Latest news with #BenThompson
News.com.au
21-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Ben Thompson has been a keen observer in the fascinating duel for the Brisbane jockeys' premiership
Like many others in Queensland racing, Ben Thompson has been a keen observer in the fascinating duel for the Brisbane jockeys' premiership between Angela Jones and Emily Lang. But the women may want to enjoy their time in the spotlight because Thompson plans to take the crown from the eventual champion next season. The 27-year-old Thompson returned home to Brisbane on Thursday night from his 18-month stint in Hong Kong after steering Storming Dragon to a narrow runner-up finish in his farewell ride in a Class 3 Handicap (1200m) last Wednesday at Happy Valley. 'It was nearly the fairytale finish to this chapter but the next-best result,' he said. Thompson is enjoying a short break with his family – wife Stephanie and young son Harry – before returning to trackwork at the end of this week in preparation for his racing comeback at Eagle Farm on Saturday week. And he's been watching with interest as Lang and Jones, who have both served suspensions for careless riding this month, are locked in a thrilling battle to become the first female to win a Brisbane jockeys' title. Jones leads the metro standings with 64 wins, two ahead of apprentice Lang, who returns from an eight-day suspension on Wednesday at Eagle Farm. • Brisbane trainers hatch plans for ex-Godolphin gallopers 'It seems to be what happens in these duels late in the season when there's a premiership up for grabs,' Thompson said of the dramatic circumstances surrounding the shootout. 'Both ladies have obviously had fantastic seasons and made every post a winner since they started riding. 'They're both brilliant riders. If someone had a crystal ball and said that Ang and Emily would be fighting it out for the premiership, it would come as no surprise to anyone. 'It speaks volumes too, albeit Emily is an apprentice to Tony Gollan, that both riders have the full support of the state's leader trainer and one of the country's top trainers.' In another boost for the rapid rise of women jockeys in Australia, Thompson noted that Rochelle Milnes (44 wins) was four ahead of Lachlan Neindorf in the South Australian metro premiership jockeys' race. In Victoria, it's an all-male metro jockeys' battle but a thrilling one nonetheless between champion hoops Blake Shinn (71 wins) and Craig Williams (66). Group 1 -winning jockey Thompson has never won a Brisbane jockeys' premiership but it is a goal he's determined to tick off once the new season starts on August 1. 'It's funny with racing because it feels like it never ends in a sense but the premiership does count for a lot,' he said. 'It's something I'd love to achieve. Hopefully it can be a good season for myself.'
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Do the Hornets have some serious buzz?
Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor is joined by Andrew Sharp and Ben Thompson to discuss why Charlotte could be turning the corner after finishing last season with its worst record since the 2011-2012 campaign. Hear the full conversation on 'The Kevin O'Connor Show' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript Now, Ben, uh, the Wizards missed the playoffs last year. The sort of Hornets, Sixers, Nets, and Raptors, of those teams, are the Wizards the team you're most bullish on in the future? I, I'm gonna zag and say the Hornets. Oh boy. And just because I think they're still the laughingstock and pointed to as the worst one organization, you forget they did get sold. And so, uh, they, they have a former Bucks assistant as their head coach. Uh, I think he did seem to do a great job last year, and I think they're aware that they have a LaMelo problem and there's just a bit of sort of treading water and getting pieces until then. Taking a Con Canipple, is he gonna be a superstar in the league? No. Is he gonna be a very solid starter in the long run? Yeah, like Brandon Miller and Con Canipel as your two wings if you can get the right choice on. Uh, total accident. But the right sort of straw to sort of the drink. Uh, can I, and can I double down on that as a Wizards fan watching the Wizards try to play four-dimensional chess and trade for every bad contract in the league and then clear $100 million in cap space next summer, God only knows what they're gonna do with that. I look at the Hornets, they're just making solid move after solid move, hitting singles and doubles. The caveat with the Hornets' optimism is like the shot diet for LaMelo and Brandon Miller. Their shooting profiles alone is evidence that the NBA needs to do something about the three-point addiction in the league because Brandon Miller will go out there and take like 52s and 17 3s. LaMelo is even worse because the threes he's taking are horrible shots and they're contested. Driven though, after Milwaukee goes to Boston under Missoula, it's like very Missoula ball. And I don't want to watch that stuff, man. Um, so I guess I will hang my hat on that. I'm, I'm not gonna watch Trey Johnson take 17 3s next year. Close
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Dame goes home, Beal's LA fit + Giannis' Bucks future with Ben Thompson & Andrew Sharp
Subscribe to The Kevin O'Connor Show Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Kevin O'Connor reacts to the stunning news that Damian Lillard chose to return to the Portland Trail Blazers. Why KOC loves the fit, and could see this working out great for Portland. PLUS Kevin says the Los Angeles Clippers are winning the offseason after adding Bradley Beal, who is a clear-cut upgrade over Norm Powell. And then KOC is joined by Andrew Sharp and Ben Thompson to discuss the future of Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee — have the Bucks done enough? Could the Myles Turner signing backfire? And the guys deep-dive on Andrew's favorite squad, the Washington Wizards. Is there optimism in DC after landing Tre Johnson? It's all ahead! (00:25) - Damian Lillard returns to Portland (3:25) - Bradley Beal returns to LA (7:20) - Talking Bucks & Wizards with Ben Thompson & Andrew Sharp 🖥️
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Employment woes are coming for startup talent
As doomsday predictions loom for what AI means for jobs, some AI employees find themselves on a shaky limb. Big tech companies are increasingly paying huge sums to pull away top talent — but avoiding the kind of acquisitions that reward those further down the org chart. The latest acqui-hire comes from Google, which paid $2.4 billion to license technology from startup Windsurf, hire its CEO, and cash out some of its venture backers. The search giant cut a similar deal for last year, buying out early investors to hire a key researcher. Silicon Valley is mad: 'This, in the long run, is very bad for startups,' threatening 'the social contracts between employees, startups, and investors,' Stratechery's Ben Thompson writes. 'The world needs little tech to win,' Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas told CNBC. (The rest of Windsurf is being acqui-hired by another AI coding startup, Cognition.) Venture capitalists, too, should be nervous. For now, Big Tech is cashing them out to keep the peace; Kleiner Perkins, which backed Windsurf, will reportedly get enough of Google's cash to triple its investments. But VCs are betting on young AI startups hoping they can replace Google, not be subsumed into it, and are swinging for bigger than 3x returns. — Rohan Goswami
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Will the Giannis-Turner pairing work for the Bucks?
Will the Giannis-Turner pairing work for the Bucks? Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor is joined by Andrew Sharp & Ben Thompson to discuss Milwaukee's signing of Myles Turner and what it means for the future of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Hear the full conversation on 'The Kevin O'Connor Show' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Advertisement Video Transcript The Bucks last week, Giannis comes on, he's on Speed's Twitch stream. Tens of thousands of you were watching and he's asked, so you're staying in Milwaukee? He says, probably, we'll see. I love Milwaukee. What was Ben Thompson's reaction when he saw that little clip? No surprise. I mean, I think he does like Milwaukee. I think he's a homebody. He doesn't want to go anywhere. He's not been apart. Obviously, with the US sort of basketball coming up and wanting to go to the big city sort of angle, and given that, I'm happy to watch Giannis for a few more years, so it is what it is. I've come to acceptance. Advertisement Are you accepting of the Miles Turner plan for the next couple of years? So there's two parts to this, okay. I'm fully, there's the Damien Willard sort of cut and extend, stretch, whatever it is, and then there's the Miles Turner part. I'm fine with the Dame part. I think people in the national media are dramatically overreacting to this. The reality is, for the next two years, would you rather have Dame rehabilitating and then Dame as a 36, 37 year old, coming off an Achilles, or would you rather have Miles Turner because the salaries match up. Like the stretch $20 million plus Miles Turner's $30 million is the equivalent to what Dame was getting paid. Advertisement I think the Miles Turner specific issue is that Giannis is probably the best possible player to put next to Miles Turner. The issue, I think, goes back to the Kuzma trade. Which, I'm ashamed to admit, I was not immediately appalled by, and this goes back to when the Bucks lost against Boston in 2022. Brook Lopez could not be on the floor, and I think the Bucks' recipe to win a title in the playoffs is Giannis at center. And that was what, like, well, oh, you get Kuzma, he's not great but I'm at the 4 and then then Giannis at center. That's really our only chance against the new NBA offense playing with speed and versatility. Advertisement I forgot we had Doc Rivers as a coach. We never even tried this, never even went there. But then what's the organizational, like if you, if you're getting Miles Turner, what the point was of getting Kyle Kuzma, because you're now abandoning Giannis at the 5.
