Q: Why is the name of American Pharoah spelled that way?
—Marline Elkins, Marietta
A: Marsha Baumgartner, a horse racing fan from Barnett, Mo., entered the name in an online contest held by Zayat Stables last year.
Zayat Stables, which owns American Pharoah, held the contest to name their 2-year-old horses.
She insisted she looked up the spelling of pharaoh before entering the contest, and the name was entered electronically. It was the only named submitted for American Pharoah.
“I don’t remember how I spelled it; I don’t want to assign blame,” she told the New York Times last month.
The Jockey Club registers and approves the names of thoroughbreds in the U.S. and Canada.
“Since the name met all of the criteria for naming and was available, it was granted exactly as it was spelled on the digital name application,” Jockey Club president/COO Jim Gagliano said in a statement earlier this year.
Baumgartner said she came up with the name because American Pharoah’s father, or sire, is Pioneerof (one word) the Nile and Yankee Gentleman was his mother’s father, or dam sire.
American Pharoah is the 12th horse to win horse racing’s Triple Crown.
Q: CNN’s John King and Dana Bash were married at one time. Are they still married? Didn’t they have a baby?
—Carolyn Cary, Fayetteville
A: King and Bash divorced in 2012, about a year after their son, Jonah Frank King, was born. They were married for less than four years.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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