Racing commentator

From being too nervous to hold his binoculars to calling some of the greatest races, this week Derek “Tommo” Thompson retired after 60 years as a commentator

- Xander Brett

I called my first race when I was 15. My late father, Stanley, was commentating at the Cleveland point-to-point. I was standing next to him when, halfway through a race, he switched off the microphone and said: “I can’t see them any more. You take over.” He thrust the microphone into my hand and that was that. I’ve been doing it ever since.

I learned to ride on the beach at Saltburn-by-the-Sea. My brother Howard and I were best friends with Bob Champion. His father was huntsman with the Cleveland. We used to follow him, rather than the field master, to make sure we got the best jumps.

One day we were racing at Redcar and John Rickman interviewed the three of us on ITV. He asked us what we wanted to do when we grew up. I said I wanted to be a racing presenter and Bob said he wanted to ride a winner of the Grand National. It’s bonkers, but both things happened.

I was a pretty good showjumper when I was young, but I loved racing. When I left school, I went to work for Denys Smith, who trained Red Alligator to win the Grand National.