LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The horse racing community is saying goodbye to John Asher, the long-time Churchill Downs spokesman who died last month.
A bugler played My Old Kentucky Home as a hearse carrying Asher drove onto the historic track Tuesday morning. Escorted by outriders on ponies, the hearse made a mile-and-a-quarter trip around the oval -- the length of the Kentucky Derby. It paused at the finish line as dozens of Churchill employees watched from the rail.
Asher died last month of a heart attack at the age of 62. He was a reporter at WHAS Radio before joining Churchill Downs in 1997.
A public visitation is Tuesday until 8 p.m. in the Triple Crown Room at Churchill Downs. The funeral is Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Assumption in downtown Louisville.