For racist behavior. https://www.paulickreport.com/news/the-biz/toxic-words-and-divisive-behavior-trainer-guillot-banned-by-nyra-1-st-racing-racetracks/
What a jerk.
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What is almost worse than Guillot is the reaction on social media.
Apparently 99% of horse racing fans online are either proud racists or privileged pricks.
I’m just glad all the people that matter addressed the issue swiftly and appropriately.
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Thought also interesting that TVG jumped on board to not cover races this trainer may have a horse entered in.
Texarkana, I’m with you on the 99% but that maybe isn’t surprising given what’s been happening recently in other faces of society. 
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I was yesterday years old when I learned that “grape soda” is a racial slur. Yes, I know context matters and Guillot certainly seems to have a checkered past.
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I had to google it. I’d never heard it either.
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I have never heard of it either (and I am not going to google it on my work computer).
I was brought up by parents and lived in a community that didn’t tolerate racism. Racial slurs were not used in public or, say, at a party. I’m sure there were some racist people but it was socially unacceptable and they didn’t let it show.
When I moved to the Midwest as an adult I was absolutely stunned by the open racism.
That slur may be a regional expression.
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I have lived in the deep South (South Carolina) for a long time and I have never heard that expression as a racial slur.
Maybe it’s more of a Louisiana slur.
Is that where he’s from?
The phrase is not used like some of the more derogatory words you may have heard and I will not repeat.
It falls into the category of imagery associated with negative stereotypes.
I feel inappropriate explaining that, but there have been so many dismissive comments on social media from people who are skeptical whether the penalties were warranted.
If Guillot hadn’t posted his series of bigoted tweets (which have mostly been deleted), no eyebrows would have raised at the name. But then Guillot had to make sure we all knew the story, removing any question about the name’s origin.
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The fact that he was a such weasel when he was confronted, lying about it first then saying it was a joke, says all anyone needs to know about him.
It’s disgusting, all of these racists coming out of the woodwork. We can’t go on like this in the U.S. We have to stand up against this.
I’m very glad that action was taken against him.
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I agree @skydy. That was probably the most disgusting part: how he was so blatantly obvious with his intentions, then tried to laugh it off and lie about it like a child. As if we were born yesterday.
I know I’m preaching to the choir, but this is an example of the types of racist microaggressions that persist in our society today. I’m glad to see everyone doing the right thing by not tolerating it.
Yet I’m absolutely appalled at the thousands of social media comments minimizing Guillot’s actions.
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It’s a sad day when you learn that members of OUR military and police are racists, willing to attempt to subvert the will of the people in an election and violently invade OUR capital.
They are there in all walks of life and we have to stand against their behavior. Gives one hope anyway, doesn’t it, that he wasn’t tolerated?
I must say I don’t participate in the social media aspect so I’m spared the comments.
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Yes. Not sure which area but he’s a Cajun.
if he didn’t openly come out and make his comments I would see nothing wrong with the name Grape Soda. I am glad they took action against him based on his posts and blatant harassment to an individual . However, I have never heard of the term Grape Soda as a racist term and I asked several people around me and they looked at me with blank stares. I even tried googling it for a better and more in-depth explanation and its kind of a grey/fuzzy area. Its a derogatory stereotype derived from soda being cheap and found in poor/low income communities; correct? it’s kind of like called Quebec born people Pesi’s because its believed that group of people favor Pepsi (yes, its real)
I guess I feel better that I, too, had never heard Grape Soda as a slight. However, given his history and his intentional linking of the horse’s name with a black man, it absolutely is racist for exploiting a stereotype (grape soda, fried chicken, watermelon, you get the drift).
What a deplorable person.
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Yes. Not sure which area but he’s a Cajun.
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I see. Thanks.
Good riddance. Like or not, jackasses like Guillot are in the public eye. For the longest time, he was treated like a clownish good ol’ boy. That dog doesn’t hunt any more. Racing can’t thrive by alienating part of the prospective audience and in general being tone deaf.
I don’t blame the JC for not understanding what “Grape Soda” might signify but the point is that he knew and he meant it to be offensive.
As a sport, we simply have to do better.
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I asked 3 of my co-workers about grape soda. They are a woman, a police officer, and a black man that was born and raised in the south. None of them have heard of it being a racial slur. I wonder if it’s pretty obscure or if it might just be in a certain area?
Okay, I have to say something:
I understand people feel confused.
I think the description of the term as a “slur” lead to some of this confusion, because most people think of very specific, forbidden phrases as slurs. The name of this horse is different than those forbidden phrases, yet equally inappropriate.
I’m going to say it again: this term isn’t used like some of the racially-charged insults that none of us would dare repeat.
The phrase is used along with a collection of other stereotypes to disparage black people. If you want some more examples of those stereotypes, see @TMares post above. I personally do not feel comfortable perpetuating them, not even for the sake of education.
While these words are harmless on their own, they get used to reinforce negative images of black people. That is not acceptable.
Whether or not you have heard these stereotypes is irrelevant. They are real.
We have to be very careful to balance our need for understanding of the situation without accidentally minimizing the gravity with our questioning. Statements like, “I’ve never heard that before” can inadvertently become harmful when they create the impression that the Jockey Club and track management may have not been justified in their decision.
Look at Guillot’s series of tweets: there is no doubt that he was actively trying to mock and bully a person… and he was using the person’s race to do so. That is wrong. Period.
I understand that no one here is trying to defend Guillot and that most of the conversation is innocent. But please be careful not to inadvertently justify those who disagree Guillot’s punishment.
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