John Asher, 62; Churchill Downs track spokesman

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — John Asher’s devotion to the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs and horse racing were obvious anytime he was asked about those subjects, often weaving them together in entertaining tales.

Asher, the longtime Churchill Downs spokesman and executive known for his love of horse racing and his encyclopedic knowledge of the sport’s most famous race, the Kentucky Derby, died Monday. He was 62.

Asher, who was an award-winning radio journalist before becoming a widely respected fixture at the Louisville racetrack, died after having a heart attack while on vacation with his family in Florida, Churchill Downs said in a release.

His death comes a couple of weeks before the storied track opens its September meet. Churchill will host the season-ending Breeders’ Cup World Championships in November.

The track called Asher “an irreplaceable ambassador” in confirming his death.

“John Asher was the soul of Churchill Downs,” track president Kevin Flanery said at a news conference. “That’s what he was. He was the guy whispering in your ear, whether he was in the room or not, telling you to do the right thing for racing, telling you to do the right thing for the history of the Kentucky Derby.

“As the president of the track I was always asked what it’s like to work for John Asher. It was the greatest honor of my life.”

Flanery cited Asher’s passion for the Derby, horse racing in general, music, Western Kentucky University, and especially his family, calling it “genuine and infectious.” The track president added that Churchill Downs’ iconic Twin Spires would be lit in Hilltopper red (WKU’s color) on Monday night to honor Asher.

Asher and his wife, Dee, were vacationing in Orlando, Florida, at the time of his death, Asher’s brother, Tim Asher, told the Courier Journal.

“Dee said he wasn’t feeling well, and John said, ‘I think I need to go to the hospital,’” Tim Asher told the Louisville newspaper. “They called an ambulance, and he died on the way to the hospital.”

As word of Asher’s death spread throughout the thoroughbred racing world, twotime Triple Crown winner and five-time Derby winner Bob Baffert referred to him as “the warm, human face” of Churchill Downs.

“I was always happy to see him,” Baffert wrote. “He was as Kentucky as the Derby and the bluegrass, bourbon and hot browns, and I can’t imagine Derby week without him.”