While there was a public outpouring of opposition to segregation, it took thousands and thousands of simple, unpublicized acts to dismantle this institution which had remained in society since the Jim Crow laws of the 1800s. Horse racing was no different than the rest of society, especially in the South. So, in recognition of Black History Month, here's a little-known story.

Let's start with some background. Most people in horse racing recognize Charles John “Chick” Lang as Mr. Preakness. Through hard work and determination, Lang took the Preakness from a weak sister to the Kentucky Derby and Belmont to the “Middle Jewel” of the Triple Crown. During his decades-long stint with Pimlico, he set the Preakness on course to become one of America's great races. It is annually the top sporting event for Maryland and the city of Baltimore, with more than 100,000 fans in attendance and millions watching it on television.

As a former hotwalker, groom and jockey's agent, Lang was a true racetracker. He never forgot the importance of each individual who played a role in Thoroughbred racing. Lang believed the backstretch worker deserved the same amount of respect as the wealthy owner. He was a tireless advocate for the rights of the less fortunate.

Early in Lang's horse racing career, he was the jockey agent for Hall of Famer Bill Hartack. From 1954 to early 1960, Lang and Hartack had a great run. Lang was representing a jockey who was considered one of the most successful and highest-paid professional athletes in the world. In 1958, Hartack was on the cover of Time Magazine. From 1953 to 1957, Hartack averaged 355 wins a year. During that run he had tremendous success at Hialeah, which offered the greatest racing in America at that time of the year. Hartack, who would go on to win five Kentucky Derbies, was the most recognizable athlete in Thoroughbred racing.

Cab Calloway and Chick Lang | Courtesy Lang Family

The second character in the story is Cab Calloway, the Black entertainer who was a singer, dancer, bandleader and actor. His best-known song today is Minnie the Moocher (Hi-De-Ho!). He recorded one of the first music videos (and maybe the best). Calloway loved horse racing. Whenever possible, he would visit his local racetrack. Of course, when he went to Hialeah, he always looked up Lang, who marked his program with plenty of winners delivered by his jockey, Hartack. On one crowded day, Calloway mentioned that his normal seats were already taken and asked if Lang could help. While in the midst of closing entries, Lang gave Calloway his Turf Club pin without hesitation. He directed him to go see the maitre d' and have him seated at Lang's table.

A few minutes later, a dejected Calloway returned and told Lang that they wouldn't let him in the Turf Club because he was a Negro. The Turf Club was for whites only. Those who knew Lang and his famous jockey can guess what happened next. Lang went to a nearby phone and called the track manager, and there was a one-sided conversation that followed.

“If Cab Calloway is not good enough to sit in the Turf Club at this track, then my jock will never ride here again, starting today!”

Calloway returned to the Turf Club, got his table and the color barrier was broken at Hialeah.

Those who knew Lang understood he was a man of principle. There was no gray area in a matter like this. He also knew where his jockey stood on this issue. Hartack had numerous Black friends, many of them entertainers. Throughout his career, Hartack never wavered in important principles. I am sure Lang informed him of the incident that night after the races, and I am confident Hartack affirmed the importance of his actions.

Lang went to work as a racing official at Pimlico in 1960. He never wavered in his distaste for segregation. No flip-flopping on important issues. It was either right or wrong, no matter what personal consequences one might face. For example, in his first year at Pimlico, he did something that was not in his job description or within his level of authority. When he came upon the “White” and “Colored” signs on the drinking fountains at Pimlico, he took them down and they never came back.

Lang and Calloway showed us all on that day–at the races at Hialeah in the 1950s–that change is accomplished with courage and commitment, one step at a time.

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But if that is very much the stereotype, then at least the authorities here have acknowledged as much; and there is a corporate determination to do something about it. Nor is this merely some perfunctory response to the incendiary confluence, around the world, of a looming economic recession and the protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd.

Even in 2017, admittedly, action was probably long overdue. It was then that the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) established a Diversity in Racing Steering Group. The following summer, its members–comprising volunteers drawn from across the industry–published an action plan. The most immediate and concrete outcome was the appointment as Head of Diversity and Inclusion of Rose Grissell, who now hopes to harness the heightened political energies of the moment to extend the spectrum of engagement with the sport: whether in terms of participation, leadership or fanbase.

Grissell was heartened, then, when the first female to chair the BHA recently identified diversity as the keynote to racing’s prosperity in a post-pandemic world. “We’ll be judged by what we all do, not by what we say, and we must do more,” Annamarie Phelps declared in the Racing Post last week.

“Racing’s recovery is not about turning the clock back to Mar. 17. It’s about seizing the moment to move forward.”

Grissell notes that Phelps, a former Olympic oarswoman who served for five years as chair of British Rowing, brought a useful breadth of perspective.

“Having been in other sports as well, she has seen the difference it can make,” Grissell says. “So I was absolutely delighted to see her setting out how important all this is, for the sustainability of racing. Because the more that people understand the business case, the better.”

For Grissell stresses that she is not just pushing a moral agenda; not just trying to educate people out of prejudice, vital as that is. She argues that if racing professionals want to stay in business, in the long term, they have no choice but to adapt; no choice but to reflect more scrupulously the make-up of society, with all its shades of ethnic, sexual and other differences.

“The Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) population of the U.K. is now around 14%, and in London it’s more like 40%,” Grissell remarks. “And those numbers are growing. This is our future workforce. These are our future customers. If we’re not actually engaging them, getting them interested and asking them to be involved, then how is racing going to survive as a sport? At the time I was recruited, much of the information wasn’t necessarily known, but it was acknowledged that we could definitely be doing a lot better in certain areas. And I do think there was also a recognition of the business case around all this, as well as being the right thing to do.

“We tried to whittle down the action plan to areas where we could make the most immediate difference. But we soon realized there was a lack of understanding across the industry. When you’re trying to change attitudes, change a whole culture, that’s not going to happen overnight. We need as many people on board as possible, so one of our key objectives has been to try and raise awareness of why diversity and inclusion are essential for the sustainability of our sport.”

The conundrum is how to convert the sweeping language of strategy into the detail of tactics. Resources are limited, and must somehow address challenges to some degree endemic in society beyond the sport. So do you target the grassroots, or the leaders and participants who can inspire by example?

“I think you need a bit of both, really,” Grissell argues. “It’s the same across all sports, all businesses: nobody has the perfect answer. But obviously some sports have different challenges. So, for example, we’re in a good place as a sport where, uniquely, all genders can compete on equal terms; and some individuals with certain disabilities are not affected in their ability to ride. That’s something we can really celebrate. We also have a very good gender ratio in our attendances, at around 40-60 [female-to-male], which is much better than many other sports. Again, that’s really positive. But then you see the other side, when you look at our senior representation, at board level; or at our participation. There are definitely areas we can improve on.”

And it is a short step from where the sport performs best to some of its most manifest failings. The complexion of the labor force is commendably balanced. Grissell notes that the gender representation, in racing stables, is virtually 50-50; and it is familiar nowadays to see grooms and riders imported from all around the world, notably from the Asian subcontinent, Eastern Europe and South America. Yet while a three-time champion jockey did emerge from Brazil, in Silvestre de Sousa, neither indigenous nor immigrant workforces have been able to add much diversity among those who have managed to break through the ranks.

“Obviously not all jockeys and trainers come through that pathway, but some do,” Grissell says. “And when we look at participation levels, ethnic minorities would be represented by a handful–if that. We have to address why that is. We have to ask why some people are able to get these opportunities, and other people can’t.”

Since generic, societal problems may take a generation to resolve, it makes sense for Grissell and her colleagues to focus on specific challenges. For example, they have sought to relieve the LGBT+ community from a perceived hostility–reflected in the number of jockeys to have “come out” while still riding. (That number being… one!)

This is one area where Grissell feels racing has been able to profit from example elsewhere. “We’ve seen many sports achieve growing awareness through a campaign called Rainbow Laces, run by the Stonewall charity,” she explains. “So we’ve been learning where we can from them, and had gotten to the stage where we were ready to launch a campaign of our own in June. Unfortunately, because of COVID-19, that had to be delayed. But we are now sharing the e-learning module, which went out last week and was really well received.”

Perhaps the best statistical handle available to measure progress, or otherwise, relates the opportunity afforded to female riders. There have been a series of landmark achievements in recent years, both over jumps and on the flat, but Grissell is clear that much still needs to be done.

“Of all the diversity conversations, this is probably the one that has been in the forefront the longest,” she remarks. “As I said, it should be a real positive for the sport that all genders can compete on equal terms and equal pay. However if you look at the detail, female jockeys are not getting the same opportunities as their male counterparts. Obviously there are lots of different theories as to why that might be, and other jurisdictions have been doing different things to address the problem. In France, for instance, they brought in a weight allowance.”

What has heartened Grissell is the traction achieved, in the wider media, by such breakthroughs as have been made. None was more startling, perhaps, than the heartwarming tale of Khadijah Mellah. Yes, the race she won at Goodwood last summer was a charity event and not part of the main program. But the exposure the teenager gained for the sport, as a hijab-wearing novice rider from a deprived London neighborhood, was of Frankel proportions.

“That was a huge story for racing, that went far beyond anyone’s imagination,” Grissell recalls. “It reached different communities all round the world. And, in fact, throughout last year we had some really positive stories hitting the front pages, outside the racing bubble, and the majority celebrated our diverse participants. We had [jockey] Bryony Frost and [trainer] Emma Lavelle, with Andrew Gemmell [Paisley Park’s owner, who was born blind], winning in that ‘golden hour’ at Cheltenham Festival. We had Hollie Doyle breaking the record [for most British winners ridden by a female in a year]. And we’ve just had Hayley Turner winning at Royal Ascot again, and Hollie too.

“In the current climate, we know that women’s sport is growing faster than ever and racing has a story to tell as part of that. Of course, we hope there will come a time when it won’t be a story anymore. That’s where we want to get to, but at the moment it’s an opportunity that must not be missed.”

But there are twin fronts to fight here: in terms of both internal and external perceptions. The BHA diversity mission statement is emphatic: “Racing is for everyone. We want all individuals to feel free to be themselves without fear of discrimination or harassment.” But there’s a slight chicken-and-egg quality to these wholesome intentions. Only when that becomes axiomatically the case will it become, well, axiomatically the case.

Inevitably, Grissell has experienced setbacks. But there have been uplifting moments, also, when she feels that the message is really getting through. Prejudice works both ways, after all. The whole point is not to make up your mind about people in advance. Sure enough, Grissell has sometimes been pleasantly surprised by the receptivity of people who might be presumed reactionary; albeit occasionally the reverse has, of course, also been true.

“People will surprise you,” Grissell says. “I’ve had many conversations with people you might put in a certain box and they haven’t needed persuading at all. Though sometimes I can’t believe the things that come out of someone’s mouth! We should remember that everyone’s different, and everyone’s experience is different. The most encouraging thing is to receive emails from people in the sport saying how fantastic it is, that the industry is waking up to this; that they can now really feel included in their workplace. Because the things we’re talking about, to individuals, can be genuinely life-changing.

“The most discouraging thing, on the other hand, is if we try and share something and it gets stalled; gets put in the ‘too difficult’ pile. But that’s part of our role: to change attitudes, to share the understanding why this is so important for racing. Especially now, obviously. As with all sports, and all industries, this is a very difficult time for many. And we have to do everything we can to help.”

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ERIC GUSTAVSON, President of Spendthrift Farm

As we all know, diversity comes in many shapes and sizes. And the question, ‘how do we make racing at its highest level more diverse?’ is locked and loaded for controversy- which makes it a good question I guess.

Financial Diversity:

First of all, racing is known as “the sport of kings.”  You don’t see too much financial diversity among kings. A skeptic might call it “the sport of rich white guys.” That would be pretty much spot on. Racing is, and has been, run BY rich white guys, FOR rich white guys, for a long, long time. Full disclosure: I happen to be a rich white guy, but I will try to be objective nonetheless.

The only way to make the actual racing experience more financially diverse at the highest level  is to make racing more affordable to a broader group of people. Equine microshare companies like MyRacehorse do just that by offering affordable horse ownership, allowing the owner to buy into top level racehorses for often less than $100. This also has the diversification bonus of drawing more women and minorities into the game. Win-win-win. Full disclosure #2:  This may come off as self-serving as Spendthrift is invested in MyRacehorse, but I think it’s true nonetheless.

Gender Diversity:

There are women participating at every level, and in every aspect of our sport, and that’s great. There are relatively few women owners at the highest level of racing. Maybe that’s because they, as a gender, are too smart and pragmatic to be willing to lose so much money (ha ha).

As for positions of leadership, maybe The Jockey Clubs and Breeders’ Cups, et. al. of the world should work to have women in leadership as more of a representation of the population, or closer to a 50-50 split. Maybe that means a certain number of seats HAVE to be filled by women. This old boys’ club stuff has got to go. Full disclosure #3: I’m an old boy, albeit never part of the club. I’m also a newly-elected member of the Breeders’ Cup Board, who may have lost out to a woman had the above been implemented. I’m okay with that.

Racial Diversity:

Ah, the hot button issue of the day. Of our time really. If you are like me, you are wondering how long can this be an issue of our time. Aren’t we supposed to be better than this by now? I mean seriously…what the hell? It’s exasperating. People go through tough times all the time-at every level of race, gender, and wealth. But dang, those times are sure easier if you are a man. And even easier if you are white. The system is rigged, and racing is just as guilty as every other subset of our society. If we can’t get our crap together enough to implement a centralized racing authority, to develop uniform drug rules, to better weed out drug cheaters, to increase sales transparency, to make more advances in aftercare, to etc., etc., etc….can we at least be part of the 21st century solution to diversity?

Mandate a certain number of the above referenced seats be allocated to minorities you say? Why not? Because it’s not democratic you say?  Bullsh-t, I say. That attitude has gotten us where we are. Without the mandates it doesn’t happen. Look around. Last time I checked, our industry wasn’t booming. The excuses rich white men make to maintain the status quo don’t work anymore. Full disclosure one last time: I used to do that. I’m done with it.

Do you have an idea that you would be willing to share for this series? Email the TDN’s Katie Ritz at katieritz@tdn.com.  

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I have three sons and one daughter, and I would like to think that it will be as easy for her as it will be for them, but I know it won’t be.

In this industry, Linda Rice is the unicorn of trainers as the most decorated female trainer in history. Julie Krone was the unicorn of her generation as a jockey, and the same goes for Georgeanne Hale as the first woman to serve as a racing secretary at a major North American racetrack.

I’m embarrassed by this- by the fact that there’s so little representation of females and minorities at racing’s highest level. By the fact that a woman is a unicorn if she makes these accomplishments.

Diversity and inclusion are, frankly, bullshit words. Because really, they’re what people say to make themselves feel better. I would say that a lot of our lack of diversity is, to some extent, a reflection of our owners and breeders.

It all comes down to who you pick. At my little farm in Pennsylvania, both my veterinarian and farrier are women. I try not to have too many racehorses, but I’ve never had a woman trainer. The next time I have a racehorse, I think I need to make more of an effort to find a female trainer. I think that’s an extra effort I have to make, to say ‘look, it’s time.’

Do I need to do better? Absolutely. I need to do better in seeing these issues and in pointing them out. I need to make sure that I’m walking the walk.

When I was a kid at the racetrack, at least half of the grooms were African American. And now, almost none of them ever made it up the ranks to be trainers. That needs to change. It’s obnoxious that we think these guys aren’t qualified. They’re all incredible horsemen who work so hard, and they have no shot. There have been guys training a long time who have never promoted a Hispanic groom to a higher position of assistant trainer.

If you have a trainer that you have been doing business with for a long time and you are loyal to him, then maybe use your clout as a good paying customer, and ask why their grooms are never promoted to assistant trainers. How come their assistant trainers always come from some other pool?

How can they become trainers if they can’t be assistant trainers? Enough of putting that glass ceiling for those guys at the groom level.

Do you have an idea that you would be willing to share for this series? Email the TDN’s Katie Ritz at katieritz@tdn.com.

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I think most of the time, folks don’t want to see others peoples’ point of views and/or they can’t see them due to their life experiences. I was listening to NPR yesterday, and they were discussing the discontinuation of Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben’s, and Cream of Wheat because of their use of African American imagery. I had never thought of the subtle messaging that just those small daily images make on our views of others.

To that point, until we in racing can become more self-aware, we can’t be more inclusive. While we’re not like NASCAR and have flown the Confederate flag for decades, we have our own “exclusive” clubs at race tracks. There is a hierarchy– clubhouse versus grandstand, membership versus non-membership, all of this is visible to those around them. While there are now racing clubs that are “all women” like Starlight Ladies, how about some open the door to others?

When I was much younger, a majority of grooms at the race track were largely African American, and now it’s largely a Hispanic work force. Until we can level the playing field and crack open doors for everyone to enjoy and participate, racing will remain the exclusive club it has historically been. Perhaps opening up board membership to others via appointed versus voted on for inclusion to the Breeders’ Cup, Jockey Club, Keeneland, etc. will start that process. This is a time of change in our country and I hope we can see the opportunities.

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ALICIA HUGHES, Director of NTRA Communications 

As a person of color in this sport, this is a topic that is extremely personal. This is my life. When you talk about what racing can do to be more diverse, in my mind, racing needs to start by acknowledging the issue of a lack of diversity in positions of power and influence. That is something that we have yet to do. I have pulled transcripts from symposiums and round tables, but there has been no discussion. The issue of the lack of diversity in this industry has not even been brought up.

And it’s not just with people of color- it’s women, the LGBTQ community, and so many other forms. The sport needs to look itself in the mirror. You can’t fix the problem until you acknowledge its existence.

If you look at all of our boards in this sport, from one organization to another, they all have a homogenous makeup. There’s little representation from women and an even smaller representation from people of color.

In racing, we talk about wanting to be seen as a mainstream sport. Well every other mainstream sport worth its salt has already taken measures to try to reflect the nation’s demand for greater inclusivity and diversity, while racing has remained largely stagnant.    So if we’re going to make any progress, we need to get with the times and have the hard conversations that make people uncomfortable. And then we need to start taking action to make meaningful change. It’s not just about filling quotas, you have to value people’s experience and knowledge that they bring to the table, and allow them to make your sport better.

The power of representation is huge. We’ve seen that in many other different venues.

We have a generation of tennis players- Coco Gauff, Sloane Stephens, and Naomi Osaka, who would not be in the sport if they did not grow up watching the Williams sister and thinking, ‘I could do that someday. That is a road that is open for me.’

Where is our representation for people of color in this sport? On our boards, or for track announcers, bid spotters, auctioneers? Where can somebody of color look and say, ‘I could do that.’

I’m a big fan of hockey, and the NHL has many similar socioeconomic challenges as horse racing. To its credit, the NHL looked themselves in the mirror and acknowledged that they have a problem. They asked themselves how they could become more inclusive and more diverse. They’ve been working on their Hockey is for Everyone initiative. They hired Kim Davis, who in 2012 was ranked in Essence magazine’s “28 Most Influential Black Women in America,” as their Executive Vice President, Social Impact, Growth Initiatives, and Legislative Affaires. They are trying.

We’re also seeing it play out in real time right now with NASCAR. Everybody knows NASCAR’s roots with the Confederate flag. NASCAR is now saying that they’re done with that, they want to change, and they’re banning the Confederate flag. A couple weeks ago, they stopped the cars before a race and NASCAR president Steven Phelps came out and delivered a speech acknowledging their issues. It’s been a long time coming for them, and something they probably needed to do a long time ago, but they are now working to solve their issues.

Anyone who has a problem with what these organizations are doing is probably part of the problem.

We need that representation, and until we address the issue, nothing will change. We wonder why nothing changes in this sport, but  we’ve been recycling the same people in the same positions over and over again, and we act surprised when we get the same result.

It’s high time that our sport has its feet held to the fire on this. I love this sport, but as a person of color you want this sport to love you as much as you love it. There’s been very few organizations and entities in this industry that have spoken up during all of this. Don’t think that the silence has not been unnoticed.

I am grateful to work for an organization in the NTRA that has stepped up and spoken out and is taking meaningful action toward improving these issues through our work with the Legacy Equine Academy.

This issue does not have to be political, it is an issue of humanity. If we can’t stand up against racism, what does that say about the sport? Every other sport is figuring this out, why can’t we? If we want to be treated as a mainstream sport, here’s our chance to be part of the mainstream conversation.

There’s a reckoning coming for the world right now, and racing needs to figure out what side of history it wants to be on.

Do you have an idea that you would be willing to share for this series? Email the TDN’s Katie Ritz at katieritz@tdn.com.

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