This Texas family recently added another racehorse to their stables and decided to give it a name worth mentioning! Apparently, the Hatley family are the first African-Americans to race quarter horses in the southern state. Now, with their latest member, the Hatley’s found a way to always leave an impression on the track—win or lose. They’ve named their horse ‘Black Lives Matter.’

“We named him Black Lives Matter because we knew he was special and want to bring our culture to the sport,” Keeundra Hatley Smith of the family said.

Keeundra shared that her father Ke’elronn Hatley and uncle James Hatley Jr. own Black Lives Matter. Horse ownership, training, riding and racing lives deep in their family roots. Keeundra’s grandfather was the man who broke the first record mentioned above. He raced from the 60’s through the early 90’s. Now, Ke’elronn and James are creating their own legacy.

“Though we faced many obstacles trying to name him ‘Black lives’ Matter’ legally, we knew he would overcome and make history,” Keeundra said. “With so much police brutality, we wanted to raise attention and awareness with his name.”

Black Lives Matter the horse became a viral sensation overnight. Keeundra shared a video that shows the horse racing at the Louisiana Downs. The horse starts in almost last place before zooming past the others and winning the race.

Keeundra stated that Black Lives Matter’s has ran four races. However, the Louisiana Downs moment marked the horse’s first win in the first place. The video shows Black Lives Matter soaring past all the other competitors. An announcer at the event is heard repeating Hatley’s horse name over and over.

By Friday afternoon, the post had been live on TikTok for a day with over 1.3 million views and more than 5,000 comments. Black Lives Matter is scheduled to race again in April 2022.

 Source – The ShadeRoom