\u00a0suggestive; offensive to religious, political or ethnic groups; infringe on a trademark; or be the name of an actual living person, unless that person gives you their permission. (When she was First Lady, Barbara Bush granted the use of her name for a filly, on White House letterhead, no less.) A name can\u2019t be made up of just initials, or just numbers. Etc.<\/p>\n

\"Kentucky<\/a>

Kentucky Derby Churchill Downs Cufflinks | UncommonGoods<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Last year’s winner, the first horse to win the Triple Crown<\/a> since 1978, was\u00a0American Pharoah<\/strong>. Yep, Pharaoh is spelled wrong. Nope, not on purpose. It was a typo. Nobody noticed until it was too late.<\/p>\n

A 64-year-old nurse from Missouri named Marsha Baumgartner submitted the name in an online contest the stable held to name its 2-year-old horses. Because a race horse’s breeding is so important to its chances of becoming a champion, many Thoroughbreds’ names refer to their immediate ancestry. “American Pharoah” followed this model. The horse’s sire was Pioneerof the Nile<\/strong> [sic], and his dam\u2019<\/a>s sire was Yankee Gentleman<\/strong>. His owner is Egyptian-American. Perfect–except for that spelling. But as Baumgartner pointed out, “Horses can’t spell.”<\/p>\n

\"Kentucky<\/a>

Kentucky Derby Churchill Downs Bottle Opener | UncommonGood<\/a>s<\/p><\/div>\n

Inspired by Ms. Baumgartner’s story, as well as the sheer poetry and wit of these names, we made up some names for an UncommonGoods stable of fantasy Derby horses. We strictly followed the naming rules; or at least, the ones we could remember. In our fantasy, our horses would never race. They would do whatever they felt like, eat the finest organic grass, and fertilize organic gardens.<\/p>\n

We hope you’ll\u00a0steal our idea for your Kentucky Derby party, and tell us about your\u00a0names\u00a0in the comments below. Making fun (politely) of the names we came up with is not only permitted, it\u2019s encouraged.<\/p>\n

In alphabetical order, our top 10 fantasy UncommonGoods Thoroughbred names are:<\/p>\n

Artisan<\/strong>
\n Birthday Present<\/strong>
\n Designed to Win<\/strong>
\n Ethical Jewel<\/strong>
\n Personalized<\/strong>
\n Satisfied Customer<\/strong>
\n Shipped So Fast<\/strong>
\n Uncommonly Good<\/strong>
\n Uniquely Gifted<\/strong>
\n Won Of A Kind<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fortunately for them, none of the beautiful creatures running this year\u2019s Derby will have to endure being called by any of these silly names.<\/p>\n

\"Horse<\/a>

Horse Racing Game | UncommonGoods<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

*<\/strong>Eastern Kentucky is in the Eastern Time Zone and Western Kentucky is in the Central Time Zone.<\/p>\n

\"Race<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear UncommonGoods and Kentucky Derby fans:\u00a0We know you don’t need any more mint julep recipes. We did a search…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":46891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46779"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46779"}],"version-history":[{"count":75,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46884,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46779\/revisions\/46884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}