I have a couple of "rants" left in me, but I think I'll hold off on any more of my promised snarkiness for a while.
Before I start looking at pedigrees again (watch for my early Kentucky Derby picks soon, and a return of "Is This a Broodmare?"), though, I wanted to address someone else's small "rant" in a comment from a previous post. Specifically, the use of "presented by" and "sponsored by" details when referring to the names of stakes races.
Horse racing fans love to grumble about sponsors' names in big races. Not surprisingly, the din reaches a fever pitch around the time of the Kentucky Derby -- or, as The Blood-Horse style has it, "the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I)." (Believe me, we get calls and letters. Every year.)
As research editor, I proofread and fact-check several of our pedigree analysis and bloodstock articles. It's my job to change an author's reference of "the English Derby (G1) winner New Approach" to "Vodafone Epsom Derby (Eng-I) winner New Approach (IRE)." That horse didn't win the Irish National Stakes, the Dewhurst Stakes, or the Champion Stakes, either, by the way -- he took the Bank of Scotland National Stakes (Ire-I), the Darley Dewhurst Stakes (Eng-I), and the Emirates Airline Champion Stakes (Eng-I), instead.
It is the policy of The Blood-Horse to cite the complete, official name of all races, whether they be in the States or elsewhere. You'll notice, though, that the second and subsequent references to a race omit the sponsor name and the grade notation -- to make the text easier to follow. So, most of any article will simply refer to "the Kentucky Derby" or even just "the Derby."
This is one practice that I hope you get used to. Here's why I'm in favor of the way we do it here at Blood-Horse Publications: it recognizes and celebrates those companies that have invested in horse racing. Racing needs more corporate sponsorship, and stakes races are a good place for a company to get some exposure while contributing to the sport. If a few references in the media to the company's name (when it's part of the official race name) are an incentive for businesses to support horse racing, well, I'm all for it.
By citing the complete official name of a race, The Blood-Horse is also honoring its history of being a magazine of record for the Thoroughbred industry.
