Pronunciation Of Names

[Brigid]

I tried searching in the ‘Racing 101’ sticky, but couldn’t get anything.

I really would love to know how some horses’ names are pronounced.
Example Forego. Is it For-eh-go, or forgo - like to forgo some thing?
Princequillo?
Others … guess I’ll remember later. I hope.

Cannoñero II or Cougar II pronounced ’ Cougar2’ or ‘the 2nd’ or not at all.
I do know it indicates that it means the horse was imported (or something like that?) But I don’t how or if it’s verbally added.
Thanks so much! I love forum!

[Texarkana]

Forego: For-go
Princequillo: Prince Quill-o (like a writing quill)

With the horses with the “II” behind their name, sometimes it is “the second” (like with a shared family name). Canonero was one who was always “the second.” But there seems to be others where it is just ignored, like Nijinsky II is usually just referred to as Nijinsky and no one questions it.

[Training_Cupid]

@Texarkana

Forego: For-go
Princequillo: Prince Quill-o (like a writing quill)

Oops, I’ve been pronouncing the “e” in the middle of both! :o Or at least in my head I do, luckily I don’t think I’ve had occasion to say either out loud!

[Texarkana]

@Training Cupid

Oops, I’ve been pronouncing the “e” in the middle of both! :o Or at least in my head I do, luckily I don’t think I’ve had occasion to say either out loud!

There are soooo many TB names I read all the time and have never really heard said out loud.

I just recently learned that Ribot is pronounced “REE-bo.” I had been reading it as “rib-O” all these years. :lol:

And there are a ton of the arabic derived names I just have no clue about and have only ever seen printed. I can’t think of a good example at the moment, but I’m sure one will come to me.

[LaurieB]

If you ever feel like killing time (and hearing TB names pronounced) listen to one of the Keeneland sales online. (The next one is in early November.) The top horses in each pedigree are read aloud by the announcer every time a sales horse enters the ring. It’s both entertaining and instructive.

[Janet]

Interesting. I have always heard and said it as Prin-seh-quill-oh. I have no idea which is correct.

The Arabic names you are most likely to see are Nasrullah (Nahz-rule-ah) and his dam Mumtaz Begum (Moom-taz Bay-Goom) (that may be Persian rather than Arabic). At least, those are the pronunciations I have used, and when i ran them past a couple of Arabic speaking colleagues they agreed, though their emphasis was a little different from mine.

Also, Arabic pronunciation varies significantly by country. “Galabeya” (the long “gown” worn by both men and women in some Muslim countries) is pronounced with a hard G (as in “gown”) in Egypt and a soft G (as in “gentle”) in Morocco and Sudan. The syllabic stress is different too.

[RHdobes563]

I have been finding it interesting to watch live TB racing or replays on YouTube, which have helped me with pronunciations I couldn’t have IMAGINED. Still, I saw a Thoroughbred racing this year by the name of Witez. The announcers were saying W(EYE) Tez, but my mind said, “VEE tez”. That was because I read the book, “And Miles To Go”, about the Polish Arabian stallion Witez II who was one of the horses that Patton ‘freed’ during WWII (TWO, not SECOND :winkgrin: ). And when after a couple of races where this TB ran, the announcer changed how he said the name, saying that 'this horse was named after an Arabian…" (Well, he pronounced it WEE Tez, but okay.)

Oh and, I am old enough to have watched Forego race on television.

[skipollo]

I pronounce it “for-go” and “prince-eh-quill-oh.”

I have an OTTB with an Arabic name (Najeeb TMD), and most show announcers actually do a pretty good job pronouncing it (I show him under his JC name.)

[Brigid]

Thank all of you!
I first thought ‘prince-quill-oh’
Later I wondered if it was Prince-kwee-OH. Like the Spanish pronunciation.

[Brigid]

Oh, Just looked this up! Cougar2 is just Cougar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC5M…ociation%2CInc.

[Brigid]

OH I just found this! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9G__94-Awg&ab_channel=HorseRacing

[Texarkana]

I have never heard anyone pronounce the “e” in Princequillo. Then again, I’ve only heard the name said at Claiborne or maybe the occasional sale. It’s not a name said a lot these days and I certainly wasn’t alive while he was racing or at stud unlike some other posters. His sire was Prince Rose and his grand sire was Rose Prince, so maybe I’m hearing what I want to hear.

[Texarkana]

@Janet

Interesting. I have always heard and said it as Prin-seh-quill-oh. I have no idea which is correct.

The Arabic names you are most likely to see are Nasrullah (Nahz-rule-ah) and his dam Mumtaz Begum (Moom-taz Bay-Goom) (that may be Persian rather than Arabic). At least, those are the pronunciations I have used, and when i ran them past a couple of Arabic speaking colleagues they agreed, though their emphasis was a little different from mine.

Also, Arabic pronunciation varies significantly by country. “Galabeya” (the long “gown” worn by both men and women in some Muslim countries) is pronounced with a hard G (as in “gown”) in Egypt and a soft G (as in “gentle”) in Morocco and Sudan. The syllabic stress is different too.

Interesting. I was not thinking of the ubiquitous examples you used, rather about names more like Iffraaj and Mubtaahij. The latter I can only say because he raced recently. The former I can only say because of the Darley stallion parades.

[LaurieB]

@Texarkana

I have never heard anyone pronounce the “e” in Princequillo. Then again, I’ve only heard the name said at Claiborne or maybe the occasional sale. It’s not a name said a lot these days and I certainly wasn’t alive while he was racing or at stud unlike some other posters. His sire was Prince Rose and his grand sire was Rose Prince, so maybe I’m hearing what I want to hear.

I don’t know why you would pronounce the “e” in Princequillo when you don’t pronounce the “e” in Prince.

I have also only heard the name pronounced the same way you have.

[smoofox]

Speaking of pronouncing the E…

This thread reminds me (and I know I have posted it here at some point) of my mom going to the track with me many years ago. She was reading the form for the upcoming races and ask me to place a bet on a certain horse for her just because he had such an awful name and she felt sorry for him.

I asked what his name was - and she lamented that someone had named this poor horse “ninny-poon-dammer”.

Ummm… what?

The horse’s name was Ninepoundhammer.

If I ever win the lottery and can have some horses racing, maybe one should be called Ninny Poondammer… :lol:

[LaurieB]

@smoofox

Speaking of pronouncing the E…

This thread reminds me (and I know I have posted it here at some point) of my mom going to the track with me many years ago. She was reading the form for the upcoming races and ask me to place a bet on a certain horse for her just because he had such an awful name and she felt sorry for him.

I asked what his name was - and she lamented that someone had named this poor horse “ninny-poon-dammer”.

Ummm… what?

The horse’s name was Ninepoundhammer.

If I ever win the lottery and can have some horses racing, maybe one should be called Ninny Poondammer… :lol:

LOL, there’s a horse running now named Newstome. It’s ridiculous how many times I had to see it to realize how it was supposed to be pronounced. (News-to-me)

And his dam’s name is Newstouse. :lol: