Exploring Star Wars-Inspired Racehorse Names

Pop Culture

Disney purchased LucasfilmLtd. in 2012 and unveiled "The Force Awakens" in 2015, which was the first new film in the series since “Revenge of the Sith” debuted in 2005. “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” was the second movie in the third trilogy followed by “The Rise of Skywalker,” which debuted Dec. 20, 2019. In between “Solo: A Star Wars Story” debuted May 25, 2018.

More recently, Disney-plus ushered in a new era of Star Wars content headlined by the critically acclaimed series “The Mandalorian,” which has run for three seasons and includes the incredibly popular Grogu, sometime called “Baby Yoda.”

Other new Star Wars series include “The Book of Boba Fett,” “Andor,” and the 2023 hit “Ahsoka,” a series based on Darth Vader’s padawan (apprentice) Ahsoka Tano.

There are four things I can really dork out on: music, horse racing, baseball and Star Wars. I was six when “The Empire Strikes Back” came out in 1980 and nine when “Return of the Jedi” debuted in 1983, so I really don’t remember life before Star Wars. It’s always been a part of my existence and having two kids who spend their free time firing blasters at each other and dueling with lightsabers has only strengthened my passion for Star Wars, despite my disappointment with the three prequel movies in the series.

So when I got an email suggesting I take a look at some of the racehorses named after the fictional characters in Star Wars, I jumped at the chance to follow through on the idea and I was shocked at the reach of the series within horse racing. The name Star Wars is listed as permanently unavailable with The Jockey Club Registry, but there proved plenty of other options. From storm troopers and bounty hunters to Admiral Ackbar (he’s a squid commander!) to Tatooine, Star Wars has had a significant impact on horse racing for decades, including recent Grade 1-placed sprinter Baby Yoda, a career-earner of more than half a million bucks.

Let’s get started with the two most successful of the horses with Star Wars-themed names: Skywalker and Lando.

Bred and raced by Oak Cliff Stable and trained by Michael Whittingham, Skywalker was by the sire Relaunch out of a mare named Bold Captive, showing his owners possessed amazing creativity. The main hero of the first trilogy, Luke Skywalker, is an aspiring fighter pilot (Relaunch) who later willingly hands himself over to the evil empire (Bold Captive) and a showdown with Darth Vader, which is his destiny.

Born in 1982 at the height of Star Wars hysteria, Skywalker won eight of 20 career starts, including the 1985 Santa Anita Derby and 1986 Breeders’ Cup Classic. He went on to a second career as a sire, opening up countless possibilities to continue the Star Wars trend.

1986 BREEDERS' CUP CLASSIC

A clear front-runner for best-named horse by Skywalker is a 1997, Kentucky-bred filly by Skywalker out of a mare named Regal Gal, by Viceregal. Named Princess Leia, the filly bred by Arthur B. Hancock III and Thomas P. Tatham did not live up to her regal, Star Wars name — she was unraced — but there was another.

Bred and raced by Hancock, Obi Wan Kenobi, by Skywalker, was born in 2003 and developed into a stakes winner who earned $240,157. Out of Sugah, by Procida, the name was not as clever as Princess Leia, but hey, at least we know where a few members of the Hancock family will be this weekend.

In fact, Hancock bred a 2003 gelding by Skywalker, named Han Solo, who finished in the top three in 13 of 31 starts, but with only two wins, he definitely was no Millennium Falcon.

For as many opportunities as Skywalker the sire presented to Thoroughbred breeders who also were Star Wars fans, there were surprisingly few elite runners with movie-related names. Skywalker’s best runner was champion Bertrando, who also went on to success as a sire. A Grade 1-placed filly named Fondly Remembered, by Skywalker, however, aptly describes how many people think of Star Wars.

Horses Named After Star Wars Planets/Moons

Name

Birth Year

Sire (Father) — Dam (Mother)

Accomplishment

Alderaan

2012

Zebedee — Reblevka Star

Unraced

Coruscant

2001

Halo’s Image — Sparkle Unit Won

Won 7 of 23 races

Endor

1986

Fulmar — Native Irish Lass

Winner

Dagobah

1979

My Friend Julius — Amelia Bry

Winner

Hoth

1980

Judger — Frosty Doggy

Unraced

Mandalorian

2013

Temple City — You Too

Unraced

Tatooine

1981

Exclusive Native — Tattoosie

Winner

Tatooine

2011

Galileo (Ire) — Three Mysteries

Unraced

Notes: A Mandalorian is a native of the planet Mandalore; Tatooine (2011) was bred in France by the Niarchos family.

DAGOBAH

Courtey of Wookieemedia

You can easily make a case that German-bred Lando, presumably named after Billy D. Williams’s smooth-talking character Lando Calrissian, was just as accomplished if not more so than Skywalker on the racetrack.

Bred and raced by the brother-sister team of Manfred and Janet-Leve Ostermann, Lando won the German Derby in 1993 and the 1995 Japan Cup. By German sire Acatenango, whose dam was named Aggravate, Lando won 10 of 24 career starts and earned more than $3.4-million before going on to success as a sire with three champions and 16 group/graded stakes winners.

There were just a few among Lando’s top runners where it was even remotely possible to make a connection to Star Wars — Flying Champion and Land Baron — but he is the sire of an unraced gelding born in 2011 named Calrissian.

Speaking of Calrissian, there is a different Calrissian, a German-bred Efisio gelding, who is still active on the racetrack in France who has 19 wins and 42 top-three finishes from 84 career starts. A Texas-bred Quarter Horse named Lando Calrissian, born in 1980, won nine of 60 career starts.

I feel like I’ve gotten a bit longwinded, kind of like the 142-minute “Attack of the Clones,” so let’s pick up the pace for a sprint through the many Star Wars-themed names through the years, starting with the series’ heroes.

Princess Leia has been a popular name. In addition to the aforementioned filly by Skywalker, there was a 1976 Florida-bred filly named Princess Leia by Hold Your Peace out of a mare named Space Gal who won one of nine starts. There also was a Japanese-bred Princess Leia, a Washington-bred Princess Leia M D and a German-bred Princess Lea.

Let’s move on to the Jedi, starting with a horse named Jedi who won two of 24 starts and was stakes-placed in Europe. Bred in Great Britain and born in 2006, the gelding by Pivotal is out of a mare named Threefold.

In addition to the previously mentioned Obi Wan Kenobi, there were two racehorses named Obi Wan, the better of which was a 2003 Pennsylvania-bred by Not For Love who won 10 of 59 starts, including a stakes race at Presque Isle Downs in 2003. There also was a Virginia-bred Obiwankenobi who won four races from 1977 to 1982 and spent his final two seasons as a steeplechaser.

For as great as Master Yoda was in the Star Wars series, he was not represented too well on the racetrack. A California-bred named Yoda born in 2002 was winless in five starts and a Kentucky-bred Yoda, by Proudest Roman, born in 1979 was unraced.

Racehorses have been named after Jedi such as Mace Windu, Ahsoka Tano and Kit Fisto, but none of them made it to the winners’ circle.

Two United States-bred racehorses were named Rebel Alliance, including a California-bred Skywalker gelding co-bred by the aforementioned Thomas P. Tatham who had three wins, six seconds and a third in 31 starts. He was out of the Secretariat mare Risen Starlet. The other Rebel Alliance was bred in Oklahoma and born in 2005 (by Quiet American out of the Skywalker mare Lady Skywalker) but was unraced.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who has an affinity for Admiral Ackbar. A member of the amphibious species Mon Calamari, his two most famous lines are: “It’s a trap!” when he finds out the deflector shield is up and the Death Star is fully operational in “Return of the Jedi,” and “May the Force be with us,” before the Battle of Endor. 

It was a revelation on my son’s sixth birthday when he opened up an Admiral Ackbar action figure from one of his grandparents that I looked at the back of the box and exclaimed, “He’s a squid! I can’t believe I never saw that before, he’s a squid!” In my family, that is perfectly normal behavior. By the way, the Thoroughbred Admiral Ackbar was a 2009 Kentucky-bred by Empire Maker (bred by Janis Whitham) who was unraced. The other was a Quarter Horse who did not win a race. I really just included him because I’m a fan and because of this GIF:

via GIPHY

There were a couple of other Han Solo racehorses, but neither accomplished anything on the racetrack, and unfortunately the same goes for Han’s best pal (Hall of Fame pun intended) Chewbacca. Of the three horses named for the famous Wookiee, only Ontario-bred Chewbacca reached the winner’s circle. Born in 1976, he won once in 30 starts. Seems nobody followed C3PO’s advice and “Let the Wookiee win.”

No, poor Chewie had little success on the racetrack. A Quarter Horse named Chewie never made it to the races, neither did Quarter Horses named Wookie and Wookiee. Even Louisiana-bred Fuzzball, the name Han Solo called Chewbacca in “The Empire Strikes Back,” was winless in nine starts.

There was also a horse named after the fuzzy Ewoks, but alas the 1983 Massachusetts-bred Ewok, by Doc Hoss, did not have the same success on the racetrack that his namesakes did against the empire in "Return of the Jedi."

The second Star Wars Trilogy did not inspire the same passion among racehorse owners-breeders. Here is a snapshot of a handful of them before we move on to the “Dark Side”:

Second Trilogy Horse Names

Name

Birth Year

Sire (Father) — Dam (Mother)

Accomplishment

Anakin

1997

Queen Imperial Falcon — Cielo Oro

Won 3 races 

Anakin

2009

Artie Schiller — Whispering Winner, raced in stakes

Jar Jar

2001

Bertrando — Fleet Cozzene

Winless

Padme

2007

Risk and Reward — Miss Briteness

Winner

Sebulba

2006

Big Country — Copper Lake

Winless in 21 starts

Notes: There was a Texas-bred Quarter Horse named Padme Amidala who was unraced; it’s only fitting that the horse named after Jar Jar Binks, undoubtedly the most despised character in the Star Wars movie series among fans, was winless.

Several international racehorses have been named Darth Vader, but in the U.S. the closest we have is Vader, a name used three times since 1978 and all of the horses were winners. Such is the power of the dark side.

The most recent of these also was the most successful. A 2008 Kentucky-bred named Vader (by Vindication out of a mare named Ultrafleet) won eight of 40 starts and was a stakes competitor.

The other two named Vader both won twice: a 1997 Ohio-bred by the sire Stalwars and a 1978 Michigan-bred by Sevastopol.

Vader’s Storm Troopers also proved especially popular among racing fans and quite successful:

  • A 1980 Washington-bred named Storm Trooper, by Windy Tide, won 11 races. 
  • A 1993 Kentucky-bred Storm Trooper, by Diesis, won seven of 22 races, including the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup in 1998 for trainer Neil Drysdale. He was bred by Robert N. Clay & Airlie Stud.
  • German-bred Storm Trooper, by Monsun, amassed $303,851 in earnings and finished third in the German Derby as a 3-year-old in 2003. He was bred by Baron Georg von Ullmann.

There was a pair of winning Thoroughbreds named Bounty Hunter, although a case could be made that there are plenty of other inspirations for that name. One was a 2006 Indiana-bred by Salt Lake who won 12 of 30 starts and the other is a 2011 Irish-bred by Bahamian County who is still active in Qatar.

Unfortunately, the two most famous bounty hunters (not including Han Solo) in the Star Wars series — Boba Fett and his father Jango Fett — are not well-represented on the racetrack. The 1980 Minnesota-bred Boba Fett, by Kings Marc, was unraced, and an Arizona-bred Quarter Horse named Jango Fett also never reached the racetrack.

I’m sure I’ve missed more than a few — I did find an unraced blue or roan Appaloosa named Jabba the Hut.

There absolutely needs to be a good Boba Fett racehorse and I would suggest Padawan (the name for an apprentice Jedi) and Tusken Raider would be outstanding names. As for planets, we need a Naboo, a Kamino and definitely a Kashyyyk (home of the Wookiees and similar to the Juddmonte horse Cacique). They all are available.

If you plan on attending on what is expected to be a record-setting opening weekend, enjoy and let’s keep our fingers crossed that “The Force Awakens” lives up to the hype. For now, I’ll leave you with a handful of other horses inspired by Star Wars:

Other Horse Names Inspired by Star Wars

Name

Birth Year

Sire (Father) — Dam (Mother)

Accomplishment

Darth Raider

2009

Gray Raider — Amy’s Starr

3 wins in 40 starts

Darth Tater

2005

Mercer Mill — Kelsey Kid

Placed in multiple stakes

Death Star

2008

Quiet American — Sweet Problem

Winner

Death Star

1993

What City — Dynastie

Winless

Jedi Code

2005

Empire Maker — Listen Well

Winner

Luke Stallwalker

2006

Private Gold — Sugar Sleet

Winner

Millennium Falcon

1997

Chaka — Isadora D.

Unraced

Millennium Falcon

1976

Dead Ahead — Starry Eve

13 wins in 116 starts

Star War

2007

Must Be War — Flips Legacy

Winless

Star War

1987

Dominant Star — Paula Mae

Won 6 races

Editor's Note: This story was originally published in 2015 and has been updated.

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