Journalists Wandering Eyes Posted September 6, 2020 Journalists Share Posted September 6, 2020 6th-Churchill Downs, $101,097, Alw, 9-5, (NW1X), 3yo/up, 7f, 1:21.41, ft. SIR ALFRED JAMES (g, 4, Munnings–Super Phoebe, by Malabar Gold) The Ashford stallion Munnings (by Speightstown out of La Comete) and his winning son SIR ALFRED JAMES (out of Super Phoebe) represent a welcome return to the old tradition of giving painters’ names to racehorses. Both father and son are obviously named after Suffolk-born Sir Alfred James Munnings (1878-1959), great classic painter of horses and World War I battle scenes. No one was fonder of this practice than the illustrious Federico Tesio, who borrowed painters’ names for many of his champions, like unbeaten legend Ribot (buried at Darby Dan Farm in Lexington), El Greco, Apelle, Botticelli, Toulouse Lautrec, and so on. The jury is still out on America’s foundation sire Nearco (another of Tesio’s jewels): some say he may have been a ceramist. In any case, horses have always fascinated painters from all ages in history. Smartly named Sir Alfred James would have made his namesake proud, with his tenacious come-from-behind run on Saturday at Churchill Downs in a quality six-furlong allowance race. The post What’s In a Name? Sir Alfred James appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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