What's In a Name | Horse Racing Free Tips

What’s In A Name: Diderot

Diderot (GB), g, 3, Bated Breath (GB)–Modern Look (GB) (MGSW-Fr & SP-US, $281,388), by Zamindar. Dundalk, 3-12, 8f (AWT), 1:39.24. B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB). *1/2 to Grand Jete (GB) (Dansili {GB}), GSW & MGISP-US, $335,759.

by Andreas Branchini
“Raced freely, led early, kept on well,” reads the racing commentary about the victory of 3-year-old Diderot, who came out on top in a competitive maiden at Dundalk last week. That same narrative could also be applied to the career of the horse's 18th century namesake, the great philosopher of the Enlightenment Denis Diderot (1713-1784), who started the revolutionary Enyclopedie project and authored two masterpiece novellas: “Rameau's Nephew” and “Jacques The Fatalist.” When you go on Youtube to learn how to repair your immersion heater or your printer, think that this is exactly what Denis Diderot and his partner in crime D'Alembert tried to do three centuries ago in print–using communicative reason to solve a problem, help to build something, teach a craft. To really believe in the Enlightenment (and in the instructions from Youtube) you have also to believe that the so-called “Natural Lights of Reason” are given to anyone. Yes, anyone: me, you, the neighbor, and so on. So be for yourself what you are in yourself: be rational. This is the message from Diderot, a lovely philosopher, and an optimist. A modern look indeed.

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What’s In a Name: Buridan (Fr)

There is a lot of learning and incredible subtlety in the name of 2-16-2021 Chantilly winner Buridan (Fr) (g, 6, Choisir {Aus}–Lady McKell {Ire}, by Raven's Pass). The sire's name is French for “to choose” and not for nothing, the great Australian sprinter was out of Great Selection (Aus) (Lunchtime {GB}), who was out of Pensive Mood (Aus) (Biscay {Aus}). The namesake of our horse is none other than a 14th century French philosopher, who explored the problems of choice and indecision with the help of a not-so-noble but endearing animal.

“'Buridan's Ass' is an illustration of a paradox (unexpected statement, for the man in the street) in philosophy in the conception of free will,” as Wikipedia puts it. “It refers to a hypothetical situation wherein a donkey that is equally hungry and thirsty is placed precisely midway between a stack of hay and a pail of water. Since the paradox assumes the ass will always go to whichever is closer, it dies of both hunger and thirst since it cannot make any rational decision between the hay and water. A common variant of the paradox substitutes two identical piles of hay for the hay and water; the ass, unable to choose between the two, dies of hunger.”

The best minds in the history of philosophy–Spinoza, Leibniz, Voltaire, and many others–have crossed swords on the story of Buridan's Ass and it is simply wonderful to see that name now associated with a noble and remarkable animal.

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What’s In a Name: Postnup

There is quite a lot of marriage material in the name and family of 3-year-old winning filly Postnup (f, 3, Declaration of War–I'm Engaged, by Broken Vow).

Is the proposal of a “postnup” somehow related to a declaration of war? Hopefully not. According to Google a “postnup” is “a legally binding contract–entered during the marriage, as opposed to a prenup–that spells out who gets what portion of specified assets and how liabilities are shared in the event of a divorce.” So it is more like a treaty, and treaties, among nations, often come after a cease-fire and a bit of conflict.

In any case, matrimonial mythology is scattered liberally in the female line of Postnup, just like petals or rice at a wedding: mother I'm Engaged is by Broken Vow out of Engaging (out of Starlet Storm!), while Broken Vow himself is out of Wedding Vow. It all conjures images of people left (or not) at the altar, and also powerful old memories of legendary stallion Blushing Groom, who was famously out of Runaway Bride, herself by Wild Risk and out of Aimee ('loved') – and I rest my case.

Engaging name for this brave filly–pun intended.

8th-Fair Grounds, $50,000, Msw, 2-4, 3yo, f, 1 1/8mT, 1:55.59, fm, 1 3/4 lengths.
POSTNUP (f, 3, Declaration of War–I'm Engaged, by Broken Vow) O-Belladonna Racing, LLC; B-Greenspring Mares LLC (MD); T-Cherie DeVaux.

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What’s in a Name: Duke of Verona (Ire)

Every horse is a mystery. And a winner at 33-1 on its racecourse debut is a mystery that is partially disclosed, like in the case of Duke of Verona (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}), who came to win his maiden on 1-22-21 at Lingfield from very far behind–“from downtown”, as a basketball pundit would have put it.

But there is another little mystery: where does this name come from? Is there a connection among the horses in the pedigree? The investigation took a while. First line of inquiry: was there a Belardo who was Duke of Verona? No, no matter how many Google searches one tried–paraphrasing, changing the order of the words, inspecting all display pages. End of the trail. The case goes cold.

Still, something did not seem quite right. Questions persisted in the mind. Like: was there a Duke of Verona in Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet”? And a Belardo? Close, but no cigar: there was a Prince of Verona (Escalus), and no Belardo. Ok. What about “Two Gentlemen of Verona”? No, not really: only a Duke of Milan and no Belardo. So: file closed.

And then, illumination! One more desperate Google search provides the crucial information that Shakespeare is far from being the only one to have written about Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossed lovers of Verona. There is also, among many others, guess who? None other than the Spanish playwright Lope De Vega (1562-1635, contemporary of the Bard). Yes, Lope De Vega, whose equine namesake is the sire of Belardo, sire of our Lingfield winner Duke Of Verona. And, in the list of characters of an English translation of Lope De Vega's play – called “Capulets and Montagues” (Castelvines y Monteses)–two items shine like a lost gem: “Maximilian, Duke of Verona” and “Belardo, a labourer”. Check!

Check, but no checkmate. I wrote to my old Newmarket acquaintance William Jarvis. The trainer kindly referred me to the owner, who has not responded yet. Still, think about it: in any case the connection is there, the stars have been aligned, theatre and horseracing have beaten back the forces of darkness and oblivion–coming from behind, like Duke Of Verona at Lingfield in the bleak mid-winter.

7th-Lingfield, ,5,300, Novice, 1-22, 3yo, 10f (AWT), 2:08.21, st. DUKE OF VERONA (IRE) (c, 3, Belardo {Ire}–Somewhere {Ire}, by Dalakhani {Ire}) Sales history: 25,000gns Ylg '19 TAOCT. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $4,710.

O-Mr R. C. C. Villers; B-Deerpark Stud (IRE); T-William Jarvis.

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