LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- I covered my first Kentucky Derby in 1979. The media stars were sports writing super heroes.
There was Red Smith, who wrote poetry to horses for the New York Times. There was Jim Murray, who enraged Louisvillians by insisting the town smelled like a day-old dish rag in the Los Angeles Times. There was Jim McKay and his stack of Emmys, setting the scene for ABC Sports.
They will run Kentucky Derby 151 at Churchill Downs on Saturday. No nationally-admired wordsmiths like Smith or Murray will observe from the press box.
Kentucky Derby 151 | Derby Prep Races | Derby Festival Events
That is because there isn't a press box at the track anymore.
We're an inconvenience to Churchill Downs.
But Wednesday morning at Barn 36, I met the next generation of Derby media superstars.
He is 25 years old. He studied to become a nurse at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. He considers himself an important part of the team for Derby contender, Sandman.
And he has reach and influence that Smith and Murray never dreamed of: more than 9.7 million followers on TikTok.
Meet Griffin Johnson, who is embedded with Sandman, the colt likely to be the second- or third-betting choice in the Derby.
Journalism, the horse, is the morning-line Kentucky favorite, but I'm wondering if the future of journalism, the profession, will be guys like Johnson telling Derby stories on TikTok around the barns.
"As far as horse racing itself, I didn't know anything (until last year)," Johnson said Wednesday morning outside Barn 36, when trainer Mark Casse cares for Sandman.
"Growing up in the Midwest (central Illinois), I just knew the Derby was awesome and something that I wanted to be a part of.
"I mean, who doesn't want to be an athlete? And this is the closest you're ever going to come to competing at a really high level.
"I get to live through (Sandman). I kind of feel like the Dad that's watching his son in Little League.
"This industry (horse racing) has a lot of offer, but on the social media side, there's a lot of work to do. That's what excited me. I always say that I like to disrupt industries in a good way, you know? I want to bring people to the sport and show what it has to offer."
I do not have a TikTok account. Maybe I'll add one to X and Facebook. We'll see.
But I am dazzled by anybody who can convince 9.7 million people to follow what they have to say. I've been stuck at close to 40,000 Twitter followers longer than I care to admit. I've asked Johnson to help me with that. He said he would.
I asked him how he jumped from 0 TikTok followers in 2019 to nearly 10 million six years later. He said a college friend at Indiana State challenged him to start a TikTok account. His first post lasted about 15 seconds. It involved a puppy and a light switch. You flip the light switch off and on and the puppy appears and then disappears.
Everybody likes puppies, right?
From there he worked to tell his story of taking pre-nursing courses at ISU. Funny stuff. Strange stuff. Colorful stuff. It resonated.
Millions paid attention. I don't understand it. But I respect it.
"TikTok was just getting started, and then there was COVID, and I understood the algorithms," Johnson said. "I was fortunate to get in at the right time, and it took off from there."
The connection to horse racing came in 2024. Johnson said that he co-founded a venture capital fund called Animal Capital.
The guy that runs the fund is Marshall Sandman. He is friends with Ali Finley. She is the daughter-in-law of Terry Finley, the president of West Point Thoroughbreds, part owners of Sandman.
Finley has been at the front of growing horse racing ownership syndicate groups as a way of attracting more fans to invest in the sport. He teamed with America's Best Racing, the gam'es only national marketing initiative, which is driven by digital and social media promotion of the sport, to work with Johnson to create racing content for his mammoth TikTok following.
The goal is simple: attract more young people to horse racing.
Johnson posts video and information about the colt every day. His routine. His baths. His meals. The people in his barn. The entire behind-the-scenes racing experience.
"People love behind the scenes looks at his daily routine," Johnson said. "The horse has matured a lot. He's growing by leaps and bounds. Something has really clicked. It's been nice to see."
Johnson has also been there every time Sandman raced — except his final prep race, when the colt won the Arkansas Derby on March 25.
"I had to be back in Florida and I felt terrible about it," Johnson said. "I actually didn't sleep for several nights. I feel like he's my child. And I missed his biggest day so far."
He will not miss the Kentucky Derby. Johnson has been in Louisville for several weeks, sharing the stories of Sandman.
He hopes it will be a story that he can share from the Derby winner's circle in the Churchill Downs infield Saturday afternoon.
Smith and Murray would love writing about that.
Kentucky Derby Coverage:
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