It's on to the Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of racing's Triple Crown, for Big Brown, the winner of Saturday's Kentucky Derby.The betting favorite cruised to a nearly five-length victory in the 134th Derby, leading a field of twenty. Trainer Rick Dutrow said he knew during pre-Derby workouts that Big Brown was going to have a good trip."He's been telling everybody that have watched him or been getting on him, that he's just sitting on a race, and all he needed to do was watch the track, we had a good post, where nothing was going to get in our way, and he showed up the right way," Dutrow said.It was the third Kentucky Derby victory for jockey Kent Desormeaux.Second place finisher Eight Belles, the only filly in the race, collapsed with two broken ankles and was euthanized on the track.The Churchill Downs crowd of more than 157,000 was the second largest in Derby history.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.