Racing Australia has decided to take action after two Queensland-based horses with X-rated names caught the attention of punters worldwide.
A pair of nags named Lovin’ Deqoque and Get On Deqoque appeared in separate trials at Deagon Racecourse on Tuesday.
The horses, both trained by Darryl Ward and ridden by jockey Bobby El-Issa, finished fourth and second in their respective runs, but it was their unusual monikers which caught the attention of racing fans and even made headlines overseas.
Interesting how the #1 in Trial 8 and #5 in Trial 9 got through the system when named @Punters pic.twitter.com/uFcZROH0Gp
But on Wednesday, Racing Australia said it was fully aware of the names and everything was above board.
“We contact owners when they lodge the names to make sure we know how the horse names are pronounced and what the meaning of the name is,” Racing Australia boss Myles Forman told 7 News.
“And in this case it’s De-quo.
“Look, a combination of letters and words can mean different things to different people.
“In this case we were confident it should be pronounced De-quo.
“Therefore there’s nothing here that prompts concern for Racing Australia.”
Jockey Bobby El-Issa.Source:Getty Images
But Forman quickly backflipped on Saturday, claiming the governing body was hoping to scrap the names before they next jump.
“Racing Australia has now reviewed the names and irrespective of how they are intended to be pronounced is working with the owner for the names of the horses to be changed before they next race,” Forman told 7 NEWS.
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