Latest news with #Tommo
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Racing's Alan Partridge bows out after 60 years
It is fair to say that in Derek Thompson, who hung up his binoculars after his final call at Wolverhampton this week bringing an end to 60 years as a commentator, racing didn't appreciate what it had until it was gone. Like a long list of people, he has wrestled for years with picking the right moment to 'retire' – although he will still commentate in Jersey, continue race-day presentations and, I dare say, open a betting shop for a fat fee if one ever opens again. 'Tommo' has also surprised himself by feeling nothing but quiet relief since calling home Space Bear in the It's A Photo – Big Fella Maiden Fillies Stakes (a race title concocted from Tommo-isms). At the end of the month, Tommo, who like his greatest friend Bob Champion survived cancer (2012) and, three years ago, had a stroke, will be 75, old enough to hang up his bins but just too young to have been a true pioneer of radio and television sports coverage, although he presided over plenty of firsts. Nevertheless, he has worked with some of the greats and there were three decades when, in racing at least, he was ubiquitous, a staple on mainstream terrestrial racing coverage. If a difficult question needed asking, perhaps of a trainer whose horse had just been pipped in the Derby, all the other presenters looked to him. If you added up all the hours he has spent on live television it would come to years, so it is no wonder there have been a few gaffes along the way. These include the one which makes every compilation of television bloopers ever made when, from the At The Races studio where he was presenting, the camera cut to Ludlow where Robert Cooper was waiting to interview someone with very blonde hair, an assistant groundsperson, about the state of the ground. 'Oh, you've been joined by a beautiful lady,' said Tommo, interrupting himself. 'It's actually a man, Derek,' replied the extremely dry Cooper. 'Oh,' whispers a defeated Tommo. #AccidentalPartridge — Accidental Partridge (@AccidentalP) December 20, 2018 If, as is probably the case, half the population remember Brian Johnston and Jonathan Agnew more for their 'leg-over' commentary on TMS during the 1993 Edgbaston Test than all the serious stuff they did together, then maybe it is no bad accolade to be best remembered for unintentionally amusing the masses. For Thompson it all began up in North Yorkshire. After the War his dad, Stanley, a flight-sergeant who flew 40 sorties in Wellington bombers, set up a steel business which evidently went well enough to pay for Tommo and his brother Howard to have riding lessons. They had a pony each, joined the Cleveland Hunt where they met a young Bob Champion, whose father hunted the hounds and, as a sideline, drove the knacker wagon at Redcar, which enabled the three boys to get into the races for free. Devoid of anyone to interview one day, John Rickman of ITV racing fame, put a microphone under their noses and asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up. 'I said I wanted to be a TV interviewer,' recalls Tommo of the prescient moment. 'Bob said he wanted to win the Grand National, and Howard said he wanted to go into the family steel business which he still does. We were probably only 11.' His father was one of the first point-to-point commentators but halfway through a race at Great Ayton he turned off his mic briefly, turned to his 15-year-old son, told him he could no longer see the runners clearly enough in the back straight and said 'you take over' before handing him the microphone. He has had one in his hand ever since. He did his first racecourse commentary at Market Rasen in 1967, covered Redcar for BBC Radio Teesside and, aged 21, a full-time job at the BBC in London came up to take over from John Motson who was going to Match of the Day. He spent the next nine years learning the art and discipline of broadcasting alongside Des Lynam, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Bryon Butler, Alan Parry, Jim Rosenthal and Peter Jones. He was on the David Hamilton show and started a daily racing slot on the Today programme. 'I remember one morning describing something as 'quite unique' on the 6.25am slot,' he recalls. 'Ten minutes later, Cliff Morgan, the late, great head of sport, rang up and said: 'Something is either unique or not unique – it can't be quite unique.' I've never forgotten that!' In 1973 he commentated on his first Grand National alongside Michael Seth-Smith, Michael O'Hehir and Peter Bromley. Stationed at Valentines, when he handed over to Bromley as they crossed the Melling Road with two to jump, Crisp was still 30 lengths clear of Red Rum. 'I think Peter's description from the last to the line was the best I ever heard,' he remembers. Ironically by 1981, when his great friend Champion won on Aldaniti, he was already at World of Sport on ITV. 'I'd been to see him during his cancer treatment. He was lying in bed, unable to get out, throwing up every 30 seconds,' he recalls. 'I came out, sat in the car and cried my eyes out. Shortly after the race he rang me from the weighing room and said 'I've been watching you on television, you need to keep improving to keep your job. Got to go now – I've got the presentation.' It was so Bob.' In 1987 Tommo joined the newly formed Channel 4 Racing as a presenter until, in 2012, he and John McCririck were both sacked. Tommo got the 40-second call telling him his contract was not being renewed while in a car in his pyjamas on his way to hospital for his cancer treatment. 'It's a cruel world sometimes,' he reflects. But if McCririck went somewhat bitterly, Tommo just got his head down and kept working. Of course there were other downs. No one's reputation came off worse in the infamous Top Cees libel case in 1998 than Tommo when trainer Lynda Ramsden and jockey Kieren Fallon sued The Sporting Life after accusations that they had 'cheated' with the horse three years earlier. Having passed on what Fallon had allegedly told him in a pub at a pre-Channel 4 production meeting the following morning, rightly assuming it was all off the record, he was shocked that it later appeared in the 'Life.' When the judge disbelieved Thompson, it nearly destroyed him and his career. 'It was not a very good moment,' he recalls. 'Horrible. I remember going home, getting in the bath and crying. A number of jockeys wouldn't talk to me but I just told the truth and, actually, though everyone presumes we hate each other, I get on well with Kieren.' He had sort of made the decision to quit commentating at the end of this year but after a cock-up at Ayr in early January, he brought that forward to July. After two general anaesthetics in December, he had refused to stay in a hotel (by his own admission he is too tight with money) so got up at stupid o'clock to drive from Yorkshire to the west-coast course where, tired, he had got his horses in a muddle in the concluding bumper two furlongs out. He had rectified it a furlong later but the damage was done. 'I couldn't believe the abuse I got on social media,' he says. 'Much of it said I should have retired ages ago and I was very down about it. I got muddled but I was getting a bit erratic. Caroline [his wife] said I should go on social media the next day and put the story from my point of view – that got nearly a million views. (Few 74-year-olds have embraced social media quite like Tommo.) 'Having a stroke three years ago has made it a bit more difficult. It hasn't been as easy as it used to be so we brought it forward six months. I like working and I like making money – my nickname at school was 'Dosh' – but I didn't want people saying I should have packed up years ago. I think I've packed up somewhere near the top, although I've only put my bins down – I've still got the microphone.' A true professional, the voice of Dubai racing from 1994 to 2000, unstintingly genial, infectiously enthusiastic, the man who famously did not get the memo and beat Prince Charles in a charity race at Plumpton in 1980; someone who outwardly appears to have the skin of a rhino but is, according to his wife, a 'big softie inside' and 'Marmite' to some. It is doubtful Tommo will ever fully retire.
Rhyl Journal
21-07-2025
- Rhyl Journal
Tommo – ‘Are you well? I thought you were!', and so much more
My dad, the late Stanley Thompson, he started commentaries in point-to-points and I think it was 1965 and halfway round at Great Ayton he turned the microphone off and said 'I can't see them anymore you take over'. I picked up the microphone and switched on and said 'they go towards the next on the far side' and that's how it started. I never want to go through that again. That was absolutely horrible. It is something I can still remember vividly to this day and it was just awful. Going to Belfast in the height of The Troubles, going into the (Europa) hotel. As soon as I walked in it was 'would Mr Thompson pick up the hotel phone?'. And that's where a voice said 'I'm watching you from the other side of street' and you think 'what?' and do this and do that. We tried to get the horse back, it was just absolutely an incredible time and I talked to the supposed kidnappers of Shergar. I think there were about eight or nine phone calls and it was the last one at half past midnight where I kept him talking for a minute and a half. If I kept him talking for that long they could trace the call, and I said to the policeman who was sitting next to me with the earphones on 'did we trace the call' and he said 'no, I'm sorry the man who traces the call went off shift at midnight'. We never found the horse. I was doing a promotion for a hotel in Bawtry quite a few years ago and I'd done a piece outside the hotel – 'this is the Crown Hotel in Bawtry, let's see what it's like and go inside, blah blah blah' – and walked inside and there were the girls at the bar, they were the people who worked there. They were looking like they were having a drink at the bar and I walked up and I don't know why I said it 'hello, are you well? I thought you were!'. Why on earth would anyone say that? It just went from there, Greg James from Radio One rang me one day and said 'Tommo, it's Greg James here'. 'Greg James? You're Radio One'. He said 'yeah, Tommo I want to ask, are you well? I thought you were' on the radio and it just went on from there. When I handed over from the studio to Bob (Robert Cooper, on At The Races) at Hereford, I just looked at my screen in front of me and I just saw the blonde hair, so I said 'oh, you're with a beautiful woman', he said 'it's a man actually, Derek' and that got to Glastonbury. On the stage in the background were signs in bright letters 'it's a man actually, Derek' – I mean what is that? Greg James was there and he sent me a photo and said 'you're on the stage at Glastonbury'. Crazy. In the year @tommoracing steps down from commentating, a moment to savour at his local track. Cheerleader, owned by Tommo and his wife Caroline -and trained by sister-in-law Tina Jackson – lands the Join Racing TV Now Handicap under @jomason90 at 66-1. Well done, Big Fella! — Redcar Racecourse (@Redcarracing) May 19, 2025 Cheerleader won at Redcar and Catterick. It was my wife Caroline who bought the horse because she wanted to ride and so we put the horse out in the field. She (Cheerleader) just flourished and it was Tina (Jackson), my brother's partner who trains near Whitby, who said 'I think you could race her again, I think she could win'. We weren't going to because we were just going to retire her. Caroline said 'come on, shall we do it' and the horse has won twice. We are so lucky and we've got a few other shares with My Future Champion who are great syndicate guys, so it's lovely to be involved that way as well. We're very lucky, but it's all Caroline's fault! She was the one who said we're going to have this horse. Another time I tried to talk her out of it but she was absolutely spot on, so well done Caroline.' Dubai Millennium. I started commentaries in Dubai with Sheikh Mohammed. Henry Cecil had got me over there and my greatest memory was Dubai Millennium winning the 2000 Dubai World Cup by 10 lengths. I still miss him to this day (Dubai Millennium died aged five due to grass sickness) and whenever I go to Newmarket, I always try to go to where he's buried and I always pay my respects to him. They were the ultimate professionals. People didn't see the work they did behind the scenes, but I did. It was just a joy to watch. I always remember that Big Mac used to wear two watches and I said 'Mac, I've got to ask you after all these years, why do you wear two watches, one on each wrist?'. He looked at me and said 'well, in case one stops'. I suppose it's right because you've got to know exactly what time it is. He was a great journalist and a great broadcaster. He brought something to The Morning Line which you couldn't buy. It was just incredible. I thought he was superb. Alastair Down was a great journalist. He had a way of putting things into words that nobody else could do. Every time I used to read him, I marvelled at the way he expressed himself and it was so good for racing. It attracted a lot of people into racing who were watching it on TV or reading it in print.
South Wales Guardian
21-07-2025
- South Wales Guardian
Tommo – ‘Are you well? I thought you were!', and so much more
My dad, the late Stanley Thompson, he started commentaries in point-to-points and I think it was 1965 and halfway round at Great Ayton he turned the microphone off and said 'I can't see them anymore you take over'. I picked up the microphone and switched on and said 'they go towards the next on the far side' and that's how it started. I never want to go through that again. That was absolutely horrible. It is something I can still remember vividly to this day and it was just awful. Going to Belfast in the height of The Troubles, going into the (Europa) hotel. As soon as I walked in it was 'would Mr Thompson pick up the hotel phone?'. And that's where a voice said 'I'm watching you from the other side of street' and you think 'what?' and do this and do that. We tried to get the horse back, it was just absolutely an incredible time and I talked to the supposed kidnappers of Shergar. I think there were about eight or nine phone calls and it was the last one at half past midnight where I kept him talking for a minute and a half. If I kept him talking for that long they could trace the call, and I said to the policeman who was sitting next to me with the earphones on 'did we trace the call' and he said 'no, I'm sorry the man who traces the call went off shift at midnight'. We never found the horse. I was doing a promotion for a hotel in Bawtry quite a few years ago and I'd done a piece outside the hotel – 'this is the Crown Hotel in Bawtry, let's see what it's like and go inside, blah blah blah' – and walked inside and there were the girls at the bar, they were the people who worked there. They were looking like they were having a drink at the bar and I walked up and I don't know why I said it 'hello, are you well? I thought you were!'. Why on earth would anyone say that? It just went from there, Greg James from Radio One rang me one day and said 'Tommo, it's Greg James here'. 'Greg James? You're Radio One'. He said 'yeah, Tommo I want to ask, are you well? I thought you were' on the radio and it just went on from there. When I handed over from the studio to Bob (Robert Cooper, on At The Races) at Hereford, I just looked at my screen in front of me and I just saw the blonde hair, so I said 'oh, you're with a beautiful woman', he said 'it's a man actually, Derek' and that got to Glastonbury. On the stage in the background were signs in bright letters 'it's a man actually, Derek' – I mean what is that? Greg James was there and he sent me a photo and said 'you're on the stage at Glastonbury'. Crazy. In the year @tommoracing steps down from commentating, a moment to savour at his local track. Cheerleader, owned by Tommo and his wife Caroline -and trained by sister-in-law Tina Jackson – lands the Join Racing TV Now Handicap under @jomason90 at 66-1. Well done, Big Fella! — Redcar Racecourse (@Redcarracing) May 19, 2025 Cheerleader won at Redcar and Catterick. It was my wife Caroline who bought the horse because she wanted to ride and so we put the horse out in the field. She (Cheerleader) just flourished and it was Tina (Jackson), my brother's partner who trains near Whitby, who said 'I think you could race her again, I think she could win'. We weren't going to because we were just going to retire her. Caroline said 'come on, shall we do it' and the horse has won twice. We are so lucky and we've got a few other shares with My Future Champion who are great syndicate guys, so it's lovely to be involved that way as well. We're very lucky, but it's all Caroline's fault! She was the one who said we're going to have this horse. Another time I tried to talk her out of it but she was absolutely spot on, so well done Caroline.' Dubai Millennium. I started commentaries in Dubai with Sheikh Mohammed. Henry Cecil had got me over there and my greatest memory was Dubai Millennium winning the 2000 Dubai World Cup by 10 lengths. I still miss him to this day (Dubai Millennium died aged five due to grass sickness) and whenever I go to Newmarket, I always try to go to where he's buried and I always pay my respects to him. They were the ultimate professionals. People didn't see the work they did behind the scenes, but I did. It was just a joy to watch. I always remember that Big Mac used to wear two watches and I said 'Mac, I've got to ask you after all these years, why do you wear two watches, one on each wrist?'. He looked at me and said 'well, in case one stops'. I suppose it's right because you've got to know exactly what time it is. He was a great journalist and a great broadcaster. He brought something to The Morning Line which you couldn't buy. It was just incredible. I thought he was superb. Alastair Down was a great journalist. He had a way of putting things into words that nobody else could do. Every time I used to read him, I marvelled at the way he expressed himself and it was so good for racing. It attracted a lot of people into racing who were watching it on TV or reading it in print.
North Wales Chronicle
21-07-2025
- North Wales Chronicle
Tommo – ‘Are you well? I thought you were!', and so much more
My dad, the late Stanley Thompson, he started commentaries in point-to-points and I think it was 1965 and halfway round at Great Ayton he turned the microphone off and said 'I can't see them anymore you take over'. I picked up the microphone and switched on and said 'they go towards the next on the far side' and that's how it started. I never want to go through that again. That was absolutely horrible. It is something I can still remember vividly to this day and it was just awful. Going to Belfast in the height of The Troubles, going into the (Europa) hotel. As soon as I walked in it was 'would Mr Thompson pick up the hotel phone?'. And that's where a voice said 'I'm watching you from the other side of street' and you think 'what?' and do this and do that. We tried to get the horse back, it was just absolutely an incredible time and I talked to the supposed kidnappers of Shergar. I think there were about eight or nine phone calls and it was the last one at half past midnight where I kept him talking for a minute and a half. If I kept him talking for that long they could trace the call, and I said to the policeman who was sitting next to me with the earphones on 'did we trace the call' and he said 'no, I'm sorry the man who traces the call went off shift at midnight'. We never found the horse. I was doing a promotion for a hotel in Bawtry quite a few years ago and I'd done a piece outside the hotel – 'this is the Crown Hotel in Bawtry, let's see what it's like and go inside, blah blah blah' – and walked inside and there were the girls at the bar, they were the people who worked there. They were looking like they were having a drink at the bar and I walked up and I don't know why I said it 'hello, are you well? I thought you were!'. Why on earth would anyone say that? It just went from there, Greg James from Radio One rang me one day and said 'Tommo, it's Greg James here'. 'Greg James? You're Radio One'. He said 'yeah, Tommo I want to ask, are you well? I thought you were' on the radio and it just went on from there. When I handed over from the studio to Bob (Robert Cooper, on At The Races) at Hereford, I just looked at my screen in front of me and I just saw the blonde hair, so I said 'oh, you're with a beautiful woman', he said 'it's a man actually, Derek' and that got to Glastonbury. On the stage in the background were signs in bright letters 'it's a man actually, Derek' – I mean what is that? Greg James was there and he sent me a photo and said 'you're on the stage at Glastonbury'. Crazy. In the year @tommoracing steps down from commentating, a moment to savour at his local track. Cheerleader, owned by Tommo and his wife Caroline -and trained by sister-in-law Tina Jackson – lands the Join Racing TV Now Handicap under @jomason90 at 66-1. Well done, Big Fella! — Redcar Racecourse (@Redcarracing) May 19, 2025 Cheerleader won at Redcar and Catterick. It was my wife Caroline who bought the horse because she wanted to ride and so we put the horse out in the field. She (Cheerleader) just flourished and it was Tina (Jackson), my brother's partner who trains near Whitby, who said 'I think you could race her again, I think she could win'. We weren't going to because we were just going to retire her. Caroline said 'come on, shall we do it' and the horse has won twice. We are so lucky and we've got a few other shares with My Future Champion who are great syndicate guys, so it's lovely to be involved that way as well. We're very lucky, but it's all Caroline's fault! She was the one who said we're going to have this horse. Another time I tried to talk her out of it but she was absolutely spot on, so well done Caroline.' Dubai Millennium. I started commentaries in Dubai with Sheikh Mohammed. Henry Cecil had got me over there and my greatest memory was Dubai Millennium winning the 2000 Dubai World Cup by 10 lengths. I still miss him to this day (Dubai Millennium died aged five due to grass sickness) and whenever I go to Newmarket, I always try to go to where he's buried and I always pay my respects to him. They were the ultimate professionals. People didn't see the work they did behind the scenes, but I did. It was just a joy to watch. I always remember that Big Mac used to wear two watches and I said 'Mac, I've got to ask you after all these years, why do you wear two watches, one on each wrist?'. He looked at me and said 'well, in case one stops'. I suppose it's right because you've got to know exactly what time it is. He was a great journalist and a great broadcaster. He brought something to The Morning Line which you couldn't buy. It was just incredible. I thought he was superb. Alastair Down was a great journalist. He had a way of putting things into words that nobody else could do. Every time I used to read him, I marvelled at the way he expressed himself and it was so good for racing. It attracted a lot of people into racing who were watching it on TV or reading it in print.
The Herald Scotland
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Derek Thompson bringing the curtain down on his commentary career
The 74-year-old was even part of a three-strong party alongside Lord Oaksey and The Sun's Peter Campling that attempted to negotiate the release of Shergar after the 1981 Derby winner was kidnapped. He also enjoyed time in the spotlight when what became his famous catchphrase, 'Are you well? I thought you were', appeared on Radio One courtesy of Greg James before going viral, as did an At The Races clip of him when he mistook a man for a woman during an exchange with Robert Cooper. But now 'Tommo' is taking a step back and Dunstall Park will be the last time he calls them home at a race meeting. Thompson told the PA news agency: 'I'll be brutally honest, it's not going to be easy because I still love it to this day and I'm so proud that I'm one of about 20 people that do the race calling in the UK. Derek Thompson is stepping down from commentating (Mike Egerton/PA) 'I've been doing it for so many years that it's time to move on. It's not getting any easier, but I still love it. I've been very lucky, I'm paid to go to the races. Other people have to pay to get in. I've got the best seat in the house. 'I'm absolutely stunned by the amount of people that have come up – and that's not just older people like me, but younger people as well – and said can I have a selfie, can I have your autograph. It's just lovely. The messages I've been getting on social media, thank you so much, it's lovely, it almost brought a tear to my eye. It's very moving and it makes me feel very proud. While Thompson will be putting down his binoculars, he certainly does not plan to be a stranger to the racecourse and hopes to take his affable style around the country. Frankel's debut win at Newmarket is one of Thompson's fondest memories (Nigel French/PA) Thompson said: 'I'll still be presenting at the racetracks around the country and hoping to organise a little tour called, 'Are you well? I thought you were', or 'It's a man actually, Derek', so we're hoping to continue the fun side of racing because I'm a great believer in enjoying racing. 'The memories, and there's some great stories, many of which we can't tell, but the ones we can I'd love to, we're hoping to start a podcast. I will still be going (racing) because I enjoy working. I've been very lucky over the years, working with people like John Francome, Brough Scott.' Thompson also famously once raced against the then future King in a charity event and remembers the race fondly. He said: 'I beat him, Prince Charles as he was then. I rode a horse for Nicky Henderson called Classified and I beat him at Plumpton. King Charles III once raced against Thompson (Andrew Matthews/PA) 'There were about 12 runners, it was a two-mile Flat race and it was incredible. 'We occasionally have a chat at the races, Royal Ascot and stuff and we get together sometimes. 'I always say, 'Sir, I'm sorry I beat you all those years ago and he says 'don't worry, I forgave you', but the (late) Queen goes, 'but I haven't, Tommo'. It was incredible.' Reflecting on his illustrious career behind the microphone, one of Thompson's favourite memories was calling Frankel's racecourse debut at Newmarket when Sir Henry Cecil's charge launched the beginning of an unbeaten 14-race career. And Thompson has fond memories of the late, great Cecil and the empathy he showed when he was dealing with bowel cancer in 2012. Sir Henry Cecil with Tom Queally and Frankel (PA) He said: 'I did the first commentary on Frankel when he won at Newmarket – what a horse. 'I used to go and sit with Henry Cecil on the gallops. I remember I had cancer and I was coming out of hospital and I was very weak and I used to go on the gallops at Newmarket. 'I remember him saying, 'come on, sit down next to me', and we watched the horses because I could hardly stand up. It was just lovely and I remember watching Frankel coming up there and he was one of my favourite horses. I miss Henry to this day.' Red Rum's first Grand National victory in 1973 will forever remain one of the fondest from the many commentaries – in this case radio – Thompson has done during his career. He said: 'The 1973 Grand National, Red Rum and Crisp. I'm the youngest ever commentator, 22, of the Grand National. Red Rum and Brian Fletcher winning the 1973 Grand National (PA) 'There was Michael Seth-Smith at the first, Michael O'Hehir was at Becher's, I was at Valentine's and then I handed back to Peter Bromley and he did the best commentary I've ever heard on a race finish. 'Crisp and Richard Pitman were 30 lengths clear passing me and Red Rum got up on the line to win. 'Red Rum was probably the greatest horse of all time. There's so many – Frankel, Brigadier Gerard, Nijinsky, Shergar, I've been lucky enough to see all of those.'
