How come the horse's in the races have such odd names?

The Jockey Club requires all American racehorses to be registered with a 'unique' name, meaning no other horse can have been registered using the name within a certain length of time, and 'famous horse's names' are off-limits forever. The name has to be under a certain number of letters with several other restrictions and several names must be submitted for each horse with the jockey club making the choice. So, 'common' names have already been taken, and may not be used again meaning owners need to get creative! Keep in mind that racehorses are not called by their registered names around the barn-- their trainers and grooms will use a 'barn name' for that. For example, Man O' War's 'barn name' was "Red."

http://www.sportscomet.com/Horse-Racing/153868.htm

http://www.jockeyclub.com/registry.asp?section=3#s...

The people who name Thoroughbred racehorses have a tough time.

First, the name can be no longer than 18 characters, including spaces between words and punctuation.

Second, the horse can't have a name that's been used recently, which puts about 430,000 names out of reach.

Third, the horse can't have a name that copies the name of a horse in the Hall of Fame; can't even have a name that's a homophone (sounds the same but spelled different) of a Hall of Fame name.

Can't be named for a living person unless that person gives their permission in writing, submitted to The Jockey Club.

Can't have a name that infringes on copyrighted matter or has a commercial connotation (e.g., can't name a horse something like Chevrolet Camaro).

Can't have a name that has an offensive connotation, that could be construed to be a slur or is of questionable taste.

If the name is a word or words in a language other than English, a translation has to be furnished.

Cannot be a name that has been reserved by someone else.

With all the restrictions, that makes it really hard to find a good name for a racehorse.

Mine That Bird is most likely a sort of joke, phonetically a variation of "Mind That Bird," and comes from combining his sire, Birdstone, with the name of his dam, Mining My Own.