The Hatley family, of Dallas, has a new member: A 1,200 pound, newly-minted champion colt.
“He's got something extra about him,” said Charles Hatley of Hatley Brothers Racing Team.
Video of the horse winning his first race in Louisiana went viral in January when he surged from last to first place, but it's the name the announcer calls, “Black Lives Matter,” that's left an even bigger impression.
“It was one of the greatest moments of my life to witness it,” said Ke'elronn Hatley of Hatley Brothers Racing Team.
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The exclamation punctuates decades of dedication by the first black family in Texas to race quarter horses.
“My dad was an entrepreneur,” said James Hatley Jr. of Hatley Brothers Racing Team. “He started racing horses in 1963.”
Brothers James, Charles and Ke'elronn now run the business.
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Until "Black Lives Matter" pranced into the picture, it had been more than 30 years since the family raced horses.
“It's like a dream come true,” James Hatley Jr. said. “We gave this horse a name because we want to bring awareness to what's happening in the world today.”
But when they tried to officially change the horse's name from his birth name to "Black Lives Matter," they say they were initially denied.
“They told me I couldn't, that we couldn't name him that. They said it was going to bring up a lot of racial conflict statements,” Ke’elronn Hatley said.
The Hatleys say it took the threat of legal action to get the decision changed.
“It was definitely a struggle,” Ke’elron Hatley said.
Now, they're off to the races with a horse making a name for himself on and off the track.
"Black Lives Matter" is scheduled to race again in April.
