The horse was originally named Kirkstetter, but the name was changed to the offensive term on Dec. 29, records show. On Twitter, however, he said the name Grape Soda had been chosen for his love of the drink as a child. 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. But the incident also brought attention to the lack of diversity at the top levels of horse racing.

Source: New York Times January 09, 2021 22:41 UTC