Excerpts from an interview of Tommy Thompson in The Wall Street Journal Law Blog regarding his new NTRA gig:
WSJ: OK, on to horses. How\'d you get into horse racing?
Thompson: I got into it because I was at the Kentucky Derby one year as a spectator and I asked one of the individuals I was with, "How do you get involved in horse racing?" Lo and behold, before I left I had all kinds of literature and I became a very small owner of Flashy Bull. I always told people I owned the tail. Flashy Bull did very well. But he broke a bone in his leg so he couldn\'t race anymore.
WSJ: Why were you the man for the job?
Thompson: I was the secretary of Health and Human Services, and was there when 9/11 and all those other things had to be taken care of. I was responsible for the FDA. I was governor for 15 years. I\'m a farmer. I had an interest in Flashy Bull. I\'ve been passionate about horse racing. Plus, My law firm, Akin Gump, does this kind of work. Weve done it for the NFL in the past, and for all kinds of investigations into government.
WSJ: Let\'s talk about Native Dancer. Our colleagues on the sports desk tell us that Native Dancer's genes are in hot demand. But apparently some think his bloodline is a curse since many of his descendants suffer injuries because their legs have "heavy muscling," which can overwhelm their ankles and feet during a race. What does the Safety and Integrity Alliance plan to do about that?
Thompson: I haven\'t heard that about Native Dancer. But the individuals who\'ve joined the Alliance really want to do the things necessary to improve the quality and integrity of horse racing.
Does anyone else think that some of these responses were a bit Palinesque?
...with a little bit of Rudy G. thrown in (Thompson managed to mention 9/11 in an interview regarding his involvement and background in Horse Racing).
I haven\'t heard that about Native Dancer, because I just convinced NTRA to give me lots of money for doing little to nothing, thus I don\'t have to care about some horse named Native Dancer.
But that\'s okay, because NTRA is just climbing on the public PR wagon, via the backs of those who have been trying to move the industry forward anyway.
I think I\'ll be needing some money for lobbying ....