News Releases

Tuesday, January 09, 2001Contact: Bob Curran Jr. (212) 521-5326
Updated List of 46,220 Freed Up Names Available on The Jockey Club Web Site

In its continuing efforts to help owners and breeders secure desired names for their Thoroughbreds, The Jockey Club has published a list of 46,220 names recently released from active use. The names are accessible through The Jockey Club home page at http://home.jockeyclub.com and, for the first time, will be updated daily to remove names as they are claimed.

Noting that the number of protected Thoroughbred names has dropped below 425,000 for the first time since the early 1980’s, Jockey Club executive vice president and executive director, Gary Carpenter, said that the daily updates add yearlong significance to this year’s list.

“The annual list of freed up names published in years past had limited usefulness because the lists were never updated when released names were subsequently claimed,” he said. “Now when owners and breeders access the list they will be looking at the most current version of released names that are still available, making the list as useful in November as it is when published in January.

“This is another important step towards giving owners and breeders the chance to secure a desired name because we realize what a very important and personal process naming is for most of them.”

Carpenter noted that many of the recently released names are from the large foal crops of the late 1980’s. The names were released under the provisions of Rule 6(E) of The Principal Rules and Requirements of The American Stud Book which was amended in 1993 to release the names of horses over ten years old which have not raced or been used in breeding or racing during the preceding five years, rather than the preceding ten years.

Owners and breeders should be aware that phonetic software upgrades raise the possibility that a similar-sounding name may already be in use. With the impending February 1 deadline to name foals of 1999 for free, owners and breeders are reminded that Jockey Club InteractiveTM is the quickest and easiest way to submit name applications. Results of name claims can be retrieved within one-to-two business days.

Owners and breeders can sign up for Jockey Club InteractiveTM through The Jockey Club home page, located at http://home.jockeyclub.com; or by calling The Jockey Club at (859) 224-2700 or (800) 444-8521.