• by P.J. Bednarski , April 2, 2018

What’s in a name? Go to Audible.com now and you’ll see the digital audiobook site’s unbridled support for a bay-colored three year old colt that emerged over the Easter as a contender in the Kentucky Derby. 

That horse’s name is Audible, who won a big Derby qualifying Holly Bull Stakes in Florida in February and then clinched a spot by winning the big Florida Derby last Saturday.

By then, but not much before then, Audible, the book site, had become Audible’s biggest fan at the track.

Unlike many marketing campaigns that are many months in the making, the Audible and Audible idea galloped into existence. 

“We kept on seeing this horse Audible showing up on our [Web] feed, I guess at the beginning of March,” said John Harrobin, Audible’s senior vice president of marketing. “We wondered, ‘what’s that’ and then when we found out I called the horse farm. They were really nice. I said I knew Audible was a long shot at that point but that he had a decent chance of making it.” 

Harrobin asked if the horse owners would like to make a little deal. “The guy said, ‘Well, you’ll have to talk to the owners. I can’t tell you yea or nay’ and I almost burst out laughing. Nay!”

It all worked out. Now on the Audible site, you’ll see a big #GoAudible graphic and links to seven of the bigger-titled horse books on the site. 

Audible the book site also donated $15,000 to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, a non-profit that inspects, accredits and awards grants to aftercare organizations that work with retired horses and retrains and re-homes thoroughbreds. 

Does this help sell audiobooks or just get Audible some added bounce? “It’s does a little bit of both,” Harrobin said. “Our goal is to be a part of the cultural moment.”

Before he attended last Saturday’s big race at Gulfstream Park near Miami, Harrobin was not much of a race fan. It sounds like that’s changed. “It was incredible,” he recalled. “Audible was second to last. I was sitting around all the Audible people rooting for Audible and then he just broke through! He won by three and half lengths.”

On its home page, Audible.com confesses, “There was never any doubt that a horse named Audible could capture our hearts.” But the site also says, “To clarify — we’re a proud sponsor but Audible is not our horse. Like us, he loves listening, especially to the thunderous hooves behind him during a race.” 

Audible does make some horse sense. On its site it touts good reads like “Secretariat,” “The Perfect Horse,” “The Eighty Dollar Champion” and, most of all, “American Pharaoh,” the story behind the 2015 Triple Crown winner. Pioneer of the Nile, the horse that sired American Pharaoh, is also stabled at Winstar Farms with Audible. 

What if Audible hadn’t won last Saturday? "I don't think you'd be interested in talking to me," Harrobin said with a laugh.