In honor of the holiday, Brooklyn Backstretch is offering a little racing love this fine Monday morning:
A quick check of Pedigree Query reveals that…
…there have been five horses named Marry Me, three female, two male; a 1975 colt was by Bold Reason out of the The Bride; a 1996 GB-bred cold was by Pursuit of Love out of Perfect Desire.
…there have been 17 True Loves, none with particularly interesting pedigrees, though a 1955 Brazilian-bred was sired, somewhat troublingly, by Fanatique, while a 1975 Aussie-bred was sired by First Love.
…eight horses have been named Lover, including the 1966 chestnut horse most troublingly by Crimson Satan and out of Venetian Love. One notes a hint of despair in the 2003 filly by Louis Quatorze out of It’s Over.
…we’ve had 25 Valentines since 1823, including a 1967 colt by Midsummer Night out of Galivantin Lady; a 2002 colt by Lion Hearted out of Hearts; and perhaps my favorite, a 2001 French-bred (of course!) colt by Double Bed out of Tumultueuse.
…Belong To Me sired two of the seven Be Mines listed.
…five horses have been named Be My Valentine.
…Sweetheart was a most popular name for horses, leading the list with 24. The 1920 Sweetheart was the best of the bunch, having won the Camden and Ashland Handicaps and running second in the Debutante, the Kentucky Oaks, and Ashland Oaks.
None of these romantically named horses was particularly successful on the track; perhaps they were lovers, not fighters. Draw your own conclusions, though do note that over the weekend, Cupid’s arrows were not finding their marks:
On Sunday, Isn’tlovejustgrand was third at Aqueduct; Battle of Love was third and Pure Amour second at Gulfstream; and at Tampa, both Kiss Me Tu and She Has A Heart ran third.
The optimistic among you might take note of the following, entered today:
At Beulah: Devoted Groom in the sixth; All For Love in the eighth; and Mirthful Flirt in the ninth.
At Penn National: Sweetheart Samanth in the first; Cherokee Romance in the fourth; and Show the Love in the ninth.
At Turf Paradise: Prospective Love in the third and Love Makor in the fourth.
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone…
(click to enlarge)
Brooklyn Backstretch 
Nice research work! Have to agree with you on the favorite being the 2001 French-bred colt….
🙂
So, in the opposite vein:
3 horses have been named Divorce. In 2005, Divorce was born from the Sire “Down the Aisle” and Dam, “Miss Unreal Zeal”.
6 horses have been named Broken Heart. A 1993 Broken Heart started 54 times with only one win (talk about your broken hearts!).
3 horses have been named Bad Love and a like number named Tainted Love.
And finally, a staggering 14 horses have been named Alimony, with easily my favorite Alimony being from Great Britain and out of Son-In-Law and Pop the Question.
Happy Valentine’s Day to you and to all of your special loved ones!
There have been 10 horses named Perfect Love, including one currently still racing, a 5 year old Jersey based Mare owned by a friend of mine (and trainer) Anthony Quartarolo. She’s not perfect on the track however, with 0 placings in 12 starts. 🙂
Let us not forget the old war horse himself born this day 13 years ago, Evening Attire. Teresa, I had the pleasure of meeting you on Evening Attire Day @ Belmont in the paddock area! 🙂
Maine–I know…how great was that? I’m going to remember that one.
Matt, you get the prize for the best comment. You know, I started to look up Brokenheart, Brokenhearted, etc., and decided that that would just be too cynical…but I guess not! Awesome.
Robert: Oh, ouch.
Tom: Of course I remember you. Hoping to see Evening Attire at Akindale before too long.
Loved the cartoon!
Are you doing a Backstretch RTTR league this year so I can lose and donate to a worthy cause? 😉