Two Horses Named Sierra Nevada to Compete in Same Race Sunday

The smartness money’s on Sierra Nevada for the 4:50 at Ireland’s Gowran Mungo Park on Sunday. But which one?

Thanks to a weird blip inward the Matrix, II horses with exactly the same make will feed against apiece other inward the same race, the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden, The Racing Post reports.

The puzzling position has arisen because the horses, a three-year-old filly trained past Jessica Harrington named Sierra Nevada, and its namesake, a four-year-old filly trained past Charles VII O’Brien, were registered inward different countries.

The three-year-old is an American Equus caballus and the four-year is British.

The Post notes that Britain and Eire feature a articulation studhorse book, so that horses registered in those countries cannot get the same name. But this discernment does not cross the pond.

Meanwhile, in that respect is null inward Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board rules to prohibit ii horses of the same epithet racing together.

USA Vs. GB

No adjustments testament follow made to differentiate betwixt the 2 inward rush cards, officials hold said, except that they testament follow referred to as Sierra Silver State (US) and Sierra Sagebrush State (GB), respectively.

Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said bookmakers are hoping to avoid disarray on Sunday.

It’s certainly an unusual one,” she told the Post. “Shop faculty testament follow made aware of this, so customers tin can delineate which single they want a bet on, positive we testament include a message on the race screens and sound around race time, ensuring on that point is no confusion.”

Of the two, bookmakers experience the American horse will transportation improve on Sunday. At the clip of writing, Sierra Silver State (US) is i of the briny contenders, 11/1, or quaternary favorite at the clip of publication. It is owned and bred past the Miarchos family’s Flaxman Holdings.

Sierra Silver State (GB), owned by Sue Magnier, is a 33/1 longshot at the time of publication.

Kerkiyra is the favorite to win the race, at betting odds of 15/8.

Weirdly, finally July, Sierra NV (US) trainer Hartington had a victor disqualified at the Galway Festival because it “could non live positively identified post-race.”

Hartington admitted she had accidentally tally a different gymnastic horse than the i that was advertised on the run card. While the horses had different names, Hartington explained, “They looking exactly the same.”

Averti-ng Confusion

The namesake state of affairs is non without precedent. In 1994, ii horses named Averti, ace bred inward the US, the other in Ireland, competed inwards a race inwards Great Yarmouth, England.

Going plunk for further, inwards 1896 at England’s now-defunct Keele Park Racecourse, ii horses named Lambton lined up for a steeplechase race. Chances are, at to the lowest degree i was named after the then-famous British people paladin racehorse trainer George III Lambton.

To maximise confusion, the horses were both British, and so could non live differentiated by national suffixes. And to get off disarray into overdrive, they placed 1st and indorsement inwards the race.

Oddly, the Feb run across at Keele Park ii years later was dominated by a jockey named Mr. W. Lambton, although he was non horseback riding any of the aforementioned Lambtons.