Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
‘Offensive’ name changed; Guillot banned from tracks
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When a horse named Grape Soda won Friday’s first race at Aqueduct, he was to be the final horse sent out by Eric Guillot after a 30-year training career. That the horse won and sent Guillot into retirement a winner was sort of a neat story.
Until it wasn’t.
Guillot named the horse Grape Soda to mock Ken Rudulph, a Black analyst for the Television Games Network whom Guillot does not like. Further, “grape soda” can be a racist term for a drink that is stereotypically associated with Black people.
On Saturday, The Jockey Club issued a statement that the name Grape Soda is ineligible because it is “potentially offensive.” The gelding, who won by 6 1/4 lengths, was claimed for $25,000 by owner Lawrence Roman and trainer Rob Atras.
On Saturday, Roman changed the name to Respect for All, which was approved by The Jockey Club. Additionally, Roman plans to donate 10 percent of the gelding’s earnings to New York’s Backstretch Employee Service Team, a nonprofit organization devoted to providing health and wellness services to the backstretch workers at Thoroughbred tracks in New York.
“Something good comes out of something bad,” Roman said.
A son of Uncle Mo, the gelding was originally named Kerstetter. According to Guillot, owner Kevin Moody, who races under the name Cypress Creek Equine, wanted to name a horse after his friend with that name. Guillot said he told Moody the gelding wasn’t a top prospect, so the decision was made to change the name. According to a Jockey Club spokesperson, the name was changed to Grape Soda on Dec. 29.
After the name was changed, Guillot on Jan. 1 tweeted, “This colt [sic] will run next week and has unique name in honor of a TVG analyst.” At the end of the tweet was an emoji of a black fist.
Following Friday’s first race, Rudulph tweeted: “The winner in race #1 from Aqueduct is the perfect example of my issue with horse racing. The winning trainer is a disgusting and racist man. But, if you want to make money in this game you have to be able to ignore that stuff. I can’t do it. But y’all carry on with your $11,” a reference to the horse paying $11.20 to win.
Guillot on Saturday said he took issue with Rudulph’s social-media posts during the summer when the Black Lives Matter movement was prominent following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Guillot, who said he has known Rudulph for 20 years, claims Rudulph’s background is one of privilege.
“He plays both sides of the fence, he’s a hypocrite,” Guillot said. “I hate hypocrites.”
Rudulph declined to comment.
TVG issued a statement condemning Guillot’s behavior.
“There is simply no place in society for racism and we condemn his behavior, a deliberate attempt to slur one of our employees, in the strongest terms,” the statement said.
Guillot said he grew up in southern Louisiana “a block and a half from the projects.”
“If I was a real racist, I’d be dead by now or have been beaten up my whole childhood,” he said.
Guillot is leaving racing in part due to deteriorating health issues and a desire to spend more time with his family. Guillot said he has diabetes, which led to a nerve disorder. He went on a plant-based diet to become healthier.
Guillot said he also hasn’t enjoyed racing as much over the last few years.
“The reason I’m quitting is it ain’t no fun anymore,” he said.
On Saturday, Guillot left New York and headed to Kentucky before heading out West, where he plans to live.
Guillot left just in time. On Saturday afternoon, the New York Racing Association, in a statement, announced it would no longer allot him stalls or take entries from him. The only other horses he had on the grounds were Sixto, who finished ninth in a $40,000 claiming race on Jan. 2, and Boujie One, an unraced Uncle Mo 3-year-old colt who has been sent to another trainer at Oaklawn Park. Guillot said Sixto was sent to the farm.
“Racism is completely unacceptable in all forms,” NYRA president Dave O’Rourke said in a statement. “NYRA rejects Eric Guillot’s toxic words and divisive behavior in the strongest terms. At this time, he will no longer be permitted to enter horses at any NYRA track nor will he be allocated stalls on NYRA grounds. In addition, we will review what further steps may be available to us. Our racing community is diverse, and we stand for inclusion.”
The Stronach Group, which owns Santa Anita in California, Gulfstream Park in South Florida, and Laurel Park in Maryland, also banned Guillot from racing at its tracks.
Guillot was the center of controversy in 2013 when his horse Moreno was beaten a nose by Will Take Charge in the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga. Guillot alleged that Luis Saez, the jockey on Will Take Charge, used an electrical device on his horse to win. An investigation by the New York State Gaming Commission concluded that wasn’t the case.
Over a 30-year career, Guillot won 295 races from 2,348 starts, and his horses earned $13,029,508. He won 19 graded stakes, including the Grade 1 Whitney with Moreno, the Grade 1 Test and Grade 1 Acorn with Champagne d’Oro, the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante with Mi Sueno, and the Grade 2 Jim Dandy with Laoban, who became one of the top first-crop stallions in 2020.