4/23-24 (KEE): Lex, Ben Ali (G3's), Giant's Causeway; Dowager

[Merlinsky]

The problem with reading some horse names in print for a long time and seldom hearing them spoken is that you have one pronunciation in your head and another may actually be correct. I still don't see how I'm missing the Ben Ali.

I kept hearing Ben Ah-LIE when the owner that the 19th century Derby winner is named after was of Turkish ancestry, and the name's Arabic. Is it not pronounced Ben Ah-LEE like Mohammad Ali? Did it used to be pronounced that way but the sport basically says it Ah-LIE now, and I would get weird looks for saying it the other way around more seasoned horse racing people?

Since I heard it on NTRA Live today during talk about pedigree, Miswaki's another one. They said, and I've always said Miswaki as Miz-WAH-kee. Just to clarify that is correct, and it's not Miz-WACK-ee right? I'm just trying to make sure I've not been botching it for years. I went awhile getting Dr. Fager's name wrong before I finally heard it spoken out loud on tv.