Living the Dream

Editor's note: BloodHorse's Ron Mitchell profiled John Asher in the May 2, 2015 edition of the magazine, in a story that looked at how Asher's love of horse racing grew and how he made the journey from growing up on a farm in Leitchfield, Ky. to working in communications at the home of the Kentucky Derby (G1). Asher died Aug. 27 at age 62 (for obituary, click here).

Every day when John Asher arrives at work at Churchill Downs and sees the Twin Spires he is instantly taken back to the day he first set foot on the grounds of the historic racetrack that hosts America’s most famous horse race.

“No matter which way I walk in (to the track), the first time I see those Twin Spires it never fails that I think of that moment I came here and saw them for the first time,” Asher, who joined Churchill in 1997, said while trolling the barn area one spring morning. “And it’s still amazing to me I’m able to play a role in it.”

Asher, 59, has done more than “play a role in it.” Although he wears many hats as Churchill’s vice president of racing communications—including coordinating the racing publicity and media functions—in reality Asher is the “face” of Churchill Downs, especially during the lead up to the Kentucky Derby (G1).

In addition to organizing the standard communications and publicity fare of promoting the track’s special events, compiling barn notes, and making sure race notes are written, Asher represents Churchill Downs in a professional and knowledgeable way on radio, television, and social media.

According to Churchill Downs Racetrack president Kevin Flanery, Asher is more than the track’s spokesman.

“He is our resident historian, our public voice, the keeper of Churchill Downs’ legacy, and one of my closest advisers,” Flanery said. “His obvious passion for the sport, the horse, and the Kentucky Derby transcends titles such as ‘publicist.’

“He is not just an asset for Churchill Downs, but the entire Thoroughbred industry. On a personal note, no one can find a better friend and confidant than I have found in John Asher. I have been fortunate that my time as president of Churchill Downs coincides with John’s service.”

Asher, who with his wife, Dee, has three daughters, is active in community affairs for which he has received numerous honors, including being named “Volunteer of the Year” in 2004 by the Kentuckiana Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International. He also received the Western Kentucky University “Summit Award” for volunteerism in 2008.

Asher was raised on his grandmother’s farm near Leitchfield, Ky., about 75 miles from Louisville, where the only horse was the one that pulled the plow. Like countless other Kentucky families, the Ashers were a “racing family” one day a year when they would gather around the television to watch the Derby.

The first Derby Asher really remembers paying much attention to was the 1967 edition when Darby Dan Farm’s 30-1 shot Proud Clarion circled the field and won a stretch battle with Barbs Delight for a one-length triumph.

Noting that the “light bulb went off in my head,” Asher began to watch a weekly racing television show that aired in the Louisville market and also listened to legendary announcer Cawood Ledford’s call of the feature race of the day on WHAS radio when Churchill was racing. It was not long before Asher was hooked.

“I fell in love with it and had the opportunity to learn more about it,” said Asher, noting that Steve and Dorothy Harris, his aunt and uncle who lived in Louisville, saved copies of the Daily Racing Form for him. Asher’s first visit to Churchill came on his 13th birthday in November 1969. 

“I told my mom, ‘I’ve got to go (to Churchill),’ ” Asher recalled. “She drove, but only a little. So she took me to Elizabethtown (about 30 miles from Leitchfield) and put me on a Greyhound bus. My aunt and uncle met me in Louisville and took me to the track.

“We drove through Gate 10 and that was the first time I saw the Twin Spires and I’ll never forget it. I remember everything about that day. I remember my heels hitting the bricks, and I remember the first horse I ever bet was that day.”

Despite being too young to make a wager legally, Asher found a willing clerk to punch out a mutuel ticket on Demito in the eighth race. 

“He was a gray horse, and I chickened out on betting him to win. I bet him to show and he won; I finished the day up a quarter. But it was one of the greatest days of my life. I think about it every day.”

Asher majored in journalism at Western Kentucky University, leaving one course shy of a degree that he later attained, and launched a successful career in radio broadcasting, first in Bowling Green and then in Louisville.

As a result of his knowledge of horses and racing, it was a natural for Asher to be assigned Derby coverage that first year in the state’s largest market.

“I will never forget standing outside the Kentucky Oaks (G1) barn at my first Derby in 1982, and the first guy I interviewed was Charlie Whittingham. I asked myself, ‘How in the world am I standing here and he is actually answering my questions?’ ”

After a short stint in Louisville with WAVE, Asher joined WHAS, where he became a visible presence of that station’s Derby and Churchill Downs coverage. His distinctive (deep) broadcaster’s voice became synonymous with the Derby, and soon listeners did not have to hear the identification of the speaker to know who it was.

Just as Asher’s reporting and broadcasting skills resonated with the public, his abilities and talents resulted in numerous awards, including five Eclipse Awards for “Outstanding National Radio Coverage of Thoroughbred Racing.” He was honored seven times by the Associated Press as Kentucky radio’s “best reporter” in large-market radio. And later he also received the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners’ Warner L. Jones Jr. Horseman of the Year award and the Charles W. Engelhard Award for excellence in media coverage from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders. 

When a position opened up within the Churchill communications department, Asher parlayed the goodwill he had built over the years and was hired, first handling corporate communications before transitioning into racing. Track publicists walk a fine line between trying to impart accurate information to the media and public while appeasing management, which wants to accentuate the positive and downplay the negative.

Asher acknowledged that criticism from some Derby owners about treatment and cost of seating last year (in 2014) was somewhat warranted and that the track reacted responsibly. New to this year’s Derby is a special seating area in a prime location for Derby owners.

“Last year was definitely an interesting year, especially around Derby time. We had fires cropping up all the time,” Asher said. “Some of them weren’t our fault, and some of them were. I will guarantee we have improved from that. We had comments from some owners, and though some of them were painful, I’m glad they said it. We’ve improved some things since then…It’s not that we didn’t work for that beforehand, but some of the things that were really valid last year we sat back and took a look at and said what can we do better. So we’re trying some things this year and see if they work.”

As it is with other track publicists, part of Asher’s first duties involve contacting trainers about plans for their horses, a task that he prefers to do in person by walking the backside whenever possible rather than just calling the individual. It did not take long for those on the backstretch to come to use Asher as a sounding board, especially for complaints or concerns about issues facing the racetrack community.

Although Asher is in the office more now than in his early career at Churchill, he still makes a point to get out to the backside many mornings, especially during Derby week.

“I spend way more time in the office than I’d like to,” Asher said as he greeted trainers, jockeys, and others on his morning barn walk. “One great thing about my job is that level of trust I’ve built over the years with the men and women back here (on the backstretch). If they have a worry or a suggestion, I tell them I’ll deliver it and I always do. I carry a notepad and write them down. You get to hear a few opinions every morning. That’s one of my favorite things. As much as I love the racing in the afternoons and as much as I love Derby Day, there is nothing like being back here early in the morning.”

Asher has seen many great horses during his Churchill days, but it was a non-racing event—a 1999 panel discussion on the history of the Kentucky Derby at the Museum of Natural History in New York City—that had the most impact on him.

“I was the moderator and there was no video of it,” Asher said of the event that included many prominent connections to Derby winners. “It was an incredible night. I stood there, and looking at that audience, I thought about growing up where I did as a kid so far removed from Thoroughbred racing and on top of that a chubby kid who was afraid to talk…I’ve had a lot of magical moments here, but I don’t think I’ve had a more magical moment than that.”

Despite his love affair with Churchill, Asher said he would consider another opportunity if one came up “that would keep me involved within the industry, because I love the track and I love the industry…if there were another position that popped up where I could contribute to the industry, I might think about it.

“I’ve had other opportunities since I’ve been here and two of them were dream jobs in my old business of radio. But I turned them down both times. On one, I was close and I walked through the infield and just looked up at the Twin Spires and said, ‘Can I leave this?’ And the answer was ‘No.’ ”

Others might say Asher has a dream job, being able to go to one of America’s most famous tracks each day and see incredible horses, but he does not embrace the notion.

“I never could have said I dreamed of working here because it was too fantastic to even think about,” he said. “It’s better than a dream. However long it lasts, it’s like when a horse gives you its best, it owes you nothing. Sometimes I feel that way.”