Eric Guillot, whose 30-year career included several Grade I wins but came to an abrupt end in 2021 after a racist incident, died June 4 at a health and rehabilitation center in Magnolia, Arkansas. He was 64 years old.The news was posted on the website of the R. L. Reed Funeral Home in Magnolia.Guillot started his career in 1991, sending out two runners with no winners. Over 30 years, he would go on to send out 2,348 starters with 259 winners and over $13 million in earnings.His biggest earner and most successful horse was Moreno, who won the 2014 Grade I Whitney at Saratoga Stakes, upsetting Palice Malice. He had finished second at 30-1 in the Travers Stakes the prior year and retired with earnings of almost $3 million. Guillot also trained Laoban, the upset winner of the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes while still a maiden; Champagne d'Oro, who won the Grade I Acorn and Test Stakes, Mi Sueno, winner of the 2009 Grade I Del Mark Debutante, and Santa Teresita, winner of the 2009 Grade I Santa Maria Handicap.A Louisana native, Guillot was known for his eccentric personality, frequently cooking huge pots of gumbo for backstretch workers outside his Saratoga barn.But his career ended prematurely in 2021 when he claimed and renamed a horse “Grape Soda,” posting on social media that the name was aimed at Ken Rudulph, then an analyst on TVG. Rudulph is Black, and the term is used as a racial slur meant to portray African Americans as having a penchant for cheap beverages.The horse won a January 8, 2021 race at Aqueduct, and industry reaction was swift. The New York Racing Association issued an immediate, permanent ban on Guillot, and The Stronach Group followed suit. The Jockey Club revoked the name and the horse, who had been claimed out of the Jan. 8 race, was renamed Respect for All, with a portion of its future earnings earmarked for backstretch charities.Guillot announced his retirement the following day. “That was the last horse I ever ran,” Guillot told the TDN at the time. “This has been something that's been in the making for a while now.”The post Trainer Eric Guillot Dies appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.