Lip Up Fatty and Rotten
Culture were refused Racing Board registration as racehorse names when the
High Court ruled against Warkworth trainers Stirling Bloodstock.
This naming saga began
with attempts by Stirling Bloodstock to name one horse Dotcom Go Home. Registration
was refused as offensive to a public figure: Mr Kim Dotcom. The horse was eventually registered as It Aint Over.
NZ Racing receives some
2200 name applications each year. It is
guided by an international agreement between horseracing authorities which
prohibits names of public figures or commercial brands unless permission has
been given. Offensive, insulting and
vulgar names can also be refused. Approval
from Australia is needed when an Australian-bred horse is registered in this
country to avoid confusion, given close trans-Tasman ties in the industry.
In what may have
started as a whimsy to name a horse Dotcom
Go Home subsequently settled into a hardened legal battle when NZ Racing
and Stirling Bloodstock traded arguments over horse-naming. Stirling Bloodstock accused NZ Racing of
inconsistency in refusing Lip Up
Fatty. It had previously accepted as
names: Fats, Fatboy Slim, Fat Knight and
Fat Albert. Justice Clark ruled that while
applications to register like names must be treated alike, so dissimilar cases
may be treated dissimilarly in proportion to their difference. It is a matter of tone and context. NZ Racing viewed Lip Up Fatty as an alternative way of expressing the sentiment Dotcom Go Home.
Rotten
Culture was refused registration because the phrase can be
associated with dysfunctional organisations.
NZ Racing saw this application as a “dig” by Stirling Bloodstock at NZ
Racing.
NZ Racing searches Google
and urbandictionary.com to ensure proposed names do not include street argot
being sneaked past unsuspecting Racing registration staff.
Stirling
Bloodstock v. NZ Racing – High Court (16.03.17)
17.027