A horse called Blyton

[Boodi 2]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to include the following snippet of information, but apparently there is a race horse called Blyton (I assume in honour of our favourite author). However, it came to my attention under rather unsavoury circumstances, as its trainer Luke Comer has been suspended from training horses for three years and ordered to pay substantial fines after 12 of his horses failed drug tests due to the presence of anabolic steroids and one of the 12 horses is called Blyton!!!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Poor horses. I hope they've been taken off him and are now in the care of someone who will look after them properly. Interesting that one of them is called Blyton.

[Boodi 2]

I have no idea what happened to the unfortunate horses, but as far as I know Luke Comer's brother is also a race horse trainer so they may well have gone to his yard. I must try to find out more about "Blyton"!!!

[Barnard]

Blyton has run 34 times and won 4 races.

[Boodi 2]

Thanks Barnard! I just checked and he is a bay gelding foaled on 28/02/2016 in England and was owned by a syndicate called The Famous Five Partnership until 24 April 2019 (so the name must definitely be in honour of Enid Blyton) when he was sold to Luke Comer and moved to Ireland. He is now seven years old so his racing days are almost over.

[Anita Bensoussane]

It's good to know for definite that the horse's name was given in honour of Enid Blyton.

[Boodi 2]

As I was curious I tried to find out more about the Famous Five Partnership, but it seems they no longer exist, as their last winner was "Five Angels" in mid-October 2018 and their last runner was "Finniston Farm" (who finished 6th.) at the end of October 2018

[Anita Bensoussane]

Finniston Farm seems a bit of a strange name for a horse, though Finniston on its own would sound quite distinguished!

[Boodi 2]

Agreed, but then race horses (and not only race horses) often have extremely weird names, such as L'escargot, Think Big and Tiger Roll, to mention just a few! The Famous Five Partnership must be massive Famous Five 'fans and it is a nice thought to name their horses after Enid Blyton and the FF...mind you, there is plenty of scope for such names, such as "Smuggler's Top", "Misty/Mystery Moor", "Whispering Island", "Kirrin Cottage/Island" and "Uncle Quentin"!!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I'd love to meet a horse called Uncle Quentin! Lenoir would be perfect for a black horse - and, turning to another Blyton series, Mr. Galliano would make a good name too.

You're right about horses often having quirky names, Boodi. Enid Blyton's younger daughter, Imogen, had a horse (not a racehorse) called Lucy Glitters, though I think it had already been given that name before Imogen owned it. It reminds me of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by The Beatles - though the song came long after the horse, of course.

[Moonraker]

The racing name of a horse is usually different from it's own name, so as Boodi says, there is nothing odd in a weird name for a horse. It;'s owner will call it by its proper name.

[Boodi 2]

Yes, a horse's owner/rider/trainer/handler usually has a fairly short name for it that the horse will find easier to recognise. As an example, my first horse was officially registered as "Clown de Paillot", but was always known as "Cyrano"!!!

[Anita Bensoussane]

The racing name of a horse is usually different from it's own name, so as Boodi says, there is nothing odd in a weird name for a horse. It;'s owner will call it by its proper name.

I just thought that calling a horse Finniston Farm made it sound more like a place than an animal!

[Barnard]

A horse with the name Enid Blyton was running, with some success, in India recently.

[Boodi 2]

Wow, that is interesting. Did you back it?