# The 15 Best Racehorse Names of All Time

> Some were chosen by a secretary, some after an owner's favourite record, and one survives a registrar's typo. The good ones outlive the horse.

*By YPB Team · Published August 20, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-15-best-racehorse-names-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Man o' War** — score 1000/1000
   Named by owner Eleanor Belmont for her husband, away at war when the colt was foaled.
2. **Seabiscuit** — score 1000/1000
   A biscuit is what sailors ate and what his sire Hard Tack was named for.
3. **Spectacular Bid** — score 800/1000
   A name that promised more than most and, for two seasons, delivered on it.
4. **Bold Ruler** — score 709/1000
   Secretariat's sire, and the rare case where the name outlived the horse in pedigree pages.
5. **Mine That Bird** — score 709/1000
   The gelding nobody wanted, hauled to Louisville in a pickup truck, 50-1 and a winner.
6. **Secretariat** — score 600/1000
   Meadow Stable's secretary Elizabeth Ham supplied the name after five earlier submissions were rejected.
7. **Sir Barton** — score 600/1000
   The first Triple Crown winner, and a name that sounds like it was invented for the honour.
8. **Onion** — score 466/1000
   The plain name that beat the most famous horse in America at Saratoga in 1973.
9. **Phar Lap** — score 466/1000
   Zulu and Thai words for lightning, chosen for the Australian champion of the Depression.
10. **Native Dancer** — score 466/1000
   The Grey Ghost of television's first racing audience, named for his sire Polynesian.
11. **American Pharoah** — score 466/1000
   The misspelling came in on the registration form and stayed on the trophy.
12. **Rich Strike** — score 300/1000
   The 80-1 shot whose prospector's name fit the 2022 Kentucky Derby result exactly.
13. **Zippy Chippy** — score 300/1000
   Lost all 100 of his career starts and became more famous than most winners.
14. **Ruffian** — score 300/1000
   The filly who led every race she finished, and whose name still carries the 1975 match race.
15. **Zenyatta** — score 300/1000
   Named for the Police album Zenyatta Mondatta by owner Jerry Moss, the label's co-founder.

Tags: sports, horse racing, horses, names