by Mike Curry

Roy and Gretchen Jackson have chosen Nicanor as the name of Barbaro’s yearling full brother, by Dynaformer.

The bay colt was foaled on March 15, 2006, at Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington.

Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Barbaro was named after one of six foxhounds portrayed in a family heirloom painting that belonged to Roy’s grandfather and hangs in the Jacksons’s West Grove, Pennsylvania, home.

Gretchen Jackson said that the she and her husband decided to return to the foxhounds for inspiration when naming Barbaro’s full sibling, who is out of the Jackson’s Grade 2-placed Carson City mare La Ville Rouge.

“We named him after the next foxhound in the picture, not much originality but why change things when it worked so well the first time,” Gretchen Jackson said. “Somebody told me the name was Biblical, but I have not yet looked that up. I love it when you can come up with one-word [names]. It doesn’t always happen, but I like it.”

Among the many famous Nicanors in history is Nicanor the Deacon, one of the Seven Deacons of early Christianity. Others include a Macedonian officer, governor of Media under Antigonus, from the 4th Century B.C.; an officer of Cassandrus; a 4th Century B.C. son of Antipater and brother to Cassander, who was put to death by Olympias; Nicanor of Syria, the assassin of Seleucus III from the 3rd Century B.C.; and an adopted son of Greek philosopher Aristotle

“He’s a pretty big foal, I’m going down to see him next week before the Maker’s Mark Mile (G2),” said Jackson, who along with Roy will be at Keeneland Race Course on April 13 to watch their multiple Grade 1 winner Showing Up run in the Maker’s Mark Mile.

“They say he’s tough and he thinks he’s great.”

La Ville Rouge, who also produced stakes winner Holy Ground, was last bred on May 5 and is due any day now.

“She’s carrying another colt, they have sexed it and supposedly she is carrying another full brother,” Jackson said.

The Jacksons also bred two-time European champion George Washington (Ire), by Danehill, and still own his dam, Bordighera. A stakes-placed winner by Alysheba, Bordighera also produced 2002 European champion older male Grandera among four winners from six starters.

Bordighera delivered a Tiger Hill colt on February 3 and has been bred back to Danehill Dancer.

The Jacksons keep their homebred fillies and often sell the colts, as was the case with George Washington, who they sold for $2.05-million at the 2004 Tattersalls October yearling sale.

“We keep hoping for fillies out of those two mares, but they haven’t produced fillies,” Gretchen Jackson said.

Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times daily news editor