A SOCIAL media account set up this week to defend horseracing from unfair criticism has attracted 5,000 followers in three days and gained international recognition.

Stand Up For Racing was founded by four council members of the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association - Sally Ann Grassick, Cathy Grassick, Kevin Blake and Caoimhe Doherty. Their aim is to “unite all of the various organisations and representative groups within the racing and breeding industries in Europe in the interests of the greater good of the image and reputation of our great game.”

The group achieved an early success when Blake appeared in a debate on TalkTV concerning the Grand National. Faced with an opponent who wanted to see an end to all horseracing, Blake calmly cited the sport’s low mortality rates and emphasised the high levels of care thoroughbreds receive compared to most other animals.

Cathy Grassick told The Irish Field: “The support we have received is overwhelming. Sally Ann and I had been talking about this idea with Kevin and Caoimhe for a long time. We were frustrated with how the sport was being portrayed by people who don’t know the facts. There was a gap to be filled and it required an independent organisation to do it, one which could take information from other associations and portray the sport properly.”

The founders of Stand Up For Racing are concerned that extremist and often inaccurate anti-racing views in the media are not being challenged. Grassick said: “This vacuum of negative or incorrect messaging is not good enough for the hundreds of thousands of people across Europe who work in racing and love their animals. In the absence of the true facts, the worry is that people in the middle will believe the wrong thing.”

Stand Up For Racing is already in touch with prominent racing and breeding bodies across Europe, in search of verifiable statistics and reports which show the thoroughbred industry in a positive light and can be circulated to a wider audience.

Yesterday the group announced that ITV commentator Richard Hoiles had joined the initiative as a spokesperson for the sport. A statement issued by Stand Up For Racing said: “Fueled by a database of information and facts providing by the various interest groups in European racing, [we] will draw on a group of experienced members of the racing and breeding media that will be made available to any media outlet to provide balanced comment on the subject matter when required.”

In the coming weeks the group will form a committee with members drawn from the major racing nations of Europe.

Email: standupforracing@gmail.com

Twitter: @StandUp4Racing