Cash Asmussen

Few jockeys have ever come so far so fast. Keith Asmussen, the son of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, has been riding full time for less than two years, but has already snagged mounts in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks and sits in second-place in the jockey standings at Oaklawn Park. Asmussen, who will ride Just Steel (Justify) in the Derby and Lemon Muffin (Collected) in the Oaks for trainer Wayne Lukas, joined the TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland this week to discuss his...

A Sunday afternoon in August, back in the 1970s, and a student at U.C. Davis is trying to catch up on his history notes ahead of his final semester. There's a knock at the door. Two girls. "They wanted to know if my roommate Morgan was home," remembers David Fiske. "He was not. Asked if my roommate Jeff was home. He was not. Asked if my roommate Pat was home. He was not." Nothing else for it, so they wondered if Fiske would like to come along to a party....

It was back in the late seventies and early eighties, well before Steve Asmussen had his trainer's license, that the foundation was being set for what was to become a historic career. He was studying under his parents, Keith and Marilyn Asmussen, the multi-talented Texas-based team that did a little bit of everything, including breaking dozens of babies that would go on to stardom on the racetrack. Their youngest son, just a teenager then, saw what it took to be successful, the can't-miss combination of hard work, skill, devotion to...

Former jockey Cash Asmussen is the owner of a Hong Kong International Races-related accomplishment that will never be surpassed. Asmussen, who remains hands-on at the age of 58 at the Asmussen Horse Center in South Texas trying to raise the next generation of equine stars, has not only called the shots aboard a couple of rare American-bred HKIR winners, but shortly after his retirement in 2001, he also helped select a Keeneland September yearling on behalf of the Hong Kong Jockey Club who would go on to create history. Heady...