(No winner) Listen tomorrow at 6:10am for your chance to win a family 4-pack of tickets to the Peoria Chiefs.

Rick Diamond, Getty Images

Over the weekend, Jason Aldean rocked two back-to-back and sold-out shows at Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood in Atlanta, Ga. on the latest leg of his My Kinda Party Tour. The Friday and Saturday shows were part of the new summer leg of the tour, which kicked off Thursday night (May 17) in Birmingham, Ala. Aldean wasted no time pulling out the big guns for the weekend shows — he had famed rapped Ludacris join him onstage to perform his multi-week No. 1 smash, ‘Dirt Road Anthem.’

The hip-hop star joined Aldean on stage unannounced mid-song, sending the packed house into a tizzy. Fans pulled out their cameras and phones to capture the exciting moment, including the video clip below.

“I’ve never felt the kind of energy that the fans from the ATL brought this weekend,” Aldean says in a statement. “I didn’t think it could get any wilder, and then when Luda came out, the place came totally unglued. We’ve gotten to perform together several times, but man … he’s the Mayor of Atlanta, so this one was beyond cool.”

Aldean’s My Kinda Party Tour continues on next week in Louisiana before taking a brief break for the 2012 CMA Music Festival in Nashville at the beginning of June. Click here to see a complete list of cities where Aldean will be stopping throughout the next several months.

Watch Jason Aldean and Ludacris Perform ‘Dirt Road Anthem’ in Atlanta

Source: TasteofCountry.com

Kevin guarding grill

You can grill just about anything, but a quality cut of meat is pretty good on the grill.  When it comes to grilling recipes, it could involve the way the meat is prepared BEFORE in goes on the grill, and AFTER it is cooked.

Here is one I tried at home recently…

I seasoned a couple of cornish hens with salt, pepper and hickory salt.  I also put a little bundle of fresh herbs in the cavity, including cilantro.  Once the coals were hot, I placed the hens directly over the heat for about 20 minutes, turning over half way through.

Then I moved the hens to the side and put some wet apple wood chips on the coals and covered the grill and let the birds smoke for a good 45 minutes.  Awesome!

I want to see your grilling recipes. Send me, via e-mail, your best poultry grilling ideas and recipes by May 31.  The winning entry will receive a meat bundle from Bloomington Meats.

E-mail Kevin

Good luck and happy grilling!

Bloomington Meats

Diane Freed, Getty Images

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history:

1881 – The American Red Cross is founded (More info)

1927 – Charles Lindbergh completes the world’s first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis (More info)

1979 – The White Night riots occur in San Francisco after Dan White, who murdered George Moscone and Harvey Milk, is convicted on only manslaughter charges (More info)

1999 – After 19 straight nominations, Susan Lucci finally wins her first Daytime Emmy Award (More info)

2005 – The tallest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka, opens in New Jersey (More info)

Scott Gries / Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Here’s a look at some notable birthdays being celebrated today:

Mr. T
Age: 60
Occupation: Actor
Known For: His role as B. A. Baracus on the series ‘The A-Team’ and as boxer Clubber Lang in the movie ‘Rocky III,’ his appearances as a professional wrestler, his mohawk and gold jewelry, and starring on the reality show ‘I Pity the Fool,’ which borrowed his trademark catchphrase

Lisa Edelstein
Age: 45
Occupation: Actress
Known For: Playing Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the series ‘House,’ memorable guest-starring spots on shows including ‘Seinfeld,’ ‘The West Wing’ and ‘Ally McBeal,’ movie roles in ‘What Women Want,’ ‘As Good as It Gets’ and ‘Daddy Day Care,’ and voiceover roles on ‘King of the Hill’ and ‘American Dad!’

Ronald Isley
Age: 71
Occupation: Singer
Known For: Founding and fronting the Isley Brothers, known for songs like ‘Shout,’ ‘Twist and Shout’ and ‘It’s Your Thing,’ and his conviction and prison sentence for tax evasion

Judge Reinhold
Age: 55
Occupation: Actor
Known For: Movie roles in ‘Beverly Hills Cop,’ ‘Ruthless People,’ ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ and ‘The Santa Clause’ trilogy, and playing the infamous “close talker” on ‘Seinfeld’

Fairuza Balk
Age: 38
Occupation: Actress
Known For: Notable appearances in ‘The Craft,’ ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau,’ ‘American History X,’ ‘The Waterboy’ and ‘Almost Famous,’ and voiceover work on ‘Family Guy’ and in the ‘Grand Theft Auto: Vice City’ video game

In these best dressed pictures from the 2012 Billboard Music Awards, we highlight the night’s most chic stars. While there were certain stars who fell flat with their wardrobe choices, there were a crop of standout artists that really dressed to impress, like Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Wiz Khalifa, Alicia Keys and the Wanted.

Taylor Swift looked absolutely breathtaking at the Billboard Awards in her sweeping red gown with see-through bodice work. Her hair was done straight and Swift rocked dark eye makeup to complement her edgy yet classy floor-length dress. Purple-haired Katy Perry also looked gorgeous, donning a glittery iridescent pink mermaid-style dress with a chiffon bottom. Meanwhile, Zooey Deschanel also went for a beaded vintage number that gave the She & Him songstress a sweet yet sexy mod appearance.

Wiz Khalifa looked dapper at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards in black and white, and we were really digging his button-adorned vest, fedora and red kicks. Alicia Keys stunned in all-black, while Jordin Sparks dazzled in nude lace. Julianne Hough also looked beautiful in a short sparkly dress, while the Wanted looked super handsome in their sleek suits.

Do you agree with our picks for the best dressed stars at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards? Scroll through the pictures and leave a comment below.

[button href="http://popcrush.com/2012-billboard-music-awards-red-carpet-pictures/" title="See Billboard Music Award Red Carpet Pictures" align="center"]

Source: PopCrush.com

Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

With a wall of mechanical fans blowing hair all across her face, Carrie Underwood performed the title track from her new ‘Blown Away’ album at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night. The country singer’s performance lacked the luminaries, exotic dancers and costumes many of the previous artists employed, but it lacked nothing in talent. She was as vocally strong as she’s ever been during a televised performance.

This is the second time Underwood has sung ‘Blown Away’ live, following her performance on ‘American Idol‘ early this month. It seems likely the song will be her next single after ‘Good Girl’ finishes its time on the charts. Underwood wore a long red gown and played in front of a band dressed entirely in black and white. Her outfit made it clear where the crowd should focus.

“There’s not enough wind in Oklahoma / To wash the sins out of the house / There’s not enough wind in Oklahoma / To rip the nails out of the past,” Underwood sang, acting out the the drama of the dark, orchestral rocker with each note. If she was nervous, she didn’t show it.

As the song reached a cathartic finish, the fans were set to high, leaving Underwood’s perfectly-styled blonde hairdo a mess. At the end, as graffiti rained over the audience of celebrities, the singer pulled back her frizzy locks with a big smile on her face. She certainly had plenty to smile about, as she did the country music genre proud.

Luke Bryan introduced Underwood wearing a white sport coat over light gray slacks. The 2012 Billboard Music Awards were broadcast live from the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.

Watch Carrie Underwood Perform ‘Blown Away’ at the Billboard Music Awards

[button href="http://tasteofcountry.com/top-carrie-underwood-songs/" title="Top 10 Carrie Underwood Songs" align="center"]

Source: TasteofCountry.com

Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Taylor Swift usually demonstrates her “shock and awe” face at awards shows, events, ceremonies and broadcasts. At the 2012 Billboard Music Awards, Swift was honored with the Woman of the Year award and she looked super appreciative and overjoyed, but not as shocked as we’re used to seeing.

Before she took the stage to give her short but heartfelt Speech, singer Kris Kristofferson celebrated Swift while the crowd and audience were treated to a montage of all of her chart accolades — just as the camera panned to her in the crowd.

Then, Zooey Deschanel took the stage to give Swift even more props for her charitable endeavors and to officially present the award.

Swift, in red-painted lips and a matching, floor-sweeping red gown, hit the podium, sounding like a bundle of nerves. Her speech was like that of a teenager expressing excitement to an adult. She didn’t drop her jaw and her mouth was not agape, but she was still cute as a basket of puppies and kittens.

The ‘Mean’ singer recalled homeschooling in the car while on her way to radio stations when she was just an upstart and said, “Thanks to so many people, but mostly my family and everyone who helped me get here. My fans. I love you so much. I am so humbled. Thank you to Kris Kristofferson and Zooey Deschanel for coming out her for this. Billboard, thank you, all the fans, I just love you.”

The fans just love you, too, Taylor! How could they not?!

[button href="http://popcrush.com/2012-billboard-awards-winners-list/" title="2012 Billboard Awards - Winners List" align="center"]

Source: PopCrush.com

Universal

‘Battleship‘ was supposed to be the film that nudged ‘The Avengers‘ out of the number one spot at the box office, but instead you can just go ahead and insert your own “You sank my battleship!” joke here. ‘The Avengers’ didn’t cling to the top spot for the third week in a row, it dominated the top spot for the third week in a row, taking in another $55 million for a grand domestic total of $457 million.

1. The Avengers: $55,057,000 ($457,078,000)

2. Battleship: $25,300,000 ($25,300,000)

3. The Dictator: $17,415,000 ($24,456,000)

4. Dark Shadows: $12,770,000 ($50,908,000)

5. What to Expect When You’re Expecting: $10,500,000 ($10,500,000)

6. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: $3,250,000 ($8,257,000)

7. The Hunger Games: $3,000,000 ($391,631,000)

8. Think Like a Man: $2,700,000 ($85,888,000)

9. The Lucky One: $1,765,000 ($56,921,000)

10. The Pirates: Band of Misfits: $1,450,000 ($25,362,000)

Internationally, ‘The Avengers’ took in another Scrooge McDuck Money Vault sized load of cash, bringing its overall total to $1,180,378. When you write box office reports, seven figure numbers aren’t necessarily common, so these are exciting times indeed. With this weekend, ‘The Avengers’ is now the sixth highest grossing film of all time domestically (it’s number 61 when you adjust for inflation, which is still mighty impressive) and the fourth highest grossing film of time internationally. It didn’t break the record for the biggest third weekend of all time (that record is still held by ‘Avatar‘), but who cares: no movie has ever made this much money this fast and it’s still not showing any sign of slowing down.

Which brings us to ‘Battleship,’ which arrived dead in the water (haha, boat puns). The $250 million movie opened to only $25 million, a number that cannot be salvaged by any kind of spin. Make no mistake: this is a disaster. In fact, it’s the biggest disaster since ‘John Carter.’ In other words, you don’t want to be Taylor Kitsch right now, the man who was unfortunate enough to take the lead roles in what turned out to be the two biggest bombs of 2012 (so far). This may very well signify the end of Kitsch’s career as a Hollywood leading man, but surely Tim Riggins will always have a home as a supporting character on quality television shows.

The sad truth is that the failures of ‘Battleship’ and ‘John Carter’ (which petered out at $72 million) are not Kitsch’s fault at all. He’s perfectly capable in both films, but the latter was the victim of of a horrid advertising campaign and the former was just proof that audiences draw the line somewhere and that line is big budget board game adaptations (although they’re perfectly cool with toy adaptations, strangely). Although the director of ‘Friday Night Lights’ (the movie) and an actor from ‘Friday Night Lights’ (the show) deserve all of the success in the world, we should all be grateful that every lingering board game-themed project is now completely and totally dead. Their sacrifice has saved us from a ‘Monopoly’ or ‘Candyland’ movie. Hopefully.

With all of the hubbub over the success of ‘The Avengers’ and the bombing of ‘Battleship’ (these puns write themselves, folks), ‘The Dictator‘ squeaked by with thoroughly mediocre numbers. After opening on Wednesday to avoid directly butting heads with the big boys, Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest attempt to offend everyone on the planet earned $17 million for a total of $24 million. That isn’t that much lower than ‘Borat’s $26 million opening in 2006, but ‘The Dictator’ cost significantly more and won’t even come close to earning as much. It’s not like Cohen’s career is in trouble, though. In addition to being absurdly talented, he’s worked with Martin Scorsese and Tim Burton and will be in ‘Les Miserables’ later this year. He’ll keep working (and working in great stuff), but if he wants to get back to those ‘Borat’ numbers, he needs to update his comedic schtick.

The third new release of the week was also a bomb, but it didn’t cost ‘Battleship’ money so people won’t be talking about it as much. ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting‘ opened to $10 million and while we could spend an entire paragraph talking about how Cameron Diaz isn’t a real box office draw anymore or about how ‘The Avengers’ is the rare blockbuster that women are loving just as much as men (which nullifies its counter-programming potential), let’s face it: it didn’t make any money because it looked awful.

For a bright spot in the top ten that doesn’t star the Hulk, you have to look to ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,’ which is benefiting from a slow expansion, solid word of mouth and a target audience that doesn’t have any interest in ‘The Avengers’ (i.e., old people). With a weekend total of just over $3 million, the film has now grossed over $8 million, which is a lot of money for a movie called ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.’  In fact, that’s a per-theater average of $18,258 from 178 theaters. ‘The Avengers’ only averaged $12,000 per theater this weekend. Rock on Judi Dench, you rockstar, you.

There’s not much to say about the rest of the top ten. ‘Dark Shadows‘ took a dive from an already disappointing opening. ‘The Hunger Games‘ is still desperately crawling toward that $400 million mark. ‘Think Like a Man‘ is still a solid hit, but its days are waning and $100 million is suddenly looking out of the question. ‘The Lucky One‘ is still doing okay. ‘The Pirates! Band of Misfits‘ is still playing to empty theaters.

Next month, ‘Men in Black 3‘ will finally knock ‘The Avengers’ off its perch, not because people are necessarily excited for it (is anyone, really?), but because it just will. That’s what happens when you’re in the Will Smith business.

Source: ScreenCrush.com

Sandra Mu, Getty Images

Taylor Swift paid tribute to a fallen Marine in a touching, personal way. The singer sent flowers and made a personal phone to call to the family of Sgt. Wade Wilson — and her generosity didn’t end there.

The ‘Safe & Sound’ singer also requested to wear Wilson’s dog tags in an upcoming music video to show her support for the troops. Wilson passed away on May 11 in combat in Afghanistan.

Swift’s moving tributes to Wilson are a response to a YouTube video and social media campaign from Wilson’s family and friends. KBTX reports that Wilson’s comrade, Corporal Josh Marrell, posted the video to the starlet. “This is a shout out to the one and only Taylor Swift. I know you have no idea who I am but this video isn’t about me,” Marrell says in the clip. “This is about good buddy, Sgt. Wade D. Wilson, who was killed in action Friday, May 11, 2012 in Afghanistan. Anybody that knew Willy knew that he worshiped you. He even slept with a post of you in between our beds in Afghanistan.”

Marrell and his fellow Marines even invited Swift to Wilson’s funeral.

This wasn’t the first time Swift reached out to a fan in distress. The country cutie also invited a cancer stricken fan to be her date to the ACM Awards, but he wound up being too ill to attend. Her charitable spirit earned her kudos from Michelle Obama at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, where she took home the Big Help Award.

Watch Cpl. Marrell’s Video to Taylor Swift

[button href="http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/Taylor_Swift_Sends_Flowers_to_Family_of_Fallen_Marine_152150155.html" title="See the Flowers Taylor Swift Sent to Sgt. Wilson's Family" align="center"]

Source: PopCrush.com

NBC

‘Saturday Night Live‘ tried to end their season with as big of a bang as they possibly could. Aside from letting Mick Jagger host for the first time, they also paid a heartfelt tribute to Kristen Wiig for her last show, and brought in sequel installments of ‘Lazy Sunday‘ and ‘The Californians.’

While ‘Lazy Sunday 2′ was all Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell’s territory, Jagger and former ‘SNL’ guest star Steve Martin shook things up a bit for the next episode of the soap opera parody.

Just as before, the characters spoke in ridiculously exaggerated Southern Californian accents and their discussions always ended up being about the best routes to take when driving around Los Angeles.

The highlight, though, was probably Mick Jagger donning a blond wig and doing his best to talk like a new-age, mirror-obsessed resident of the Golden State. See how he did.

All the actors in the skit seemed to be trying their best not to laugh at each others’ absurd facial expressions, and they mostly succeeded. However, a big surprise came when Martin popped up as a character who had suffered amnesia, and couldn’t even remember the simplest directions to get around town.

So, what do you think? Should there be a third edition of ‘The Californians’ on ‘SNL’ next season?

Source: TheFW.com

Thinkstock

It’s not unusual for college students to graduate with a hefty student loan debt. But according to a new study, many don’t know how much they owe — and some aren’t aware they owe anything at all.

Research done at Iowa State University found 40 percent of the students there underestimated their total debt, with 10 percent of those students underestimating the total amount owed by more than $10,000.

What’s more, one out of every eight students with loan debt didn’t even know they’d borrowed money for their studies.

Those results may seem shocking, but Cynthia Needles Fletcher, a professor of human development and family studies at ISU, wasn’t surprised. “You’re talking about people who, for them, borrowing is new,” she said, adding that the complexity of the college financial aid process and the fact that students accumulate debt over time makes it easy to lose track of what’s owed.

The researchers said their findings show that financial counseling is needed to help students understand their borrowing, so this summer, ISU will begin emailing students with an accounting of their debt and what their estimated monthly payment will be after they graduate.

[Des Moines Register]

Priscilla Chan, Facebook

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan after the Facebook IPO and his 28th birthday. So, how did we find out that this lucky woman made an honest man out of one of the most talked about billionaires? We just checked out his relationship status on Facebook.

Accompanying the announcement came the above photo of the happy couple from their home in Palo Alto, CA, courtesy of Chan’s Facebook page.

About 100 of the couple’s closest friends and family came out to what they thought was Chan’s UC San Francisco graduation party on Saturday. But when they arrived, they were all shocked to discover it was actually a wedding.

Though both Chan and Zuckerberg had been planning the ceremony for months, the groom still had a surprise tucked up his sleeve. Or rather, in his pocket. The Facebook CEO gave his new bride a custom-made ruby ring of his own design.

Plus, for the backyard, family-style wedding reception, they shared food from their favorite restaurants in California and finished off the dinner with the first dessert they ate as a couple, Burdick chocolate mice. Who knew the man we all pretended to know from ‘The Social Network’ could be so romantic?

[via TechCrunch]

Source: TheFW.com

(Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

Willie Nelson, the living legend, will bring his show to the U.S Cellular Coliseum on Saturday June 9th and B104 has your free tickets all this week at 8:10am. The question I ask is? How well do you know your stars?

Just listen for JD & Kevin to play the game called ‘Secret Stars’. We will play an audio clip of a couple stars and you have to be the first to identify them in order to win a pair of free tickets to Willie Nelson.

Willie Nelson never quits and this past week he released his new album ‘Heroes’ with several of your favorite stars including Snoop Dog.

The stars that we play back can be an actor or actress or a country star that recorded with Willie Nelson so be ready to win from your station for the most music and the most winning B104.

Just how long has Willie Nelson been performing? Watch this performance in black and white and look how clean cut Willie was then.

Jimmie Johnson (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Jimmie Johnson picked up the hat trick Saturday night in Charlotte by becoming only the 3rd driver along with Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon to win NASCAR’s All Star race 3 times.

The All Star race is made up into 5 segments, 4 consisting of 20 laps and the last consisting of just 10 laps.  Johnson won the first segment then put his strategy into work as he held back for the next three segments, before charging back to win the last 10 laps to take the checkered flag and the 1 million dollar prize.

Rick Hendrick (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Johnson picked up the 7th All Star victory for team Henrick motors and in honor, he gave team owner Rick Hendrick a ride in the number 48 car for a victory lap.

Brad Keslowski finished 2nd, Matt Kenseth 3rd, Kyle Busch 4th and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 5th.  NASCAR heads back to the Charlotte Motor Speedway next Sunday (5/27) for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca Cola 600.

ESPN

Carrie Underwood (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Country music will have strong representation tonight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for the 2012 Billboard Music Awards.

Lady Antebellum leads the way for Country artists with 4 nominations while Blake Shelton and Jason Aldean each have 3 nods.  Taylor Swift, who just came in at number 11 on Forbes list of 100 most powerful celebrities, is up for the top touring award against the likes of Bon Jovi, U2 and Roger Waters.  Luke Bryan, Scotty McCreery, Zac Brown Band and the Band Perry also got nominations this year.

While Carrie Underwood is not up for any awards tonight she will be performing her new single “Good Girl” from her brand new album “Blown Away” which is currently at the top of the Billboard Country albums chart and all-genre 200 albums chart.  The 2012 Billboard Music Awards will air tonight from Las Vegas on ABC at 7pm.

NBC

As the 37th season of ‘Saturday Night Live‘ came to a close this weekend, so did Kristen Wiig‘s seven-year run on the show. It was an emotional moment for the cast, who all got up at the end to say their tearful goodbyes to the veteran funny girl.

Being that May is the time when high school and college seniors are donning their cap and gowns, so too did the ‘SNL’ actors. Led by host Mick Jagger, Andy Samberg, Fred Armisen and the rest of the gang each took the stage alongside Wiig to send her off into the world with a spotlight dance to “She’s Like a Rainbow.”

It wasn’t until Bill Hader came up that Wiig started to let the tears fly, which was when the rest of us watching at home did as well. In addition, former ‘SNL’ members, like Amy Poehler and Rachel Dratch, all came back to celebrate all she has done for the show.

We’re all going to miss her Patricia Krentcil, Lisa Minnelli, Jamie Lee Curtis, Suze Orman and all her other spot-on impressions. Thanks for the good times, Kristen Wiig.

Source: TheFW.com

Christopher Polk, Getty Images

We’ve already shown you Jason Aldean‘s role in the new star-studded Mountain Dew commercial. But now, the ‘Fly Over States’ hitmaker is featured in a 18-second solo spot, during which he (quickly) talks about how he does country music. Or, should we say how he ‘Dews’ country music?

The short clip is devoted entirely to Aldean, who admits that he treats his live shows like a two-hour party. As if that’s any surprise! Dubbed over clips of Aldean jumping, kicking, and rocking out in front of his fans (who are rightfully going crazy from his star power), the country star says, “To me, being a musician is about giving those fans the best show I could possibly give them.”

That’s the country version of Mountain Dew’s ‘DeWeezy’ campaign, which was rolled out this year at South by Southwest. The entire campaign brings together hip-hop artists, country stars, NASCAR racers, skateboarders and snowboarders under one united cause: drinking Mountain Dew and how awesome it is. So far, the 30-second TV spot has been successful at bringing together people of all interests and backgrounds.

Lil Wayne, Mac Miller, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Paul Rodriguez Jr., Theotis Beasley and Danny Davis also appear in the full-length commercial, but this bit is solely Aldean — just like you like it.

Watch How Jason Aldean ‘Dews’ in New Mountain Dew Commercial

Source: TasteofCountry.com

Hulton Archive, Getty Images / Folger Shakespeare Library

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history:

1609 – Shakespeare’s sonnets are first published (More info)

1873 – Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a US patent for blue jeans with copper rivets (More info)

1932 – Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic (More info)

1956 – The first US airborne hydrogen bomb is dropped over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean (More info)

1983 – The first publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS appear in the journal ‘Science’ (More info)

Rob Carr, Getty Images

I’ll Have Another won the 137th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimilico Race Track in Baltimore on Saturday to become the first horse since 2008 to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown. In a near-repeat of May 5th’s Kentucky Derby, jockey Mario Gutierrez brought I’ll Have Another from behind to pass favored Bodemeister and win the Preakness by a neck in a time of 1:55.94. Creative Cause finished third.

Trained by Doug O’Neill and owned by J. Paul Reddam, I’ll Have Another will run at the Belmont in New York on June 9 in attempt to become the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978. Eleven other horses have won the first two legs of the Triple Crown since Affirmed’s title 34 years ago. The last was Big Brown in 2008.

A 2-1 favorite, Bodemeister set a blistering pace and led the race until I’ll Have Another sprinted down the homestretch to win in front of a crowd of approximately 115,000. I’ll Have Another paid $8.40 to win, $3.80 to place and $2.80 to show. Bodemeister returned $3.20 to place and $2.80 to show, and Creative Cause paid $3.60 to show.