Heroine of the Hour 2021 – Samantha Martin

16-year-old Samantha Martin’s enthusiasm for horse racing and her involvement in the racing site “for young people, by young people” ‘Rein It In’ is captivating

Unlike so many who go online on Twitter especially, Samantha Martin is a fine example of someone actually using social media for good.

This 16-year-old from Leicestershire contributes to the horse racing site “for young people, by young people” Rein It In and states that she became interested in the sport after watching Channel 4’s coverage of it with her grandfather.

In her biography on the online news site dedicated to young people enthusiastic about the turf, Miss Martin shares: “Smad Place and Mulcahys Hill are my all-time favourite racehorses. I realised I wanted a career in racing when I was about nine or ten. I would love to be a journalist on TV as well as for a newspaper.”

On Rein It In, Martin’s interview subjects thus far have included Oli Bell and Ed Chamberlin and there also she’s shared thoughts on young people getting into racing and previews of the upcoming big races as well.

Elsewhere on her popular Twitter handle – where she is followed by nearly 4,000 other accounts – Martin gives daily updates about the sport and when faced with quite uncalled for criticism sensibly responded:

“After I got abuse for tipping Monkfish at 1/3, I made a promise to myself that I would never let trolls stop me from doing what makes me happy. I love discussing the racing with you all and 99% of the time Twitter is an amazing place. Don’t let that 1% ruin it. Enjoy the racing x”

Sadly, her statement that: “My biggest aim is to be the first female jockey to win the Grand National” has now been surpassed by the brilliant female jockey of 2021 Rachael Blackmore so spectacularly winning at 11/1 at Aintree last month, but be sure to watch out for the always enthusiastic Samantha Martin – there’s going to be a lot more to come from her.

Follow Samantha Martin on Twitter at @sam_angelina22.