LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Across its 150-year existence, the Kentucky Derby has produced so many storybook results that people have ascribed near-mythical status to the event. Destiny is frequently invoked when lifelong dreams are achieved on the first Saturday in May. References routinely are made to blessings—or curses—from the “Derby gods.” When logical explanations are lacking, the outcome of a two-minute horse race sometimes seems to be guided by unseen hands.
If you believe that such an aura hovers over this race, maybe an untimely death in 2018 is a plausible explanation for how America’s oldest continuous sporting event has gone from storybook to surreal. Perhaps the passing of John Asher—Churchill Downs’ beloved ambassador of Derby cheer—has thrown the Run for the Roses off its karmic bearings.
