High hopes for racehorse named Horsey McHorseface

THE National Environmental Research Council (NERC) poll to find a name for a new polar research ship is still making waves around the globe, with a racehorse named Horsey McHorseface the latest tribute.

File photo of a racehorse. The stable has high hopes for Horsey McHorseface. Picture: Getty Images

The NERC invited the public to submit naming suggestions for the new £200 million research vessel.

Despite sensible offerings such as RRS Endeavour and RRS David Attenborough, the joky suggestion of RRS Boaty McBoatface is the clear frontrunner, with thousands of people having backed the unorthodox name.

The coverage led to a UK railway worker renaming the Portsmouth to Waterloo service Trainy McTrainface, and now an Australian race horse has been given a similar name.

Horsey McHorseface is a two-year-old gelding, bought from New Zealand for around NZ$65,000 (£32,000) in November last year.

The horse is being prepared for racing by trainer Bjorn Baker, based at Sydney’s Warwick Farm racecourse.

The stable has high hopes for Horsey McHorseface, according to racing manager Jack Bruce, who said the horse had put in a ‘very good breeze (gallop)’ at a ready-to-run sale in New Zealand.