Races with numerous names in their histories.

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pedigreeann
Weanling
Posts: 33
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 7:55 am
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Races with numerous names in their histories.

Postby pedigreeann » Sun Sep 30, 2012 6:34 pm

This is especially a problem with Australian and New Zealand races, many of which have had many different sponsored names in the last few decades. (One of my favorite odd names was the G1 'Fruit 'n Veg' S, once known as the Marlboro 50,000, also the Rothmans, the Windfields, and the Western Mail.)

Take the Sir Rupert Clarke at Caulfield last Sunday. When I first strated following Australasian racing, it was the Marlboro Cup. It was so named when won by such stars as Cap d'Antibes, Raffindale, and Manikato. It still had that name in 1984, but since then it has had several names. It was the Vic Health Cup in 1the 1990s; some years afterward it became the Dubai Racing Club Cup, and most recently, the Sir Rupert Clarke S. It seems its 'unsponsored' name used to be the VATC Showday Cup.

But anyone looking at the listing in the stakes section would think that, for instance, Encosta de Lago had won the Sir Rupert Clarke S, when in fact he won the Vic Health Cup. Yes, they are the same race physically, but the historical record is distorted when new names are applied retroactively. Spectacular Bid won the Amory L. Haskell H, not the Philip Iselin H, which is its lineal descendent. And it was the Monmouth H when Nashua and Bold Ruler won it. And what happens when a new sponsor decides to name the race differently in the future? Will it still be listed under the name of Sir Rupert Clarke?

It seems to me we need some way to record name changes so that people can look the race up under any of its names.

Another distortion I have seen - races from countries where distances are measured in meters recorded as furlongs and vice versa. Come on, people, you are presumably educated followers of the sport. Do it right.
There is no such thing as too much Teddy.