Kentucky Derby: Lukas gives young rider Asmussen a chance

Louisville, Ky.

D. Wayne Lukas remembers Keith Asmussen in diapers.

“I go way back with the family and everything in there,” the Hall of Fame trainer said Tuesday outside of his Churchill Downs barn. “His grandfather and grandmother and I are very close friends.”

Asmussen is the son of Lukas’ fellow trainer Steve Asmussen. On Saturday, he’ll ride Just Steel for Lukas in the Kentucky Derby, his first mount in the run for the roses.

The younger Asmussen took his first rides in 2020, while still a student at the University of Texas. He began riding full time after graduating with his master’s degree in 2022.

The 25-year-old rode Just Steel to a second place finish behind Muth in the Arkansas Derby (G1), qualifying for Saturday’s race. He’s won 53 races in 2024, earning $4.3 million along the way.

But to look at him, you wouldn’t think of him as a jockey.

“He’s too tall,” Lukas said. “He’s too tall. I said he needs to drop down a foot.”

During the early days of his riding career, Steve Asmussen made clear to reporters that his son was going to finish out his degree. He did that, and Lukas claimed they’re now the only trainer-jockey combo in Derby history to both have master's degrees.

Lukas said his main hope for Asmussen was to maintain composure during the big moment. He joked that the jockey would be in trouble if he started tearing up during the singing of “My Old Kentucky Home.”

For his part, Asmussen said he’d work hard to keep it together.

“Not too nervous or anxious,” he told the Kentucky HBPA. “Just given a lot of variables out of your control the week leading up to the race. There’s nothing you can do as a jockey, just going into the race preparing the same way I usually always do and just couldn’t be more excited for the experience.”

Complicating the affair is Asmussen’s father having a horse in the race. Steve has won more races than any other trainer in North America, but never the Kentucky Derby.

They’ll be competitors on Saturday, but the elder Asmussen was proud.

“I will 100 percent be concentrating on Track Phantom and what I think needs to happen for him to show his best side,” Steve Asmussen told the HBPA. “But I will periodically peek and see where Keith’s at and I wish him nothing but the best.”

Asmussen was then asked if his wife, Julie, might have opposite priorities.

“I’m going to say yes, and not be offended,” Steve said with a smile.

Just Steel holds 20-1 odds on the morning line. He’ll break from the sixth post position on Saturday.

He’ll be Lukas’ 50th horse in the Kentucky Derby. The trainer has been through quite a few jockeys for the race through the years, but compared Asmussen to one of the best, Hall of Famer Gary Stevens.

“Nobody knew who the hell he was,” Lukas said of the first time he used Stevens in the Derby in 1985 with Tank’s Prospect. “He couldn't even get mounts at Santa Anita, and here he is now in the Hall of Fame and a good one, so I don’t think I’ve given up much with Keith. I feel real good. There’s a lot of horsemanship in the background.”

Just Steel was forwardly placed in the Arkansas Derby, but Lukas wasn’t announcing any tactics for Saturday’s race. He said he was planning on leaving much of the ride to Asmussen, trusting the youngster to find the right way.

“I think he’s smart,” Lukas said. “He really rides smart. He makes very good decisions. Now, when you put those riders out there in a 20-horse field, the whole game changes. None of these horses have been in a 20-horse field. None of these riders have run 20-horse fields this year. This is all new. It gets to be an entirely different race and the jockey does become very important.”

The Derby is carded as race no. 12 Saturday at Churchill Downs and will be aired on NBC. Post time is scheduled for 6:57 p.m. EDT.