Ranking the best Kentucky Derby horses by name, from Render Judgment to Flying Mohawk

The 2025 Kentucky Derby will be held on Saturday, May 3 and is one of the most unique events in all of sports. It comes with massive pomp and circumstance, with everyone dressing up in outlandish outfits with fancy hats. Millions of dollars are wagered on the horses competing, and ultimately, the race lasts between two and three minutes. 

Packed into the lore of the derby, especially with how short the race is, are iconic calls from the announcers. They have a tough job with play-by-play as the horses can change positions frequently, and it doesn't help that they don't have normal names. Horses are worse than ships when it comes to naming. They are never referred to by numbers like cars in NASCAR or based on their starting position. Instead, the owners have free rein over what they want to call their horses, and we have to deal with it. 

With that in mind, here is our ranking of the best Kentucky Derby horse names. 

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Ranking the best Kentucky Derby horses by name

21. Neoequos

Starting at the bottom, we have Neoequos. I have no clue how to pronounce this name, so you and I may even be reading it differently. I thought by googling the name that there would be some cool historical "Neoequos is the Egyptian God of ____" lore that I could buy into, but nope. Hard to say, and no cool back story? Welcome to last place. 

20. Baeza

At least Neoequos has company at the bottom of the list. Baeza is fun to say, but that's where the excitement ends. 

19. Tiztastic

I like the effort, but it's not doing much for me. It avoids the bottom of the barrel because "Tiztastic wins the Kentucky Derby" would be a great sound clip, but short of that? Meh. 

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18. East Avenue

This is the first entry from this year's field that is simply a location. There is probably some background here like maybe the owner's met on East Avenue or something, but this just feels bland. 

17. Burnham Square

Again, location. Burnham Square sounds cooler than East Avenue, so it gets the edge in the ranking. 

16. Sovereignty

Names that have confusing spellings are going to be tough to pronounce for the average viewer of the Kentucky Derby. I'm sure there are some of you who had to read the horse's name multiple times, Hooked on Phonics style, trying to sound it out. Cool name, but too tough to say consistently, and good luck trying to spell it when texting your friends. 

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15. Publisher

The next two go hand-in-hand, or hoof-in-hoof. This is a rivalry that I want to tune into. Publisher vs. Journalism. The company vs. the writer. When it comes to horses racing though, it's a fun name, but I just feel like the owners could have done better.  

14. Journalism

Cooler word than Publisher, but in the same boat. Hearing "Journalism has won the Kentucky Derby" would get very old, very fast. 

13. Rodriguez

I. need. the. lore. What is this a nod to? Was Alex Rodriguez your favorite baseball player? Are you actor Freddy Rodriguez's biggest fan? Did you fall in love with Michelle Rodriguez from her portrayals in "Lost" or "The Fast and the Furious"?

Unfortunately, Rodriguez was a scratch Thursday and will be replaced by Baeza. But Rodriguez still gets a decent spot in this list anyway.

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12. Luxor Cafe

When it comes to the location names, this one reigned supreme. Luxor clears Burnham and East easily. It may not even be related to the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas, but maybe a cafe in the hotel is where they decided to buy a horse? Regardless, more fun for a location name, but not good enough to crack the top-10. 

11. Owen Almighty

This name should probably be higher, but we have some good ones coming. This just makes me think of "Bruce Almighty" and "Evan Almighty" and I just never felt the need for the series to become a trilogy. 

10. Grande

Short, to the point, and fun to say. Solid name to begin the top 10. 

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9. Sandman

Makes me think of Mariano Rivera. When the Sandman comes in, the competition will go to sleep. It's a cool name, but you've got to win to keep its meaning. Anything short of that, and it kind of busts. The high-risk, high-reward of the name docks it a few spots. 

8. Coal Battle

I am probably overhyping this name and looking too far into it. I assumed that it was a combination of colt and foal and a marriage of horse terms. If I'm wrong, this name deserves to be lower, but for now, it is at a respectable eight. 

7. Admire Daytona

This is the top-ranked name that includes a location. Sometimes you do just have to sit back and admire Daytona. The crowd that attends the Daytona 500 mixed with the beauty of the ocean is a sight to see. 

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6. Final Gambit

Definition of a cool name. I also like it because a gambit in chess is your opening move or strategy. So saying final gambit is like saying final first move, which is a little bit of a paradox. 

5. American Promise

To crack the top five this year is a real achievement. This is a classic horse name for the Kentucky Derby, and "American Promise wins the Kentucky Derby" just sounds right. 

4. Citizen Bull

You could probably interchange the top 5 on this list and not get much flak. The way that these shaped out became very nitpicky in my reasoning, because this is just a really cool name, but just not as cool as the top three. 

MORE: A complete list of all-time Kentucky Derby champions, records, Triple Crown horses

3. Chunk of Gold

This is awesome. For horse owners wanting to have an on-the-nose horse name, this is a way to do it. On the one hand, it costs a lot of money to get into horse breeding, horse training and horse racing overall. On the other hand, if you end up with a really good horse, they can make you a lot of money after just a handful of wins. 

2. Flying Mohawk

I love this name. When horses race, their manes are typically tied off in little bows. I think it helps with aerodynamics, but I also choose to believe it's done just for the presentation. Once the mane is all braided, it looks like a mohawk. Horses fly around the track when they are running, so the name not only makes sense, but it sounds cool. 

1. Render Judgment

I mean, come on. This name is awesome. It doesn't necessarily apply well to horse racing, but just on its own, this name is great. I initially had this one second to Flying Mohawk, but this name is just awesome.

MORE: What is the Triple Crown in horse racing? 

Recent Kentucky Derby winners

There are several ways that you can try to determine who will win the Kentucky Derby. Some people like to go with the best names, but they don't always win. Here are the last 10 winners of the Kentucky Derby. 

*Medina Spirit won, but was later DQ'd after failing drug tests.