Slave's name nixed for thoroughbred horse

LEXINGTON, Ky., June 1 (UPI) -- A Kentucky thoroughbred horse owner is appealing The Jockey Club's ruling he cannot name a horse after a slave of President Thomas Jefferson.

Garrett Redmond, historian and owner of the Ballycapple farm in Paris, Ky., has filed a freedom of speech lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Lexington after being refused permission to call his 2-year-old filly Sally Hemings.

Hemings was a slave of Jefferson and is widely believed to have been his mistress who possibly also bore him children.

The Jockey Club originally told Redmond he would need permission from Hemings to use the name. Redmond told the Lexington Herald-Leader that in itself is illogical based on horses named Buddha and Louis Quatorze, for the French King.

Stewards then refused the name altogether, citing concerns it "may be offensive."