Black Caviar - name of famous racing mare AND also a 2-year-old colt – really?

Racing jurisdictions in all countries have an unspoken pact to shelter the names of elite racehorses from reuse. To give just two examples, the names Frankel and Phar Lap are not available for new registrations. The question about the duplicate name of “Black Caviar” is therefore puzzling.

Apparently, a 2-year-old unraced colt from South Africa was registered as “Black Caviar,” the name of world famous Thoroughbred racehorse Black Caviar. This has Australian racing authorities quite upset and baffled - how did this happen in the first place?

An article in The Daily Telegraph states that Henry and Patricia Devine, prominent owners and breeders of Thoroughbreds in South Africa, would be “only too happy to come up with an alternative” name for their colt, complying with the wishes of racing officials in Australia and South Africa.

In an interview, Patricia Devine said, “We all know about Black Caviar. She’s very, very special, but we didn’t know about her when we named our horse. We named him Black Caviar because he's by Black Minnaloushe, and caviar is a sought-after commodity”

It wasn’t until later on when we saw the filly start to make headlines that we became worried. This morning we received a phone call from the jockey club letting us know we better change the name. Even though it’s unlucky to change names, there was no way we could have had a name as grand as that.”

The Devines bred and raced champion Jet Master. Over two years ago, The Devines had registered the “Black Caviar” name for their horse. At that time, Black Caviar had already won over 10 consecutive races, but she had not yet become known worldwide.

Meanwhile, the 2-year-old South African Black Caviar by Black Minnaloushe is prepping for the Maiden Juvenile Plate. The race will be covered by Sky Channel and the NSW TAB.

Read: DailyTelegraph [Henry and Patricia Devine agree...], Paulick Report, Daily Telegraph [Australian authorities furious after ...]

If you enjoyed this article by Heidi Rucki, please click the link above to subscribe and get others. It’s free, informative and anonymous. Read Rucki's articles on Examiner.com and visit her website, www.DressYourHorse.com.