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D. Wayne Lukas selects Keith Asmussen as driver for the first Kentucky Derby

story April 19, 2024
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Tucked away in his tack room in Barn 44 at Churchill Downs, D. Wayne Lukas occasionally makes and receives calls on his flip cell phone.

“I just want to say hello and goodbye,” he said when asked about getting a smartphone.

Lukas is preparing for his first Kentucky Derby appearance since 2018 with Just Steel next month. Despite his opposition to modern telephones, Lukas' horse racing legacy spans decades. Derby preparations are routine, having trained four Derby-winning horses between 1988 and 1999.

Although Lukas is used to the hustle and bustle, jockey Keith Asmussen will be aboard Just Steel for his first Kentucky Derby.

“He’s not the first young man that I’ve helped a little bit from a coaching or driver perspective,” Lukas said of Asmussen. “This could be our legacy.”

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Lukas caused a stir at the beginning of the month.

On Sunday he was the first in his stable, but to his dismay the door wasn't open. Not everyone gets up at 3:30 a.m. to go to work – and especially not someone who turns 89 in early September.

With a few concessions, the long-time coach can keep up with the younger men in the sport. When Lukas gets on a horse to train, he uses a step to help him.

“I used to think I was John Wayne. I just stood up and turned around,” said Lukas. “Now it’s getting very difficult to get my leg over my back. I'm not embarrassed. I have a few people making sure I get out, and once I'm on, I'm fine. And I ride good horses.”

Retirement is not an option any time soon. Lukas' competitive nature doesn't let him get away with it. He also takes the approach that if you don't use it, you lose it.

“I'll tell you what I found out: I think if I don't do this, my health and everything else will quickly start to falter,” Lukas said. “I think it stimulates me. I had to take a day off work to come here. I felt terrible. The sofa and the TV are quite a pull, but I don’t let it.”

After training quarter horses in the 1960s, Lukas switched to thoroughbreds.

The first Kentucky Derby Museum Lifetime Achievement Award winner has 14 Triple Crown racing victories. He jokes that he stopped working on his resume a long time ago. What motivates him now is selflessness.

“My entire focus is on enabling my clients to enjoy and experience the winner’s circle experience and owning a Derby horse,” he said. “Everything we do now – and this is what I preached about the help and everything else – is to put our customers in a position of prominence or comfort. I was there, sang “My Old Kentucky Home” and experienced everything. I want to win another one, but I want to win it for my people.”

Curb the excitement

Asmussen doesn't let himself get too excited.

He's been to the Derby before as a spectator, but being on horse racing's biggest stage as a jockey will be a new experience. Derby 150 takes it to a new level.

Asmussen must maintain a careful balance between excitement and focus before the big day. Jareth Loveberry, who finished second to Mage in the 2023 Derby with Two Phil's, repeated that opposite him.

“He said, with these big events, big races, it's so easy to just have tunnel vision, you kind of get clouded by the nerves and you worry about it,” Asmussen recalled Loveberry saying. “You don’t want to do a lot of interviews and you kind of keep to yourself because you’re so nervous. He says at the end of the day it's a spectacular thing to experience. So just try to get it all together.”

Asmussen's Derby debut comes nearly four years after his first career win at Lone Star Park in Texas, his home state. He took a two-year break from racing to complete his master's degree in business administration at the University of Texas.

He celebrated his first win of 2023 with Papa Rocket, trained by Lukas, at Oaklawn Park. In December at Oaklawn, he surpassed his father and Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who trains Derby contender Track Phantom, with 64 career wins.

The Asmussen family legacy also includes Keith Asmussen's Uncle Cash, a five-time champion in France, winner of the Eclipse Award and currently a Bloodstock agent. And his grandfather, also named Keith, was a jockey and friends with Lukas.

Being around horses all his life and having that family pedigree is what's helping the third-generation jockey ahead of the biggest race of his budding career.

“Someone asks you what you do for fun? I think, um, watch replays,” Keith said. “I'm totally into it. I’m a 100% jockey.”

Derby 150

Lukas didn't choose Asmussen to ride Lemon Muffin in the Oaks and Just Steel in the Derby because both have master's degrees. However, they would likely be the first trainer-jockey with a master's degree if they won the Derby.

Lukas chose Asmussen because of his upbringing, calling the 25-year-old “polished” and “gracious.” Lukas also believes that the aspiring jockey is a good fit for him.

“One thing I like about it is that he’s not going to embarrass us whether we win or not,” Lukas said. “He has class. I always worry about some of the riders as they rise to prominence. As riders who have won a Derby, sometimes they go off the beaten path.”

Having an iconic family legacy and the support of a respected coach means the world to Asmussen, who admittedly can think about it emotionally.

“I obviously haven't been in this role very long,” Asmussen said, “and to have someone like Wayne Lukas, who has literally made the sport what it is, and has been around longer than we've been alive.” It is beyond invigorating when he gives you his trust and confidence on the biggest stage possible.”

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at [email protected] and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.

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