mike tirico will be hosting live from churchill downs and he joins us now the fastest two minutes in a big field too, mike >> good to catch up with you 19 horses. typically the field is maxed at 20 but we've had a series of scratches that have made news. i'm sure a lot of folks watching are up to date on what's going on the favorite forte is still in the race be. but this is not a year where there is a super horse as the favorite you'll see a widespread of the money bet on horses to win coming in this year. >> three horses are under 10-1 odds so it does feel like it's anybody's race >> it does and then you've got this other factor called "it's the derby. the reminder for me the last seven years of covering this, is the perspective of this event. this is the only time these horse also run with as many horses, in this case, 19 the only time they'll run in front of 150,000 people and the first time they will run a mile and a quarter. so that provides a series of unnopes. and you can't talk to the horse and find out how training has gone >> speaking of last year, rich strike, 80-1 long s

." >> very cool >>> just ahead, we have our buddy, mike tirico right here.hoda where? where? tell me! >> on nbc! >> but first, a check of your local news and weather ♪♪ >>> good morning to you. it is 8:8:26. i'm marcuss washshington. the ausustralian b based furnit store e cocoa repupublic is t t latetest to abandon san frfranc. the storere i in stocktonon wile by july after opening less than a year ago. the company cites safety concerns and lack of foot traffic, which never recovered after the pandemic. that means it will sit vacant. this is all steps from the macy's at union square. time for a look at our forecast. >>> looks pretty good for today. it's going to warm up in some spots with low 70s. low 80s tomorrow, hitting 90 degrees on saturday. make sure whatever plans you have in the lavl for the weekend, will include air-conditioning and shade. we're also going to watching for a slight chance of isolated thunderstorms on sunday into monday and some slightly lower temperatures for the middle of next week. san francisco is going to be the place to be as w

dylan, you look beautiful this morning she's live at iconic churchill downs along with our buddy mike tiricothis day for a long time and let's jump right into the horses here. the two favorites fortay and tap it are we watching the horses or the trainer? >> a little bit of both. todd fletcher is a trainer, he's in the hall of fame eight times he's been voted the top trainer in horse racing. this is the first time he is the favorite in forte watching that horse very closely took a misstep on the track earlier this week. so a lot of attention on him leading up to the derby. and then tap it happens to be my pick >> it was mine too >> see, there you go >> another horse that has all the things you would see in a horse that has a chance to win the kentucky derby >> i picked when it was 20 to 1 odds it's been a wild 24 hours. three horses have been scratched from the derby so there's been three replacements is that typical? >> no, it is not we're seeing more of that. and one of them came with a little bit of controversy, lord miles is a horse that was scratched. his trainer was suspended. he had a

if there is a major sporting event in the united states of america, mike tirico has a front seat to it it is your fifth. what is it about this event that makes it such a spectacle? >> reporter: craig, it is one of a kind think of 325,000 people. that's michigan stadium in ann arbor times three. all around this track, we will be on the track for our pre-race show at 11:00 a.m. sunday. a quarter mile in each direction. all you see are people there is no event like it. it is so personal to the folks in the heartland here, in indianapolis i have been to 45. they love this event embrace it it's a one-of-a-kind spectacle >> isn't there a woman driver who is in this field of drivers, mike >> reporter: there are 33 drivers. it will be the ninth woman to drive the indy 500 though, she did it a couple times before we've been looking at some of the folks who might be favorites in this rare, marcus ericsson. the first six drivers represent six different countries, including a young guy from connecticut, long hair, looks like a race car driver it will be an exciting day with a lot of familiar names