So far on this site we have looked at many of the mainstream sports that populate our TV screens and how they embracing, or coming unstuck by, social media.  For this article I thought it would be great to look towards a sports we wouldn’t necessarily associate with embracing the new media.

Horse Racing is a national institution with great events taking place throughout the year including the Grand National, Cheltenham Gold Cup, Gold Cup and many more.  Even if you are not into the racing, the social side of the sport has long been attractive with none more famous than Ladies Day at Ascot.

Twitter especially is becoming a favourite of many jockeys with the ability to break news, make new fans and spread the word about the sport to the millions of people online.  For example, on Sunday 5 December, a race meeting was scheduled at Warwick but due to the cold weather it was unclear whether racing would take place. The first news of the abandonment appeared not on the Warwick Racecourse or via the Racing Post’s channels, TV or radio but on Twitter from jockey @nick_scholfield.

It will be interesting to see if the positive effects of having access to the jockeys, trainers, etc.  There will be the potential for someone to step over the line about what is going with their horse with so much emphasis on the betting side of the sport.  I’m keen to look at the positive side of the embracing of social networking in the sport.

For some it has lost its a appeal and is an ideal way to get new fans, become more transparent and build the excitement ahead of races they are attending.  Many people have favourite jockeys so why not follow them, see where they are racing, who they are riding and some more about what they get up to away from the track.

Here is a list of those on twitter at the moment;

UK and Irish jump jockeys on Twitter

Aidan Coleman – @aidancoleman
AP McCoy – @ap_mccoy
Barry Geraghty – @barryjgeraghty
David Crosse – @davidcrosse
Jack Doyle – @jackjd0yle
Gerard Tumelty – @gertumelty
Harry Derham – @harryderham
Harry Skelton – @harry89skelton
Joe Tizzard – @joetizzard
Keagan Latham – @keagz88
Mark Bradburne – @mbradburne
Nick Scholfield – @nick_scholfield
Paul Carberry – @paulcarberry
Paddy Brennan – @paddybrennan22
Pat Millman – @patmillman
Richie Killoran – @richiekilloran
Robert Thornton – @choc_thornton
Sam Thomas – @s4mmy1984
Thomas Molloy – @tommymolloy
Sam Twiston-Davies – @samtwiston
William Kennedy – @wtkjockey
Willy Twiston-Davies – @willytwiston
Wilson Renwick – @wilsonrenwick

Thanks to @jonnop for the information and putting together the list of jockeys.  You can follow the list he has created on http://twitter.com/jpfestival/jockeys which is kept up-to-date as new jockeys get onto the platform.