Tom VanMeter has OwnerView account suspended pending review of racist social-media posts

A website promoting ownership of Thoroughbred horses that is maintained by The Jockey Club has suspended the account of the consignor Tom VanMeter after posts linked to his name on social media contained several explicitly racist references.

Screenshots of the posts, which were made in a private Facebook conversation on June 30, were circulated on social media Monday afternoon. In it, VanMeter refers to the National Football League with a term that is shorthand for a racist word for black people, and in a later reply to posts referring to recent protests, he wrote, “Put em back in their cages!!!”

VanMeter, a resident of Central Kentucky, did not respond to a message left on his cell phone shortly after the images began circulating.

The Jockey Club said that VanMeter’s account on OwnerView, a website jointly owned by the organization and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to promote racehorse ownership, would be suspended “pending further review, based upon offensive content posted on social media under the same name.”

“There is no place in racing or our society for racially hateful language,” the statement read.

The Jockey Club, which administers the U.S. racing industry’s official registry and owns or co-owns a number of large racing companies, has a rule that allows the organization to deny individuals “the privileges of the stud book,” such as registering horses. That rule, however, is limited to individuals who have been the subject of a disciplinary action by regulators or courts or who have deliberately violated one of the organization’s own rules.

VanMeter owns a consignment agency that annually prepares and markets horses for sales at many of the major Thoroughbred auctions in the United States. He also breeds and owns horses, largely in partnerships.

Boyd Browning, chief executive officer of Fasig-Tipton, which runs several auctions each year in which VanMeter has consigned horses, issued a statement to Daily Racing Form on Monday in response to an inquiry about the postings.

“Fasig-Tipton does not generally comment on social media postings made by third parties, other than to make clear that this comment was not made by an employee or representative of Fasig-Tipton and does not reflect Fasig-Tipton's values,” the statement read. “We do not condone or support any statements or actions that do not promote a more diverse and inclusive environment for industry participants.”

Browning declined to answer other questions.

Last year, VanMeter-Gentry Sales, the name of VanMeter’s company at the time, consigned four horses to Fasig-Tipton’s premier yearling sale, at Saratoga in August, selling two for total proceeds of $310,000.

Keeneland, which operates the largest sales in the United States, released a statement Monday night after being contacted by Daily Racing Form earlier in the day. The statement said that the company “condemns” Van Meter’s posts, but it stopped short of saying that he would be prohibited from entering horses at the company’s sales.

“There is no place for racism in our sport or society, and his words are antithetical to Keeneland’s values of respect, community, and equality,” the statement read. “Our industry must deal directly with our lack of diversity and look hard at its underlying causes. It is not only the right thing to do, it is critical for the future of the sport we love.”

The statement went on to say that Keeneland has “begun the process of reviewing our internal culture, structures, and practices” and that “we do not believe there are easy answers to these complex and systemic challenges, and everything is on the table as we move forward.”

VanMeter-Gentry consigned 59 yearlings to Keeneland’s mammoth September yearling sale last year, selling 38 for total sales of $4,253,000. At Keeneland’s November breeding stock sale, VanMeter-Gentry consigned 24 horses, selling 13 for gross proceeds of $669,000.