From Alan Lytle, Kentucky Public Radio Keeneland Racetrack in Lexington will undergo a changing of the guard late this summer with Wednesday’s announced retirement of President and CEO Nick Nicholson. Nicholson says he’s been thinking about stepping aside for some time now. “I’m going to be 65 years old in September and I could feel that coming about and at the same time I was not going to leave Keeneland until I was convinced it was in very very good hands,” he said. Effective September 1, current Vice President and CFO Bill Thomason will assume his new post.“We’ve got a great team that’s here. The team has been operating extraordinarily well, and the one thing that’s great for me to be able to come in and the opportunities I’ve got. I don’t have a lot of things that I have to change or a lot of directions of things I have to do,” Thomason said. Nicholson says he will remain on staff at Keeneland in an advisory role. The spring meet ends Friday April 27th.
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.