...had this horse better be called, because his registered name definitely will not do

Buddy Bishop was scanning the entries for Saratoga Race Course's opening-day program and did not like what he saw.

In the entries was a horse named Mufakher. A lot of people would look at that name and see something indecipherable, never giving it a second thought. Tom Durkin, who calls races for a living at the New York tracks, might see things a bit differently. Exactly how do you pronounce that name? Which is what Bishop, the registrar of the Jockey Club, was thinking. As the final arbiter on what name can or cannot be used, Bishop is ever vigilant of owners trying to name a horse with a word or words that are off-color, have a double entendre, or are just vulgar.

When Bishop saw a two-year-old first-time starter by the name of Mufakher in the sixth race at Saratoga on July 26, he knew that one had slipped through the cracks. He was sorry he was out of the office the day that horse was named. So he sprung into action.

The following may not be exactly what happened next (or it may not be anything at all like what really happened), but the problem may have been taken care of like this:

"Hello, is this the racing secretary's office?"
"Yes, it is."
"Well, this is Buddy Bishop with the Jockey Club. I see a Mufakher in the Saratoga entries."
"Oh, which one?"
"What do you mean 'Which one?' There's only one, the first-time starter in the sixth race on opening day."
"Let's see. Got the entries right here. You must mean the seven horse." "Yeah."
"You're pronouncing it a lot different than I had thought. Well, maybe I never did give it a thought. Just some foreign name."
"Well, I don't know how you pronounce it or what it means. I think some people can twist it to sound pretty bad. We don't want that to happen. Who owns the horse?"
"Shadwell. Kiaran McLaughlin trains."
"Well, that explains part of it. It's an Arabic name. But that horse can't start with that name. We have to get it changed."
"We're running out of time. The race is in two days."
"I'll give the racing manager a call and get back to you."

With that, a call goes to the racing manager of Shadwell, the operation of Dubai's Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum.

"Hello, this is Buddy Bishop of the Jockey Club. We've got a problem."
"We do?" asked the racing manager.
"It's one of your horses who's in on Wednesday. Mufakher."
"Oh, no, what's wrong? He was galloping just fine this morning."
"It's his name."
"What's wrong with his name?"
"It's just, just, well, you know, it can be taken the wrong way."
"Well, I don't see how that's possible. It means 'glory' in Arabic. Is that a problem?"
"No. No. That's not the problem. It's just that in English, it could sound like a vulgar phrase, pardon my French."
"Oh, I see."
"Anyway, we need to get his name changed before he starts."
"Well, you know, he's got a great pedigree, by Hennessy out of Raise a Carter, by Dr. Carter, and Sheikh Hamdan really likes the name Glory. But I guess we'll have to change it."
"Good. I thought you'd understand."

A call then goes back to the racing secretary's office at Saratoga.
"Hi. This is Bishop. We took care of Mufakher."
"Oh, which one?"
"The horse. The horse. The horse in the sixth race, remember? We're going to get his name changed."
"Oh, yeah, right. That's good. That will keep Durkin out of trouble. We've already scratched him, though."
"That's fine. His papers will be in order next time."
"Okay. Well, hey, wait a minute. Kiaran McLaughlin just walked in. Hey, Kiaran, we had to scratch your horse in the sixth race. Guy here on the phone from the Jockey Club says you can't run a horse named Mufakher.
"No, no, Kiaran, I didn't call you anything. That's just the name of your horse we had to scratch from Wednesday's sixth. ... What? Really? Oh, that's how you pronounce it. Now you tell us."

So bid farewell to Glory by any other name; henceforth his name will be Amjaad.