'Light Up Racing', an initiative led by a group of industry participants, striving to illuminate the path to transparency, awareness, and accountability in horse racing, has been launched, according to a press release.
Light Up is spearheaded by a group of industry participants, including Price Bell, Roderick Wachman, Jason Litt, and Dr. Jeff Berk. Kick Collective, the marketing agency behind the Australian-based initiative Kick Up for Racing, is driving the marketing and communications.
“We have been inspired by the impactful work of Kick Up in Australia and believe we have a similar opportunity in the US,” said Price Bell, one of the founding directors of Light Up.
“Kick Up informs the public conversation about horse racing in Australia through grassroots education and engagement. Fundamental to its success is using data and factual information to provide transparency, and accessibility to our horses. This has created a culture of accountability to the horse. We believe we have similar opportunity, to support and inspire the collective voice of our industry participants.”
Established in 2022, Kick Up has quickly become a valuable resource for the Australian racing industry with content focused on addressing the common concerns surrounding horse racing. In addition to a digital presence via its website and social channels, Kick Up has fostered a community who are empowered to address misinformation about horse racing and share positive stories to their networks.
Vin Cox, Managing Director of Godolphin Australia and a Director of the Victorian Racing Club who host the iconic Melbourne Cup at Flemington, said:
“The anti-racing groups are well-funded, well-organized, and have been allowed to shape the public narrative of our industry, unopposed. Kick Up stepped in and empowered and emboldened racing supporters by providing fact-based articles that correct the misinformation being propagated by the anti-racing community.
“The social capital surrounding the Melbourne Cup carnival is now at its strongest in many years, and although anecdotal, I firmly believe that the work done by the Kick Up team has had a hugely significant impact.”
In a similar theme, the primary objective of Light Up is to empower the industry community with accurate knowledge by providing transparent information and distilled research.
Every industry issue Light Up will challenge is guided by a fundamental question: “What is in the best interest of the horse?”
Dr. JR Coffman, a past President of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, captured this sentiment when he wrote, “whenever a question is answered based upon the welfare of the horse, the human principles involved are also best served in the long run. We are here for the horse; to the extent that we are responsive to that concept, we will prosper both as individuals and as an organization.”
Light Up is committed to dismantling the wall of secrecy that often surrounds the industry, empowering participants with the knowledge and confidence to engage in meaningful conversations with the concerned public and external media, and most importantly, provide the information needed to make informed decisions that prioritize equine safety.
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