Joseph O’Brien created quite the Twitter stir on Wednesday evening after he requested name suggestions for a four-year-old filly in his care.
The filly is out of the mare Rare Gesture and O’Brien tweeted: "Ever wanted to name a racehorse? Now’s your chance! This well-bred filly by Presenting needs a name and we will name her after the best suggestion made on here that is available. It can’t be longer than 18 characters and must be clean!"
Ever wanted to name a racehorse? Now's your chance! This well-bred filly by Presenting (pedigree below) needs a name and we will name her after the best suggestion made on here that is available. It can't be longer than 18 characters and must be clean! RT and spread the word. pic.twitter.com/28QjhYPBVr
— Joseph O'Brien (@JosephOBrien2) January 10, 2018
His original tweet had racked up over 2,300 replies by Thursday morning, with plenty of well-known racing names pitching their own ideas for a new moniker.
Davy Russell was quick to offer up ’Stetsonsnstilettos’, although fellow jockey Will Kennedy reports Donald McCain has already snagged that name for one of his inmates.
The unnamed filly hails from an established Moyglare Stud family so Fiona Craig, who is an adviser to the outfit, saw a possible marketing opportunity with the idea of ’Moyglarepedigree’, with jockey Gary Halpin offering ’Pilltownpresenter’ in acknowledgement of the name of O’Brien’s County Kilkenny base.
ITV and At The Races presenter Matt Chapman suggested ’You Called Me What’, which was countered with ’Dancing On Thin Ice’, in reference to Chapman’s divisive debut as commentator on Sunday’s Dancing On Ice show.
Well-known Irish journalist Emmet Kennedy joked that ’Season Of Seasons’, in reference to O’Brien’s father Aidan’s record-breaking number of Group One winners last year, may be a good choice. ’Daddy Knows Best’ was also the suggestion of a few.
Former leading American rider Richard Migliore suggested ’Motherhood’ and hailed O’Brien’s initiative as a "wonderful idea".
The obligatory ’Horsey McHorseface’ cropped up more than once among the suggestions. while ’Namedbytwitter’ and ’Stable Genius’ were other options posted by multiple tweeters.
O’Brien has yet to announce when, or if, any of the suggestions are a winner, but he certainly has plenty of ideas at his disposal.