Horse racing-BHA apologises after horse's name sparks outrage(Reuters) - The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has apologised after a runner was allowed to compete under a racially offensive name at the weekend and said it would review the process by which names are approved.
The three-year-old filly's name, "Jungle Bunny", a derogatory term for a Black person, was missed by the BHA and sparked uproar on social media ahead of the race at Wolverhampton on Saturday.
The BHA later said the name had since been changed and they were reviewing their procedures for filtering out offensive names.
https://uk.yahoo.com/sports/news/horse-racing-bha-apologises-horses-053704925.html
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I was surprised at the name when I read it. Also wondered why the advert had been passed with a controversial horse name in it. Or is income at such a premium that other considerations are pushed aside.
Still horses for courses yeah? No? I'll get my coat
Their position is difficult, here. How can they refuse to carry an ad due to a horse's name, when that very name as been passed by the sport's authority?
Should the press also refuse to print the name in a race card? The implications of such would be huge.
Undoubtedly, the name should NOT have slipped through the cracks and such an oversight suggests embarrassing levels of incompetence. However, once the horse if officially named I am not sure what the press can do?
I was puzzled by how one "journalist" ended a particular piece I read on the matter. The final line of TMZ Sports' online article read...
Oh, wanna know how the horse did on Saturday? It lost. Bad. 6th place.
Even if ignoring the childlike use of language, I have a couple of issues with this.
It's written as some kind of smug victory. A "gotcha". A virtual moral victory against racism.
Firstly, it's not the horses fault. Wishing ill fortune of an animal, who is probably not racist, isn't something I can get behind.
Secondly, a David Evans 3yo debutant finishing 6th of 11 (btn 7.75l) after a slow start and running green is NOT a "gotcha".
This was an excellent run and, I imagine, connections would've been very happy with the effort.
The state of journalism these days.....
"Jungle Bunny" are two words that look more like an oxymoron than a racist term from this view.
noun Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive.
a contemptuous term used to refer to a Black person.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/jungle--bunny
The horse is by Bungleinthejungle. As if often the case, the name is linked to the horse's breeding but, for whatever reason, they decided on an obviously contentious variant.