American Pharoah is the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, the first to be trained by Bob Baffert, and the first to lose his initial race and then win every one that followed. But the 3-year-old bay is not the first Kentucky Derby winner to have a misspelled name.
In 2003, Funny Cide ran the 10th fastest Kentucky Derby in history, becoming the first New York-bred horse to win the Derby. He was also the first misspelling. The word “cide” is normally spelled “side.” But the horse’s owners made a strong case that the misspelling was intentional. Funny Cide’s father was named Distorted Humor and his mother was Belle’s Good Cide; combine their genes and names, and you have Funny Cide.
American Pharoah’s owners simply made a spelling mistake. They invited the public to name their horse. A fan submitted the name, American Pharoah (misspelled). The horse’s owners loved the name because it made reference to both the U.S. and Egypt, their home countries. So Zayat Stables sent the submitted name – right down to the transposed letters – to The Jockey Club to officially register it. The spelling was never checked.
At The Jockey Club, they did what they usually do with applications that have misspellings. They accepted it. Equine names are often intentionally misspelled to distinguish one horse from another similarly named; to create a pun; or to satisfy a superstition. Some owners flout grammar altogether by giving their horses long names withnospacesbetweenthewords.
It wasn’t until American Pharoah started winning – and the media took notice – that the misspelling became an issue. When journalists tried to spell Pharoah the way the Zayats had spelled it, they found the word with a red line in their spell-check.
The Zayats should be forgiven, of course: “pharaoh” is particularly treacherous to spell. With two silent h’s and an fearsome “ao” combination, it’s one of those words that requires concentration and devotion. But among the 141 winners of the Kentucky Derby, American Pharoah is still not the most difficult to spell. Can you say Fusaichi Pegasus?
Neil Chethik, aka the Grammar Gourmet, is executive director of the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning (www.carnegiecenterlex.org) and author of “FatherLoss” and “VoiceMale.” The Carnegie Center offers writing classes and seminars for businesses and individuals. Contact Chethik at neil@carnegiecenterlex. org or 859-254-4175.