Asher Among Six Selected Into KY Sports Hall of Fame
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Photo: Coady Photography
John Asher
The late John Asher, an Eclipse Award-winning journalist who became a popular Churchill Downs executive, is among six individuals selected as the 2021 class of the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame fueled by the Kentucky Lottery. The announcement was made July 15 at a press briefing at Freedom Hall by the Louisville Sports Commission, owners and operators of the KSHOF.
Also honored along with Asher are Dwane Casey, Romeo Crennel, Rachel Komisarz Baugh, Keith Madison, and Elmore Smith—all with strong Kentucky connections that made outstanding contributions to sports.
The 2021 KSHOF class members and their families will be honored Sept. 7 at the Galt House Hotel in downtown Louisville, Ky.
A native of Leitchfield, Ky., Asher was a well-known sports journalist and public relations expert who parlayed an award-winning career in radio news into a public relations position at Churchill Downs and recognition as an expert on the Kentucky Derby. For 20 years (1997-2018), he was one of the most important public relations professionals in Thoroughbred racing, rising to the level of vice president of racing communications at Churchill Downs while earning numerous awards for his work in the industry.
He died in August 2018 at age 62.
Later that year, he was honored posthumously with the Big Sport of Turfdom Award from the Turf Publicists of America.