RACING: 'Twitter horse' Gud Day romps to victory by 13 lengths (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Popular triumph for followers of @peopleshorse

12:49pm Monday 24th September 2012 in Sport

GUD DAY, aka 'The People’s Horse', romped home first at Uttoxeter on Sunday by 13 lengths.

The Fergal O'Brien-trained gelding, who has its own Twitter account as part of a Racing For Change initiative, was welcomed into the winners' enclosure at the Midlands track by a crowd of tweeters – 20 lucky followers who won tickets to be his representative owners for the day.

It is only the horse's second race since becoming a social media star.

A delighted O’Brien, whose yard is based at Fossebridge near Cirencester, said: “We have got off to a tremendous start with a win so early on, the followers are growing and we had a wonderful time celebrating with them yesterday.

"We will enter him to race again on Saturday, September 29 at Market Rasen, so there’s plenty of time to get following.”

A local tweeter, Karl Eastbury from Shipston-on-Stour, who was one of the lucky representative owners for the day, said: “We had such a wonderful experience at Uttoxeter and it was fantastic to be involved in such a momentous day for The People’s Horse.

"To be given an opportunity to be an owner for a day is something so special and it was excellent to meet such lovely people. I look forward to following Gud Day’s progress during the season plus our first visit to Fergal's yard.”

Stephanie Jones, PR Executive at Racing for Change, said: “Through The People’s Horse initiative, we’re giving people an opportunity to experience the thrill of racehorse ownership for free and, as a result of this activity, we’re seeing numbers of interested followers growing daily.

"We were so lucky to have a winner on the Flat last season and can’t believe that it’s happened again so soon with our first jumps horse, Gud Day.

"Fergal and his team have done a super job with the horse and we hope to see even more owners joining us in weeks to come.”

Follow Gud Day @peopleshorse.