Tommy wins ... at racetrack
IF TOMMY Thompson could run as well in the early primaries as his horse ran over the weekend at Churchill Downs, he might actually have a shot at the White House.
The former Wisconsin governor is partial owner of Flashy Bull, a 4-year-old thoroughbred who on Saturday won the $829,000 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs in Kentucky. It was Flashy Bull's fourth straight win and his first victory in a Grade 1 stakes race.
Thompson's journey to racehorse ownership began when he attended the Kentucky Derby in May 2005. There he met Terry Finley, founder of a well-regarded stable called West Point Thoroughbreds.
Hooked by watching the Derby in person, Tommy told Finley, "I'd love to get into this business."
Finley replied that the stable had a promising colt named Flashy Bull.
"Put me in for a chunk," Thompson said.
He is one of 17 owners. Tommy saw his horse in person during a trip to Florida in early 2006. Tommy said later he petted him and told the horse to run well at the 2006 Kentucky Derby, which he did not. Its 3-year-old season was a major disappointment, but 2007 has been something else.
Flashy Bull's trainer, Kiaran McLaughlin, said, "This horse is just a different horse this year."
After Saturday's victory, Finley said, "This is the biggest win of the stable's career. I am so gratified for the partners."
Next up for Flashy Bull is likely the prestigious $750,000 Whitney Handicap on July 28 at Saratoga in New York. …
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A LOT of former baseball greats have made promotional appearances at Madison Mallards games, but it's likely no one has had quite the compelling "Madison story" to share as John "Blue Moon" Odom, a pitching star with the Oakland A's in the 1960s and '70s who was in town last week.
Odom is a native of Macon, Ga., and he told Mallards owner Steve Schmitt that he was a close friend of another son of Macon, singer and musician Otis Redding. They were close enough, Odom said, that Redding invited him to come along on the December 1967 tour that began with a stop in Cleveland and then moved on to Madison. An avid hunter, Odom decided to pass on the trip to stay home and hunt. The world knows that just before landing in Madison, Redding's plane crashed into Lake Monona, killing all but one on board.
Schmitt said that during his Madison visit last week, Odom spent several hours at the Redding memorial at Monona Terrace. …
I asked Madison native Phil Hellmuth his reaction to becoming the winningest World Series of Poker player ever last week. Hellmuth, who won his 11th series tournament bracelet in Las Vegas, sent the following note: "I have been chasing poker history for over 20 years. I finally have the biggest record in poker. Part of me cannot believe it, part of me expected it, but all of me is happy and thankful for it." …
New York state newspapers were reporting last week that Madison entrepreneur and philanthropist Pleasant Rowland is thinking of selling MacKenzie-Childs, the home decor company she purchased out of bankruptcy for $5.5 million in 2001.
In a memo to employees of the company, which is located near the village of Aurora, N.Y., Rowland said she had fielded numerous offers over the years but "rejected all inquiries until I felt confident the company was stabilized with a sound business model and a competent, experienced management team."
Rowland said she issued the statement in response to "the rumor mill in the community" that she said "has so frequently distorted my intentions, words and actions."
Rowland's recent purchases and other activities in Aurora — where she attended Wells College — have been closely scrutinized by locals. Some welcomed her revitalization efforts while others have expressed skepticism about her motives. …
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MOE KNOWS: Pat McGilligan, a 1969 Madison Central High School graduate now living in the Milwaukee area, is one of the nation's best film historians. His biographical subjects include Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Altman, and last week McGilligan's latest was published by HarperCollins.
"Oscar Micheaux: The Great and Only" brings to life the pioneering but frequently overlooked black filmmaker who died in obscurity in 1951.
"He was the Jackie Robinson of film directors," McGilligan told me in early 2006, when he was wrapping up his Micheaux project. The Directors Guild Association Quarterly calls the new book "an enormously moving and compelling account of a quixotic life."
Heard something Moe should know? Call 252-6446, write PO Box 8060, Madison, WI 53708, or e-mail dmoe@madison.com.
