Not quite accurate.Mr. Lord Derby wrote: ↑1 year agoNot saying that horses don’t live to 25, but it’s not guaranteed they will either. It’s the impossibility of it happening any earlier which I think is unreasonable.Laura Ferguson wrote: ↑1 year ago The average horse life span is 25 years, from what I just checked, so the current system isn't unreasonable.
Two other consideration for real life vs. the SIM since you brought it up.
1) In real life a racehorse’s name becomes available to use again after five years off the track. There’s no such mechanism in the SIM.
Jockey Club Rule 6(E) is: Names of horses over 10 years old may be eligible for use if they are not excluded under Rule 6(F) and have not been used during the preceding five years either for breeding or racing. Names of horses that were never used for breeding or racing may be available for use five years from the date of their death as reported. So, the horse could be off the track for well over five years, but as long as it is active in the breeding shed, the name is still off limits.
Real life naming is a pain, to be honest. That becomes obvious when you go to Rule 6(F), which makes it clear that many of the names used in the SIM would never be approved by the Jockey Club. Also, keep in mind that in real life, you submit a list of six names, in order of preference, to the Jockey Club, and they decide which one, if any, of the six you get to use, or if you need to submit some more names.
You can also pay $100 to reserve a name, but that's only good for one year, or you have to pay another $100 to keep it reserved for another year.
Anyway, back to 6(F). Names not eligible for use are:
(1) Names consisting of more than 18 letters (spaces and punctuation marks count as letters)
(2) Names consisting entirely of initials, such as C.O.D., F.O.B., etc.
(3) Names ending in "filly," "colt," "stud" "mare," "stallion" or any similar horse-related terms
(4) Names consisting entirely of numbers. Numbers above thirty may be used if they are spelled out.
(5) Names ending with a numerical designation such as "2nd" or "3rd" whether or not such designation is spelled out.
(6) Names of living persons unless written permission to use their name is on file with the Jockey Club [side note - that's how the filly Chris Evert got her name; the owner complied with that process]
(7) Names of persons no longer living unless approval is granted by the Jockey Club based on a satisfactory written explanation submitted to the registrar.
(8) Names of racetracks or graded stakes races
(9) Names clearly having commercial, artistic or creative significance
(10) Names that are suggestive or have a vulgar or obscene meaning; names considered in poor taste; or names that may be offensive to religious, political or ethnic group [that said, there are plenty of examples of horse names that got through this requirement]
(11) Names that appear to be designed to harass, humiliate, or disparage a specific individual, group of individuals, or entity
(12) Names that are currently active in either racing or breeding (see Rule 6(E))
(13) Names of winners in the past 25 years of grade 1 stakes races
(14) Permanent Names. The list of criteria to establish a permanent name is as follows: Horses in racing's Hall of Fame, horses that have been voted Horse of the Year, won an Eclipse Award or Sovereign Award, Annual leading sire and broodmare sire by progeny earnings, cumulative money winners of $2 million or more, horses that have won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont, the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Breeders' Cup Classic or the Breeders' Cup Turf, and horses included in the International List of Protected Names.
(15) Names similar in spelling or pronunciation to the names listed in (6)-(14) above. [So you couldn't have Satelite and Satellite, or Ruffian and Roughian]
(16) Names of horses previously recorded in the American Stud Book by the same sire or out of the same dame as the foal for which the attempt is made; and
(17) Names of horses appearing within the first five generations of the pedigree of the foal for which the attempt was made.
Anyway, a lot more rules and restrictions on the names. The Jockey Club usually posts a list of recently released names to try to make things somewhat easier, but overall, SIM naming is a walk in the park compared to real life.
