Erv Woolsey enjoying ride to Kentucky Derby with Super Stock

Early on in his career, Erv Woolsey set two goals for himself. He wanted to own a bar.

He accomplished that objective several times over and has opened watering holes from Nashville to Las Vegas to Belize.

He also wanted to own a racehorse.

Now, the man best known in the music industry as country star George Strait’s longtime manager is preparing for the Kentucky Derby as co-owner of Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Super Stock, along with Keith Asmussen.

“It’s once in a lifetime,” Woolsey said. “You know it’s a dream come true.”

The journey to the Derby began at an early age for Woolsey growing up in Texas. He first caught the bug at various county fair races and continued as a fan despite the difficulty of following racing while on tour in a pre-internet world.

“Then the cell phones came along and made everything easier,” Woolsey said. “You can do anything you want to on that, so you’d be amazed the people in the business, more people than you would think, who follow (racing) to some degree.”

Eventually he did own a racehorse. Then more than one. Then a bunch of them, through various partnerships, including with his most famous client, Strait, who eventually “kind of tired” or the endeavor.

After the Strait partnership, Woolsey continued on in the ownership ranks. Years prior, he had sent some horses to the Asmussen family farm in Laredo, Texas for rehab purposes. He then started to buy “a few horses” with Keith Asmussen, who he had become friends with.

The partnership continues with Super Stock running in the Derby. However, the horse almost didn’t make it this far with Woolsey and Asmussen. According to Keith’s son Steve, who trains the Dialed In colt, the partnership usually sells off its top horses early in the process.

However, with the Lone Star Park 2-year-old sale canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, plus the desire of Steve’s son, Keith James, to ride the colt to race, which he did, earning a maiden win at Lone Star, they held onto Super Stock.

“He’s got it,” Woolsey said of the colt. “He can take the lead and go or he can sit back around four or five and if he can find a way through he still has something left, so I’m excited.”

Steve Asmussen had high praise for Woolsey as an owner, as well as a friend of the family.

“He’s just a wonderful person to be around,” the trainer said. “It tells a lot about him that he’s got the exact same friends now as when I met him and that was a long time ago. He’s very appreciative of Super Stock and enjoying the ride.”

As for Super Stock, he comes into the Run for the Roses looking to replicate his effort in the Arkansas Derby, where he left the gate as a 12-1 underdog and hit the wire first to gain 100 points in the Kentucky Derby standings.

Woolsey was in attendance for that race, just as he will be on May 1, along with family members and business associates. If his colt gets the win, it will be a huge moment for both Woolsey along with the entire Asmussen family of whom three generations have been involved with Super Stock.

Woolsey said he could not be happier for his longtime associates.

“Keith and I and his wife Marilyn have been friends for many years,” Woolsey said. “He’s a great guy, she’s a great gal. They’re straight-up honest and it’s just fun to be around them. And Steve and his family is the same way.”

Woolsey has previously had a filly run on Churchill Downs’ biggest weekend, with Jordan’s Henny, 12th place finisher in the 2017 Kentucky Oaks. That filly was a homebred for Woolsey and his other partners.

Woolsey admitted Jordan’s Henny was likely not going to win that edition of the Oaks. However, he feels differently about Super Stock in the Derby.

“With this one I feel good,” Woolsey said. “We’ve got (Ricardo) Santana Jr. running, I think that’s wonderful… It’s going to be a fun, fun weekend.

The Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday at Churchill Downs. The race is set to draw on Tuesday.