The Jockey Club received a complaint about the horse after it won its debut race at the Horseshoe Indianapolis track on Monday, per The Guardian:
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.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Jockey Club said that the review following the formal complaint deemed the name potentially offensive.
“Earlier this week, the Registry was notified through a formal complaint that the name was offensive, and we immediately began a review,” the statement said. 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.’”
“We take these matters seriously and appreciate that they were brought to our attention,” it added.