The grounds of historic Churchill Downs features statues of figures essential to the track and its signature race, the Kentucky Derby: Aristides, the first victor; Barbaro, the fan favorite; and two men seated on benches, one talking and the other listening, beckoning visitors to eavesdrop on their conversation. Captured in bronze are two names synonymous with the run for the roses: Col. Matt Winn, the man who made the Derby bigger than Kentucky, and John Asher, the man whose love of both echoed Winn’s and touched the people around him.

More than five years after his sudden passing, John Asher lives on in the sport he cherished, his love of family, friends, and the Kentucky Derby and its home his lasting legacy.

Bluegrass, Through and Through

Asher at the 2018 Kentucky Derby draw. (Coady Photography)

Born in Leitchfield, Ky., about 75 miles south of Churchill Downs, Asher grew up on his family’s farm where the closest he got to racing was watching it on television. The first Derby that caught his attention was Proud Clarion’s 1967 come-from-behind victory. From there, Asher followed the sport more closely, listening to race calls on the radio and relishing the Daily Racing Forms that his aunt and uncle gave him. At age 13, he begged his parents for permission to go to the track for a day and rode a Greyhound bus to visit the historic space, an experience that sealed his passion for racing.

Asher brought that passion into his broadcasting career. After graduating with a journalism degree from Western Kentucky University, he went to work for radio stations in Bowling Green and then Louisville, his knowledge of the Derby making him a natural fit for covering the race each year. When a position in the Churchill Downs communications department opened up, Asher went from radio to corporate communications to track publicist and became the face and the voice of the Kentucky Derby, sharing his joy in America’s biggest race.

His unexpected death in August 2018 left the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs without a beloved Derby ambassador and many who knew him bereft of a friend.

A Friend to All

Those who knew him best, like Darren Rogers, senior director of communications at Churchill Downs, and Travis Stone, track announcer, remember Asher for his booming voice and ebullient personality. “I think a great word to describe John is infectious. He always had a smile on his face,” Rogers shared. “When John walked into a room, he just commanded a presence. And you couldn't help but be drawn to him.”

Asher and Rogers with Kentucky Derby trophy in 2018. (Coady Photography)

Stone remembers the former broadcaster having “a very distinctive voice. He really had a voice for radio. Just a big booming voice but it was also comforting. He had a way of sounding extremely intelligent particularly about Churchill and the Derby. It just felt natural like you'd been talking to him for years.”

As a spokesman for the historic racetrack, Asher not only worked with the media, but also with the people behind the scenes. His relationship with those closest to the horses garnered him respect.

Hall of Fame journalist Steve Haskin remembers that “they [trainers] wouldn't pull any punches, they wouldn't lie to him or keep the truth in some way from him. And he just laid out everything right there.”

“It was all out of respect,” Haskin continued. “They knew John, they knew his position, and they knew him personally over the years and he always gave every trainer every break. Never anything controversial with John because they always leveled with him.”

Asher also was generous to those around him, helping wherever he could. “I had an internship at Churchill Downs for the Breeders’ Cup 1994. I had a job opportunity for a broadcast results coordinator [in Los Angeles],” Rogers remembered. “John was working at WHAS radio at the time, and John invited me to the radio station into one of the studios to cut a demo tape [for the job]. He helped me make that audition tape and I got the job.”

For 20 years, Asher gave of his time and his energy to those he knew and made the nation’s greatest race his life’s work.

A Devotion to Derby

His love of Churchill’s signature race infused Asher’s approach to his work. “[John] always had such great respect for the race and for the history of the race and for what it means to racing, what it means to Louisville. And it just came out of his pores. You sensed it about him,” sportswriter and friend Tom Law remembered.

The statues of Col. Matt Winn and John Asher at Churchill Downs. (Coady Photography)

Not only did he love the race, but he also appreciated the Thoroughbreds at the center of it. “He loved all the stories. He loved the back stories, he loved the horse. First and foremost, he always preached, ‘let's do what's right and protect the horse,’ ” Rogers shared about his beloved co-worker.

His devotion brought Asher comparisons with Col. Matt Winn, the legendary promoter who helped mold the Derby into what it is today. Asher embraced the parallels. “Col. Matt Winn was his idol. And what a great promoter he was,” Rogers said of his friend. “He viewed himself as an extension of that, often asking himself, what would Col. Matt Winn do? I think Col. Winn would be very proud of what this Derby looks like.”

It is in the spirit of that devotion that Churchill Downs commissioned the bronzes of these two titanic figures in the run for the roses’ history. Whenever someone walks by, “you see [John] and Matt Winn having a conversation. So well done. Because like all art, it makes you think and ponder, right?” Stone observed. “And you're thinking, ‘I wonder what they're talking about.’ ”

Probably swapping stories and sharing their Derby favorites, watching over their beloved race and place forever.

In honor of the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby May 4 at Churchill Downs, America’s Best Racing will be taking a look at some of the people who helped make the first jewel of U.S. Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown one of the most important horse races in the world.

John Asher in his office at Churchill Downs in Louisville in February 2015. (BloodHorse Library/Bill Luster photo)