After reviewing thousands of entries, officials at Southern Equine Farm have selected Southern Phantom as the name of the white-headed foal born at the farm in Midway, Ky., June 5.
A naming contest for the colt by Bodemeister out of Out for Revenge, by Bernardini , was offered exclusively at BloodHorse.com. While the contest had been scheduled to be open longer, the submission of new entries had to be curtailed due to the tremendous volume of proposed names received in just a couple of days.
Mary Beth Woods of Shreveport, La., submitted the winning entry, and Southern Equine owner Mike Moreno has pledged to make a $5,000 donation in her name to the Racetrack Chaplaincy of Saratoga, which aids backstretch workers.
Woods, a racing fan for more than 30 years, said: “As soon as I saw him I thought of ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ and since he’s from Southern Equine Farm I came up with Southern Phantom.”
Eric Guillot, trainer for Southern Equine, said: “We hope everyone had fun coming up with names and we appreciate the thousands of people who participated. We want to congratulate Ms. Woods, and in her name we are proud to support the backstretch workers who are the backbone of this industry. The money Mr. Moreno is donating is going to a great cause.”
Guillot said Southern Equine had reserved the name with The Jockey Club, and will be awaiting the confirmation process.