The U.S. Jockey Club has ordered an owner to rename his racehorse after ruling the animal’s name referenced Adolf Hitler. A complaint was filed after the two-year-old colt Austrian Painter won his debut race at the Horseshoe Indianapolis track on Monday. Hitler, who was born in Austria, worked as a professional artist from 1909 to 1913. The Guardian reports that the term “Austrian Painter” is often used online as a euphemism to avoid content moderation filters. Responding to questions on X, the horse’s Texas-based breeder Scott Herbertson defended the choice, saying the name was a nod to another Austrian artist, Gustav Klimt. But the sports blog Defector reports Herbertson’s back-up names for Austrian Painter also raised eyebrows, including “My Struggle”—the English translation of Hitler’s book Mein Kampf—and “Braunau Star”—a possible reference to Hitler’s birthplace, Braunau am Inn. The Jockey Club said Austrian Painter will now be called Merrylegs. The horse’s sister, New Order, will be renamed as well (“New Order” could refer to either the English rock band or the Nazi plan for an occupied Europe). “New Order is my favored band you lune,” Herbertson told a critic on X.
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