Ronald Reagan and Harry Truman

[warhorse]

I believe the person who owns this site might know this, but how did Fox Hill farm get the Jockey Club to approve these name? I know in Europe horses like George Washington have been approved but the JC has not allowed these types of namings in the past here in the US. Change in policy?

Can either of them run? Seems to me if you are going to name a horse after a President you would wat them to be some of your better horses.

[Horse's Rear]

Can either of them run?

Harry can't rate worth a damn; he just gives 'em hell straight from the start. Reagan looks like a late-developer; he has a problem staying focused and he lugs out pretty badly, but for some reason everybody just loves him. On the other hand, while no one seems to care much for Harry, the tough little SOB just doesn't know enough to quit.

I hope you weren't looking for a serious answer.

[warhorse]

When a person has died and therefore can't give permission for their name to be used, then you have to point out that fact in a faxed request for consideration of using the name. I haven't been turned down yet for a horse to be named after a person who is deceased.

As for whether they end up being runners, it's not always easy to determine. Some thought to be better names were given to horses who turned out to not live up to what was thought of them or perhaps had more unfortunate happenings occur to them. That would be the case with Harry Truman, who I spent time crying over last year after he broke down in a work and was unable to be saved. One of the horses we were highest on was a $550,000 purchase that we named after a Winslow Homer Painting "Snap the Whip" who ended up as a giveaway when he bowed both fronts after just his second work at the track.

As for Reagan, he is a very big (both tall and heavy) horse who has been very cautiously and slowly brought along. He may be debuting pretty soon.

I am sorry about Truman. Good luck with Reagan. I guess a KY bred by Political Force could be namd Abraham Lincoln then. Thanks.

[Horse's Rear]

I, too, am sorry about Harry.

[gravano]

The name can't be a controversial figure in history. I think they've loosened up a bit at the Jockey Club. But Sally Hemings is still a no-go.

[Equipoise28]

I'm surprised they aren't Coolmore horses. Don't they always name their horses after famous people?

[TapitsGal]

I too am sorry about Harry Truman

[Paladin]

As for Reagan, he is a very big (both tall and heavy) horse who has been very cautiously and slowly brought along. He may be debuting pretty soon.

He's in the 9th race today at Delaware. a 6f Maiden

[WaquoitNBroadBrush]

The name can't be a controversial figure in history. I think they've loosened up a bit at the Jockey Club. But Sally Hemings is still a no-go.

Ronald Reagan isn't controversial?

[gravano]

Ronald Reagan isn't controversial?

He's grossly misinterpreted and embarrassingly misappropriated, but I suppose if you have an airport named after you, you're pretty bona fide.

[WaquoitNBroadBrush]

He's grossly misinterpreted and embarrassingly misappropriated, but I suppose if you have an airport named after you, you're pretty bona fide.

In the United States, at least. To a lot of people in the rest of the world, he was "that cowboy actor who played a president for eight years."

So which presidents wouldn't the Jockey Club approve as names for horses? Richard Nixon seems like a lock. How about Bill Clinton (after he dies) or Andrew Johnson? They were impeached. Grover Cleveland? He had a child out of wedlock. Chester Arthur? He may have actually been born in Canada. How about Franklin D. Roosevelt, decried as a socialist for the New Deal, cursed by those concerned about what was happening in Germany and the rest of Europe for restricting immigration and not getting America into the war until December 1941. I know there've been horses named Franklin Delano (recently) and even Eff-Dee-Arr (saw that one in pedigrees back in the '70s), but what about Franklin Roosevelt? Would it fly?

[gravano]

I think all the presidents will be viable. But a president's slave, mistress and mother of his child is still too touchy for the Jockey Club.

[afleetphil]

Secretariat, Ronald Reagan and Harry Truman. The greatest horse to ever live and two of the greatest presidents to ever live. I like it.

[PJMIII]

Ronald Reagan isn't controversial?

Not in my house.

[Whos the Cowboy]

The Reagan years never existed in my house

[afleetphil]

In my house Reagan was the greatest president to ever live. Look at the mess we're in now.

[WaquoitNBroadBrush]

Last two posts prove my point. He's controversial.

[gravano]

Is there any famous person that isn't controversial?

[afleetphil]

Now getting back to horse racing. LOL

[Paladin]

He's in the 9th race today at Delaware. a 6f Maiden

Came in 3rd