FOOTBALL will forever influence people’s name choices.
Whether it’s a pet or a son or daughter, the greats like Cruyff, Messi, Ronaldo will all have their names immortalised.
And then there’s racehorses. There are plenty that are named after legends of the beautiful game.
Let SunSport tell you which horses share their names with footballers – starting with a Manchester United legend.
SWITCHAROONEY
Famously bought by Wayne Rooney in 2011, Switcharooney was immediately sent to a stables owned by Michael Owen.
However, it wasn’t so fortunate on the track.
Between 2012-2013 the £63,000 nag failed to win a single race and was retired.
Most recently, a charity rescued Switcharooney by paying for a £2,500 operation to cure his hoof condition that could have turned out to be ‘incredibly painful’, according to charity boss Nigel Wood.
Switcharooney was owned by Wayne Rooney and cost £63,000
ZLATAN
Of course, the AC Milan and Sweden legend has a horse named after him.
And Ibrahimovic would approve – with the seven-year-old winning eight races in its lifetime.
Incidentally, the giant centre forward is a fan of all animals – owning a showjumping horse called Grande Dieni – which translates as ‘Great Gods’.
CAPTAIN GERRARD
No prizes for guessing who this one’s named after.
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard had a top stallion named after him, and is it any wonder?
Captain Gerrard retired in 2010, and has since sired 55 individual winners of over 150 races.
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has a stallion named after him
Captain Gerrard retired in 2010 and his since sired 55 individual winners
BERGKAMP
The Arsenal and Dutch all-time great had a pretty mediocre horse representing him on the racecourse.
Now seven, Bergkamp was bred by Mickley Stud and trained and owned by Philip J Reynolds.
But it managed no wins from 12 races.
PABLO HERNANDEZ
Leeds fans most certainly will approve.
The Elland Road favourite’s horse is only three and hopefully has a long career ahead of it, unlike the Spanish winger who is coming towards the end of his playing days.
Four races without a win, but it’s early days.
Incidentally, Martin and Iris Wainwright who run Highbank Stud are huge Leeds fans.
They have also named horses Radebe, Bremner, Reviette after the legendary Don Revie and Bielsa after the current boss.
Another Leeds-related star is Yorkshire Pirlo – named after Kalvin Phillips – who defied odds to 190-1 to win at Southwell.
RONALDO
A Bay Gelding with some finesse, six-year-old Ronaldo has won once on flat turf and another in rules races.
It was bred by Gestut Ittlingen, so it is German-owned.
Ronaldo (the horse) has made around £67,000 in earnings. The Portuguese legend probably wouldn’t get out of bed for that.
Ronaldo was bred by Germans Gestut Ittlingen
Cristiano Ronaldo makes more in a day than a horse named after him does
AGUEROOO
Arguably the most famous finish to a Premier League season, Martin Tyler’s commentary combined with the name of Manchester City’s popular Argentine footballer creates the moniker for the seven-year-old.
And Aguerooo has been just as prolific as its striker name-sake – winning 16 races during its lifetime.
Owned by P E Axon, Aguerooo is trained by Charlie Wallis.
Aguerooo, the nearest horse in this photo, has won 16 races
Sergio Aguero was famous for scoring one of the most important Premier League goals of all-time
Best of luck to the sublimely-named "Aguerooo" who goes in the 4.10 race at Lingfield.
Will he be first past the post?
#mcfc
— Manchester City (@ManCity) June 4, 2015
VAN BASTEN
For some reason, Dutch centre forwards make good horse names.
Van Basten was born in Australia in 2012, but wasn’t much of a striker.
It won once in 23 meetings in Singapore and soon retired.
Amusingly, a horse named Van Nistelrooy was the sire of Van Basten.
MESSI
The Germans love their football, so it’s no wonder their horse racing owners name their race horses after great footballers.
Messi is now 10, having been bred and trained by Gestut Brummerhof.
10 wins from 57 races show that Messi is no slouch on the race track too.
Messi the race horse has won 10 races from its 57 meets
CHRISTOPHER WOOD
Possibly the most impressive horse on this list, and it’s named after a Newcastle centre forward from New Zealand.
Christopher Wood is owned by Sharon Kinsella and trained by Paul Nicholls.
And the five-year-old has recorded more wins than anyone else on this list – 12 from 46 races.
You can imagine Chris will be chuffed to have such a winner named after him.
Christopher Wood is coming on leaps and bounds under Paul Nicholls
FOX VARDY
No prizes for guessing who King Power Racing Co support!
In their fleet of horses are the likes of Fox Vardy and Fox Shinji, after, of course, Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki, both part of their Premier League-winning team.
VAN DIJK
Unlike his Liverpool namesake, this three-year-old is yet to reach first place.
Owned and trained by Antony Brittain, Van Dijk nevertheless has proved a remarkably consisted and reliable horse, so far free from injury.
Van Dijk has won Brittain just over £4,000 in his short career and seems destined for a first win having finished runner-up twice.
DE BRUYNE HORSE
Hit the heights at the start of this year with two wins over the fibresand at Southwell.
The David Griffiths-trained horse, who now specialises in distances up to one mile, finished sixth on his last run on December 6.
