Continuing our interviews on young people in racing, the GG Jumps Journal was this week joined by journalist and Oxford University’s own Samantha Martin. We discussed her formative hero Smad Place, Taylor Swift’s will-she-won’t-she dilemma at Royal Ascot last year, and how jumps racing could be helped by school holiday freebies, easy access open days, and more.
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GG: Hi Samantha! As someone born outside of racing, how did you get into the sport, what were your first memories, and who were your early heroes, equine or human?
Samantha Martin: “I’m not from a racing family at all, but my grandad was interested in watching racing. I would begin watching it with him, as it would be on in the background on a Saturday and I gradually became more interested in what was going on the TV; I’d sit and draw the racehorses! We’d start going more and more to Leicester to watch it in person.
“My first hero would probably be Smad Place. I never got to see him race in the flesh, but I’ve seen him loads since at retraining of racehorses parades. I think it’s special to see these old legends in person. For my human hero, I remember watching Ryan Moore at Newbury on Channel 4, and Clare Balding as well. I met her in person at Cheltenham and had a proper fangirl moment. I nearly cried!”
GG: You mention galloping greys and drawing the horses, was it very much the visual aspect that got you into racing in the first place?
SM: “Absolutely yes. Then going and seeing it more firsthand. The jockeys were always very affable when I asked them to sign my racecards and things like that. That was very important to my early interest in racing.”
GG: And there could be quite a few greys in the Grand National this year..
SM: “Yes, like Smad Place as a galloping grey, I’m a big fan of Vanillier. It’s the perfect time to see different horses beyond bays for the general public, as they could become disinterested otherwise. Greys just naturally capture everyone’s attention.”
GG: You mentioned going to Leicester from a young age: is there anyone your age, from home or elsewhere, that you know of who would consider themselves a fan of racing as their main sport?
SM: “Mainly, I’ve met racing fans through X/Twitter, as we have the same passion for the sport. Outside of that, I don’t really know anybody who’s interested in racing, apart from one 42-year-old academic at Oxford! Maybe it’s a failing on my part, but it’s a home and university experience. Leicester isn’t too far away from home, but no one I know is a regular racegoer.”
“The people I do know who have gone racing recently have been through Invades. When I see people I know posting about going and seeing the horses, it makes me feel very warm inside!”
GG: As someone younger trying to make their way in racing, have you experienced any barriers in your career so far?
SM: “Professionally speaking, no, I’ve experienced no barriers, and have been writing about the sport as long as I’ve been interested in it. Opportunities have always come along and I’ve been very grateful to the racing world for that. I’ve always had an audience through social media or podcasts for that, so I do feel very grateful. People in racing have been so good in giving early opportunities to somebody if they see you working hard.
“In terms of horse racing social media, I know it has put some people off and shaken a lot of people’s confidence. I’m lucky to have a very strong support network around me and have a lot of confidence in what I do anyway, but random comments targeted at my family do occur sometimes. That could be a barrier, but I think that reflects more on them than on me.”
GG Jumps Journal – Predicting the 2025 Cheltenham Festival
Come on, we’ve seen this before, we all know what’s going to happen. Predicting the Cheltenham Festival from a betting perspective is nigh on impossible for everyone but the shrewdest punters. However, in truth, the Greatest Show On Turf gives us plenty of recurring storylines year on year. Often, it is why we love the…
Wed 05 Mar 2025GG: Let’s say you became the head of the BHA or a BHA task force to get young people into racing. What would be your 5-point plan to take action?
SM: “I would start by treating every Saturday as celebrated in its own right and prioritising those. I know that’s what Premier race days have been for, but whether that’s paid off I’m not sure. One of my favourite races is the Classic Chase at Warwick, which should be a premier staying chase in its own right away from Cheltenham.
“People are perfectly willing to watch a football match of the same team every weekend, but with horse racing, you get different horses, different types of races. We should promote that variety. Each Saturday could have a meeting far more interesting than football if you ask me!
“My second point would be well-publicised student discounts. Cheltenham does a fantastic job, but more racetracks can advertise this to get the word out that there’s discounts there.
“For point three, I would provide a budget for racecourses to distribute fliers, vouchers or do visits to local schools. You can get into racing very early, like I did at the races, and under 18s can go free. So many families will go because it looks like an affordable day out, and that could be such an asset for racing to advertise.”
GG: Would those fliers be to advertise big race days, midweek ones, or something else?
SM: “I think the school holidays are such an untapped market in racing. Our holidays in Leicestershire were different growing up than in neighbouring counties, and Leicester Racecourse would always host their racedays in Warwickshire school holidays. It never made sense for me; each racecourse should have a raceday in their regional holidays, and advertise out to schools.
“Onto point four, this comes under the transparency banner: there need to be more open days. I would make it compulsory for every racehorse trainer to have an open day once a year as part of their responsibility as stakeholders in the sport, away from National Racehorse Week too. When you actually go to a yard, that’s when you see how well horses are treated. People are willing to be educated – when you get surveys about horse racing, lots of people answer “not sure” on their feelings towards it. That’s a potential market of people to be converted.
GG: For these open days, is it possible that meeting and talking to stable staff is as important as seeing how well the horses are looked after, so that the sport does not have to keep pedalling the same message?
SM: “I agree, the line about horses being so well cared for after an incident gets pedalled a lot. Stable staff are such passionate people who care for these animals day in and day out. They adore the horses and feel a genuine sense of excitement and reward of being a part of their horses’ careers. It can take you all over the world with flat racing in particular! It’s a unique thing in racing that there are people dedicating their lives, 365 days a year, to these horses.
“My final point is probably my most elusive one, because I don’t know how you do it in practice. It would be to break down the “Sport Of Kings” stereotype. Racing isn’t all about the money and you don’t need millions. You can be part of a syndicate, grow via racing schools, or social media like I have. It presents racing as not being very accessible, but it definitely is. The very practice of going racing doesn’t have to be elitist, it’s just horses running round a field!”
GG: To challenge that, do you think the elitism in the sport could be seen as something aspirational for some, particularly in the case of Royal Ascot?
SM: “The tie to the “Sport Of Kings” moniker is critical for racing to be seen as unique. Royal Ascot is such a pageantry event, but I do think people who go racing seven days a week perhaps wouldn’t feel most welcome there. There is a place for pageantry, and it’s such an insane thing to attend, but I think racing is great that it has both.
“So much of racing’s mainstream press coverage is centred around Royal Ascot, like last year with the rumours that Taylor Swift might have been there.”
GG: Would that be your dream crossover, Taylor Swift and racing?
SM: “I think if she’d have been there, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything. I’d seen her the week before in concert, so I think if she’d turned up at Ascot, I wouldn’t have been much use to anyone! It would just be so cool if she went. Her boyfriend (American Football player Travis Kelce) loves racing so I do think it’s possible.”
GG: From our Jumps Journal survey, we found out what the public knew about racing. Would you find similar results with your family and friends in terms of the Grand National, Royal Ascot and Red Rum being clear favourites, and what could we do with this info to help racing?
SM: “As you said, we never really look into what the general public know rather than feel, which was really interesting. People who know me would probably put Cheltenham a bit higher because I do not shut up about it, so I like to think that has registered, but it makes sense that the Grand National remains the highest. From your data, racing needs to raise the National is important to people who don’t know about the nitty gritty, and we shouldn’t lose sight of it.
“I also think Secretariat and Seabiscuit being so high was really interesting. British racing needs to do much better at growing and promoting its own horses. Constitution Hill is great, he had that unbeaten record under rules until he fell. He’s the kind of horse the public could connect to.”
GG Jumps Journal – The Cheltenham Festival Takeaway
For those out of pocket after Cheltenham, this particular takeaway may be a bit rich for your stomach. Joe BloGGs Okay, so not all of my predictions came true last week. However, hindsight is a wonderful thing; so wonderful, in fact, that I’m going to entirely use it for my own purposes and create the…
Wed 19 Mar 2025GG: Constitution Hill may run at the Grand National meeting. With him and your 5-point plan in mind, how could we tie that to Aintree and should the National stay the same, go back to its roots, or develop further?
SM: “The 2024 National I enjoyed watching, but the 2023 renewal, I hated every second of. I genuinely think the changes they’ve made are correct and I don’t think they take away from the Grand National’s illustrious history. The future of it was hanging by a thread and you have to be so conscious of the welfare side. People will say we’re appeasing those who don’t want to be appeased, but it is genuinely the safety of the animals that is the most important thing.”
GG: You mentioned being a Swiftie but who would you choose to be the ambassador, or face of jumps racing in the UK?
SM: “Alan Johns! He’s just hilarious. I’ve always been a big fan of him as a rider and I think the social media work he’s done is amazing. Why would you not want to be involved in a sport that produces content like his?”
GG: And how would you look to platform him outside of racing?
SM: “What racing struggled with is getting into the mainstream. Jockeys, who are sufficiently media trained, and can talk about welfare and these big questions; there’d be no better ambassadors for racing to put out there. There’d be more resonance in his answers, so train him up and stick him on BBC News!”
GG: And finally, if you 100% owned a horse, who would train that horse, who would ride it, and which race would you most want to win?
SM: “Willie Mullins is the greatest, but that’s too easy an answer. I think Hughie Morrison is fantastic, has a great team, trains in a lovely place and is so patient with his horses. Sam Twiston-Davies would ride, I’m a big fan of his. And then I have two races I’d most want to win.
The Champion Hurdle is the first, because it has such a cool trophy! Imagine having that on your dinner table, you could put chocolates in it around Christmas time. But the race I’d most want to win would be the Goffs Bumper at Punchestown. You buy the horse the year before and get them to the race there the following year. There’d be so much skill involved in that.”