Twitter Handles Set For Cheltenham Run

02 Mar 2015 | sigadmin

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Racing fans will have the opportunity to appear at day one of the Cheltenham Festival this year by having their personal Twitter handles embossed on the saddle cloths worn by the runners in the Racing Post Arkle Chase in support of the #SupportOurJockeys campaign.

Getting underway on Tuesday, 10th March, social media users retweeting @RacingPost and #SupportOurJockeys before this Friday (6th March) will trigger a £1 donation from Racing Post to the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF) and Irish Injured Jockeys – and be entered into a draw to have their @name on an Arkle horse’s saddle and paddock cloth.

Each starter in the two-mile chase – there were nine in the 2014 race won by Western Warhorse – will carry a group of 100 lucky race fans on its back and a total of up to 10,000 Twitter handles will be paraded on the winner’s rug.

The campaign, supported and endorsed by the British Horseracing Authority and Cheltenham, proved a huge success in 2014 when it raised more than £10,000.

High-profile figures, including AP McCoy, David Pipe, Sam Twiston-Davies, Harry Fry and Dan Skelton, have already given their backing to #SupportOurJockeys.

Ruby Walsh, the eight-time leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival and chairman of Irish Injured Jockeys Fund, commented: “We are delighted that the Racing Post have decided to roll out this creative and engaging fundraising initiative on behalf of Irish Injured Jockeys and the IJF. The support from this project last year was outstanding and we hope that it will enjoy the same great success for 2015.”

Lisa Hancock, chief executive of the IJF, which provides care and financial help for injured jockeys in the UK, commented: “Every pound raised for the IJF makes a massive contribution so there is no better way of getting close to the action at Cheltenham this year than through #SupportOurJockeys.”

Racing Post editor Bruce Millington added: “The #SupportOurJockeys campaign really captured the imagination last year with thousands of unique tweets. Hopefully we can generate just as much publicity for two charities that work so tirelessly for the good of our sport.”