August 13, 2002	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Saani 3, 1423

ROME, Aug 12: An outraged Italian mother has gone to court after her husband furtively named their newborn son after a prize-winning horse.

Before his wife was out of hospital, the man went to the records office in the small southern town of Boscotrecase to register his son as Varenne Giampaolo.

Varenne is a seven-year-old horse considered the greatest trotter in history and Giampaolo is his jockey’s name.

“He said his wife agreed,” an official at the records office told Reuters.

Varenne is, after all, no ordinary horse. The dark brown racer is a national hero in Italy where he was awarded athlete of the year in 2001.

But when the mother discovered she couldn’t change the baby’s name to Christian, she went to court.

“She just wouldn’t accept that the name isn’t embarrassing or insulting,” the official said.

The court’s ruling is pending.—Reuters