US Jockey Club orders racehorse Austrian Painter to be renamed due to Hitler reference

The US Jockey Club has ordered a racehorse to be renamed after ruling the animal’s name was a reference to Adolf Hitler.

Austrian Painter won its debut race at the Horseshoe Indianapolis track on Monday. However, the Jockey Club received a complaint about its name and began an investigation. Hitler, who was born in Austria, was a professional artist in Vienna before the first world war. People often use the term “Austrian Painter” online to discuss Hitler without naming him in order to avoid content moderation filters.

Scott Herbertson, the two-year-old’s owner and breeder, appeared to suggest on social media that the name was a reference to Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. The Jockey Club said Austrian Painter’s full sister, New Order, must also be renamed. As well as the well-known British rock band, New Order can refer to Nazi Germany’s plan for an occupied Europe. “New order is my favoured band you lune,” Herbertson wrote on social media.

The Jockey Club said Austrian Painter would now be known as Merrylegs.

“Earlier this week, the Registry was notified through a formal complaint that the name was offensive, and we immediately began a review. The Registrar determined that the name is ineligible under Rule 6.F.9.d, which prohibits names that ‘are likely to be offensive or threatening based upon factors including, but not limited to, color, creed, disability, ethnicity, gender, national origin, race, religion, politics, or sexual orientation,’” the Jockey Club said in a statement on Wednesday. “We take these matters seriously and appreciate that they were brought to our attention.”

The Jockey Club has ordered horses to be renamed before, usually for racist references. In 2019, a horse called Noose was renamed Scabbard after an order from the Jockey Club.