From History News Network:
A thoroughbred owner filed a
federal lawsuit seeking the right to name a 2-year-old filly after Sally
Hemings, the slave who was the reputed mistress of Thomas Jefferson. The
Jockey Club, which regulates the naming of thoroughbred racehorses, denied
use of the name on grounds that Hemings was a famous or notorious person,
requiring stewards' approval. "Naming a thoroughbred horse 'Sally Hemings'
may be offensive to persons of African descent and other ethnic groups" and
may be offensive to Hemings' descendants, Ogden Mills Phipps, chairman of
The Jockey Club, wrote in a letter last year. Garrett Redmond filed suit
last week in U.S. District Court, seeking to force the Jockey Club to let
him use the name and allow the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority to let him
race the filly under the name. "To name a horse after someone is an honor,"
said Redmond, owner of Ballycapple, a farm in Paris, Ky. "I have a horse
here named after my wife." Redmond, a history buff, thought the proposed
name was perfect, since the filly's mother is a mare named Jefferson's
Secret, who in turn was fathered by a stallion named Colonial Affair.
Link (Scroll down to 5/30/05)
No comments:
Post a Comment