Trainer Barred in New York and Other States for Giving Horse a Racist Name

The horse was originally named Kirkstetter, but the name was changed to the offensive term on Dec. 29, records show.

Telephone calls to Guillot went unanswered. On Twitter, however, he said the name Grape Soda had been chosen for his love of the drink as a child. He also sent a tweet suggesting that he was stepping away from the sport, saying that his first day of retirement was “going awesome.”

Guillot’s remarks were widely believed to have been directed at Ken Rudulph, the only African-American analyst at TVG. On Friday, after the horse won his debut race at Aqueduct, horse enthusiasts lit up social media about Guillot and the slur.

On Twitter, Rudulph said he was the target of Guillot’s tweets and denounced racism in horse racing as a longstanding problem.

In July, for instance, amid the widespread tumult over the death of George Floyd in police custody, Tom VanMeter, a prominent Kentucky horse owner and sales consignor, posted a racist comment on Facebook directed at the N.F.L., whose players are predominantly Black.

But the incident also brought attention to the lack of diversity at the top levels of horse racing. The Jockey Club, for example, does not have an African-American among its 128 members and has just five people of color among its 286 employees. Keeneland, which sold more than $627 million in horses last year, also does not have a single African-American executive or board member among its leadership.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/sports/horse-racing/horse-racist-name-guillot.html