Derek Thompson (born 31 July 1950) is a British presenter and commentator of horse racing on Radio Five Live and At the Races in Britain.

Biography

He was born to Stanley Moorhouse Thompson and Lillian Thompson in

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

, England. He had an older brother, Howard. Stanley Thompson was a small-time trainer of horses, which gave Derek his first rides as an amateur jockey. Through membership of the local hunt, he met future Grand National winning jockey, Bob Champion and became a lifelong friend. He attended

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmark i ...

Grammar School and gave his first commentary - on a point-to-point meeting - at the age of 15. After leaving school in 1968, he worked unpaid for Denys Smith, nominally as assistant trainer. After six months, he moved to be assistant to Pierre Sanoner in Chantilly His broadcasting career began at the age of 18 on local radio. In 1972, he was based in London working for BBC Radio Sport, for whom he covered a number of Grand Nationals alongside

Peter Bromley Peter Bromley (30 April 1929 – 3 June 2003) was BBC Radio's voice of horse racing for 40 years, and one of the most famous and recognised sports broadcasters in the United Kingdom. Early life Born at Heswall on the Wirral (then in Cheshir ...

, Michael Seth-Smith and Michael O'Hehir. In 1981, he moved to ITV, where he appeared on '' World of Sport'' and midweek racing coverage. In 1985, he joined the newly formed ''

Channel 4 Racing ''Channel 4 Racing'' was the name given to the horse racing coverage on the British television stations Channel 4 and More4. History The first transmission of racing on the channel was on 22 March 1984 from Doncaster, as it took over midweek cov ...

'' team as a presenter. He was also part of a team of three who helped to negotiate for the release of the kidnapped

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

winner Shergar. Thompson also commentates for '' At The Races'' and was a regular on talkSPORT radio. On 26 June 2012 it was announced that Thompson would be stepping down from his duties for a short while as he was to undergo surgery to remove a tumour from near his bowel. In October 2012, it was announced that Thompson would not be staying with Channel 4 Racing when production of the programme moves from High Flyer to IMG in January 2013. The new production company dropped Thompson along with fellow veteran John McCririck. He returned to BBC Radio for the duration of the Cheltenham Festival in 2013. Thompson is also known for doing an advert for the Crown Hotel in

Bawtry Bawtry is a market town and civil parish in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It lies between Doncaster, Gainsborough and Retford, on the border with Nottinghamshire and close to Lincolnshire. The town is historically part of ...

, Doncaster.Archived a
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In the video Thompson is seen saying "Are you well? I thought you were", which attracted the attention of Radio 1 Breakfast presenter Greg James. He since turned it into a meme, including it in songs such as

Meduza ''Meduza'' ( rus, Медуза, t=jellyfish) is a Russian- and English-language independent news website, headquartered in Riga. It was founded in 2014 by a group of former employees of the then-independent ''Lenta.ru'' news website. Free mob ...

and Goodboys' " Piece of Your Heart" and Sigala and Becky Hill's " Wish You Well". James met Thompson in person.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Derek 1950 births Living people People from Middlesbrough English radio personalities Television personalities from Yorkshire British horse racing writers and broadcasters