Most horse guys will know him,sad news: John Asher, the vice president of racing communications at Churchill Downs Racetrack — the site of the annual Kentucky Derby in Louisville — died at age 62 on Monday after suffering an apparent heart attack.Asher was vacationing with his family in Florida at the time, Churchill Downs said in a press release on Monday.
“To say that racing has lost one of its giants with the passing of John Asher does not begin to capture the impact this man has had and will continue to have on the Churchill Downs family,” Kevin Flanery, president of Churchill Downs, said in a statement. “His passion for the Kentucky Derby, horse racing, his WKU Hilltoppers, great music, and above all else his loving family was genuine and infectious. Racing has lost an icon.”
Continued Flanery, “I, and many others, have lost a kind and generous friend. We will miss John’s laugh, his unmistakable voice, and his unique storytelling. Our hearts and prayers are with his wife Dee, his daughters Heather, Erin and Emma and his grandsons, Cameron and Caden.”
Asher worked as a radio journalist and a publicist before starting at Churchill Downs in 1997.
“To say that racing has lost one of its giants with the passing of John Asher does not begin to capture the impact this man has had and will continue to have on the Churchill Downs family,” Kevin Flanery, president of Churchill Downs, said in a statement. “His passion for the Kentucky Derby, horse racing, his WKU Hilltoppers, great music, and above all else his loving family was genuine and infectious. Racing has lost an icon.”
Continued Flanery, “I, and many others, have lost a kind and generous friend. We will miss John’s laugh, his unmistakable voice, and his unique storytelling. Our hearts and prayers are with his wife Dee, his daughters Heather, Erin and Emma and his grandsons, Cameron and Caden.”
Asher worked as a radio journalist and a publicist before starting at Churchill Downs in 1997.
