Each spring, about 36,000 horses are born in North America to thoroughbred parents.
And those babies need names.
It can't be vulgar or overly commercial. It can't make fun of ethnicity or religion. It can't be just initials or more than 18 letters, including spaces and punctuation.
Most of all, it can't duplicate a name already registered with The Jockey Club.
"Despite the fact that there are more than 450,000 active and retired horses, owners and breeders get their first choice more than two-thirds of the time," says John Cooney, spokesman for The Jockey Club.
The majority of foals are born before the end of May each year. Owners and breeders can name a horse anytime, but most choose to do so before Feb. 1 of the foal's 2-year-old year so they don't have to pony up a $75 fee. If the horse is to be sold at auction, most allow the new owner to make the choice.
Breeders and owners check their choices on the Club's online name book.
There, you'll find that there are 21 names with "Baltimore" in them, plus one Balto More. Maryland comes up 11 times, including Maryland Monroe.
The Jockey Club doesn't allow the use of the names of living people without their permission, or the dead without the club's permission and a very good explanation.
In 2005, someone registered Ripken. A spokesman for Cal Ripken Jr. says there is no connection.
All of the applications, paper or electronic, go to the registry based in Lexington, Ky.
"January is a very busy month for names with owners trying to beat the Feb. 1 deadline," Cooney says. "We might check 800 names in a day."
A proposed name gets run through phonetics software to see whether there's a match. From there, the application joins others from that day to be reviewed and checked for compliance.
"If it passes software and human filters, it goes to registrar Rick Bailey," Cooney says. "Generally, it's a 24-hour process for those who apply online."
Names run the gamut "from pedigree and pop culture to current events and names that have special meaning to the owner," he says.
The popularity of the TV show, Seinfeld, generated Yada Yada Yada, Hello Newman, Low Talker and Nosupeforyou.
In early 2005, just after the Boston Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918, the registry saw applications with names such as Sweep the Series, Red Sox Parade and Curse Reversed.
Cooney's own list of favorites show a playful side. Blondeinamotel and Last Shower were sired by Bates Motel. Odor in the Court was sired by Judge Smells.
Most of the expected Preakness entries were named with an eye toward pedigree, Cooney says. For example, Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird got his name from its mother, Mining My Own, and father, Birdstone.
But Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra was named for a human - the oldest granddaughter of former owner and trainer Dolphus Morrison.
Each January, the Club releases about 40,000 names for active use after determining that the horse is over the age of 10 or that it hasn't run a race or been listed by a breeding farm for five years.
Some names, such as legendary champions, will never be made available, says Mike Kane, spokesman for the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
"There will never be another Man O' War," Kane says. "There was only one."
