Who is Derek Thompson?

If I weighed 30 stone and waddled towards the Parade Ring at Great Yarmouth I may hear some shout: ‘Hello, Big Fella!’

I’d look around and see it would be Derek Thompson.

I’ve seen Mr. Thompson at the races on numerous occasions including when my girlfriend entered the Best Dressed Lady Competition at Great Yarmouth. Marlene got in the top ten. As we were walking back Tommo said: ‘You should have won!’

No, he wasn’t talking about my chances!

It’s always a racing certainty that Derek Thompson will be greeted with a warm welcome at courses and he is a natural when it comes to Ladies Day. A true entertainer and good bloke. In fact, he is quite comical without realising and some have even noted he is on the same wavelength as Alan Partridge with his advert for Crown Hotel, Bawtry, Doncaster. His comedic quote: ‘Are you well? I thought you were.’

I’ve been following horse racing for over 30 years and Derek has been a race caller as long as I can remember. But let’s learn a little more about his career as a sports commentator.

Derek Thompson was born on the 31st July 1950 at Stockton-on-Tees, Yorkshire, England. His brother, Stanley, was a horse trainer and Derek rode a few races as an amateur jockey. In addition, he used to ride with the local hunt where he met future Grand National winner Bob Champion, who is a lifelong friend.

Thompson was a natural when it came to sport and commentated on a point-to-point race at the age of 15.

In fact, unknown to many, he worked, unpaid, as an assistant trainer for Denys Smith. Later, he move to Chantilly, France, to be assistant trainer to Pierre Sanoner.

At the age of 18, he began broadcasting for a local radio station which led to an opportunity in 1972 working at London for BBC Radio Sport. He worked alongside Peter Bromley and called a few Grand National races over this period.

His big break came when joining ITV in 1981 and appeared on World Of Sport and midweek racing coverage. His career moved forward in 1985 when he joined the newly formed Channel 4 Racing as a presenter until 2012. He and John McCririck were dropped by the newly formed International Management Group (IMG).

These days, Thompson commentates for At The Races and talkSPORT radio.

In recent years, he has suffered from ill health which led to the biography written by Lee Mottershead titled – Tommo: Too Busy To Die, published by Racing Post Books (2014).

A great read.

How many times did Katie Walsh ride in the Grand National?

Born on December 18, 1984, in Co. Kildare, Katie Walsh is, of course, the youngest daughter of trainer Ted Walsh and the younger sister of twelve-time Irish Champion National Hunt Jockey Rupert ‘Ruby’ Walsh. She retired from race riding on April 27, 2018, aged 34, immediately after winning at the Punchestown Festival on Antey, trained by Wille Mullins, but, for the better part of 15 years, was a trailblazing amateur jockey, who rode a total of 189 winners in Britain and Ireland, including three at the Cheltenham Festival.

Indeed, alongside sister-in-law Nina Carberry, who is married to Ted Walsh Jr., Katie Walsh still jointly holds the record for the number of rides by a female jockey in the Grand National, having contested the Aintree marathon six times.The pick of her placings and, at the time, the highest placing ever achieved by a female rider, came of her first attempt in 2012. On that occasion, she rode Seabass, trained by her father, who was sent off 8/1 joint-favourite and looked, briefly, like he might win. The 9-year-old led over the final fence, but was joined, and passed, on the run-in, eventually finishing third, beaten a nose and five lengths.

The partnership tried again in 2013, with Seabass sent off clear 11/2 favourite, despite being 5lb higher in the weights than the previous year. He was driven along from the third-last fence, but soon weakened out contention, finishing in thirteenth place, 85¾ lengths behind the surprise winner Auroras Encore. The following year, Katie Walsh finished in the same position on Vesper Bell, trained by Willie Mullins and, in 2015, suffered her one and only non-completion in the National, when unseated by Ballycasey, also trained by Mullins, at the penultimate fence. Thereafter, she finished nineteenth, and last, on Wonderful Charm, trained by Paul Nicholls, in 2017 and twelfth on

Baie Des Iles, trained by her husband, Ross O’Sullivan, in 2018, but both horses were completely tailed off.

 

Katie Walsh’s twitter account: https://twitter.com/katiewalsh9

How many horses have won the Grand National more than once?

  • Posted on January 15, 2025
  • /Under Horses

How many horses have won the Grand National more than once? Of course, the most successful horse in the recent history of the Grand National was Tiger Roll, who won back-to-back renewals of the world famous steeplechase in 2018 and 2019, but was denied the chance of a third win by the coronavirus pandemic, in 2020, and by his owner, Michael O’Leary, in 2021 and 2022. Readers of a certain age may also remember – and everyone will almost certainly have heard of – Red Rum, who won the Grand National an unprecedented three times, in 1973, 1974, and 1977.

However, the names of the other multiple winners of the Grand National – of which there are six, seven or eight, depending on the ground rules applied – are probably less familiar. To clarify, The Duke won the first two runnings of the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, in 1836 and 1837, but the races were subsequently stricken, some historians say erroneously, from the ‘official’ Grand National records. Likewise, Poethyln won the so-called ‘War National’, staged at Gatwick in 1918, and won again when the Grand National returned to Aintree in 1919.

As far as ‘official’ renewals of the Grand National at Aintree are concerned, the first dual winner was Abd-El-Kader, in 1850 and 1851. He was followed by Peter Simple, who had won the Grand National for the first time in 1849, but returned four years later, as a doughty 15-year-old, to do so again. Thereafter, The Lamb (1868 and 1871) and The Colonel (1869 and 1870) won four renewals between them in as many years and, towards the end of the century, the indefatigable Manifesto – who ran in the Grand National a record eight times between 1895 and 1904 – prevailed twice, in 1897 and 1899. Before Red Rum, the last horse to win the Grand National more than once was Reynoldstown, who recorded back-to-back victories in 1935 and 1936; the legendary Golden Miller failed to complete the course on both occasions.