Influencer Griffin Johnson Joins The TDN Writers’ Room Podcast Presented By Keeneland

[Wandering Eyes]

Griffin Johnson may not be well known within horse racing circles, but that doesn't mean he can't help the sport. For decades, racing has been fighting a losing battle when it comes to attracting a younger audience. That's where Johnson comes in. He is a social media influencer who has 9.7 million followers on TikTok and 2.6 million on Instagram. He's also a horse owner. Johnson is part of the West Point Thoroughbreds group that owns GI Arkansas Derby winner and GI Kentucky Derby contender Sandman (Tapit). He'll be at Churchill Downs during Derby week and has promised to spread the word about the joys of racing and horse ownership to his millions of followers.

The plan to get influencers involved in racing and owning horses was hatched by America's Best Racing. West Point Thoroughbreds came forward, joined the program and connected with Johnson, who owns 2.5% of Sandman. Johnson was the Gainesway Guest of the Week on this week's Thoroughbred Daily News Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland.

“Once he started winning, people started paying attention,” Johnson said of Sandman. “So now they see me and Sandman and all of our content on the Internet. I jumped in from day one. We hadn't even seen him really train or do anything yet. It was kind of a 'I trust you, you trust me moment.' No matter how much money you spend or how much prep you put into it, you never know if you're going to get a true winner. I just thank my lucky stars that I got a piece of Sandman out of all the horses.”

He started promoting Sandman as far back as the Arkansas Derby. After that victory, he posted on Instagram: “SANDMAN WINS THE $1.5M ARKANSAS DERBY. WE ARE RACING IN THE 2025 KENTUCKY DERBY!!!!”

He believes he can help the sport.

“A lot of people have seen the content I've been putting out,” he said. “A lot of people want to see everything about horse racing from what they eat to how they get bathed to where they sleep. It's really incredible how interested people are in the A to Z care of these horses. And now we're starting to reach out and do press and interviews with amazing people like yourself. We're collaborating with Gen Z and some of the younger millennials that are on Tik Tok. We're working on doing the ice bucket challenge this weekend. We're starting to do some charity work when it comes to aftercare. I'm trying to use  my leverage and social media to promote that. We have some cool things in the works. We have some things we've already done and I want to be as useful as possible to the sport.”

He's not promoting just any horse but one of the favorites for the Kentucky Derby.

“I would say that I've had Derby Fever for a few months now,” he said. “I know that the Kentucky Derby is the Holy Grail for horse racing. I can't even believe it whenever I say that I'm going to be participating in the Kentucky Derby. It's surreal.”

In our “Fastest Horse of the Week,” segment, which is sponsored by WinStar, the hosts went over the many reasons there are breed to WinStar stallion Independence Hall. The fastest horse of the week was GII Oaklawn Handicap winner First Mission (Street Sense), who earned a 109 in his victory.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, Darley Europe, 1/ST Racing and 1/ST TV, the team of Randy Moss, Bill Finley and Zoe Cadman gave their longshot picks for the Derby as well as the horses they thought could be thrown out. We'll save our actual Derby picks for next week.

There was also a discussion of the latest developments in Florida over the decoupling issue. All agreed that the anti-coupling forces won a major battle when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came out and said he would not be inclined to sign a bill that allowed decoupling.

To watch the Writers' Room, click here. To listen to the show as a podcast, click here.

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