A HORSE with a name that ‘makes commentators cry’ every time they have to say it has won for the first time.
The monstrously-titled Sumomomomomomomomo shed her maiden tag at the 12th time of asking with a dramatic late surge.
Seemingly too far back to make a challenge, the three-year-old filly put on the afterburners to claim victory at Tokyo’s Oi racecourse on Monday.
It made for entertaining listening as commentators just about managed to say the tongue-twister as she motored home.
Punters were loving it though, with the horse becoming something of a sensation in the Far East.
One said: “She finally won – the horse with the name that makes race commentators cry!”
Another commented: “I’m finally able to say it properly!”
A fellow punter wrote: “A horse named Sumomomomomomomomo just won a race, those poor announcers.”
Bob Werley, a commentator for racing in Japan, said: “And here it is in all it’s glory. Sumomomomomomomomo breaks her maiden and I was here to call it all. The Filly, The Myth, The LEGEND.”
The horse’s name is based on a Japanese tongue-twister that means ‘plums and peaches are both peaches’.
While it’s unlikely we will get to see her run in this country, Sumomomomomomomomo is enjoying a surge in popularity in Japan.
Already toys of the runner have appeared on shelves, with one local paper saying her popularity is about to ‘take off’.
Jockey Naoki Machida said the fan support had helped secure the win.
He said: “When you hear cheers like that, it feels great when you’re almost at the finish line.”
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