11 reasons why racehorses end up with such weird names

Pay Billy and Sandman are just two of the intriguing horse names in this weekend’s Preakness Stakes. Here’s how top horses get those quirky names.

When a friend and I began investing in thoroughbreds in 2018, it wasn’t fantasies of running in the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness Stakes that excited us most. It was naming the racehorses. We’d seen California Chrome and American Pharoah etch their names in the sports lexicon. And while producing a horse of that caliber was a longshot, just the prospect of the announcer yelling, “Here comes [name we chose] down the stretch!” was unexpectedly thrilling.