The David Hayes stable says a complaint resulted in an order from the Registrar of Racehorses to change the name of the impressive debut winner Blackman.
Blackman, a two-year-old filly by Excellent Art, was named after the famed Australian artist Charles Blackman, whose work has sold for more than $1 million at auction in recent years.
The two-year-old led all the way before beating older horses in decisive fashion at the Geelong Synthetic track on July 10.
Lindsay Park racing manager Jason Timperley said the Euroa stable was surprised to receive a call from the Registrar Of Racehorses wanting to change the two-year-old’s name.
"It was a real surprise to get the call to change the name, especially because it was due to one complaint,” he said. "We would have thought that any issues would have arisen before she raced and won at Geelong.”
Messages condemning the name change flooded Lindsay Park’s Twitter feed, @lindsayparkrace, when the organisation publicised the situation on Wednesday morning. Melbourne celebrity John Blackman contacted Lindsay Park to support the camp.
"I am outraged (and so is my wife),” Blackman tweeted. "Political correctness gone absolutely crazy. BTW, I backed Blackman last week so there.”
However, Myles Foreman, the chief executive of Racing Information Services Australia said the Registrar Of Racehorses and Lindsay Park agreed to change the filly’s name to Lady Blackman.
"There is a provision in the rules that the registrar retains the right to change a horse’s name if it deems it necessary,” he said. "Concerns were raised about the horse’s name but we have tried to balance the needs of everyone involved.
"I have read the tweets and was surprised at the comments. We engaged in a consultative process with the owners and key contacts at the stable to achieve the right outcome.
"There was an agreement from the horse’s owners to change her name to Lady Blackman.”
Foreman said such occurrences were "very infrequent” when considering owners and trainers presented more than 54,000 names to the Registrar of Racehorses for consideration every year.
