HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – When D. Wayne Lukas met Keith Asmussen at a South Dakota racetrack more than 60 years ago, neither could have imagined Asmussen’s grandson would be attempting to give Lukas his fifth win in the Kentucky Derby. “We were trying to make ends meet, let alone make a living,” Asmussen said. But that is the latest chapter in the interwoven history of two families whose stature in racing has reached legendary heights. The newest wrinkle played out this winter at Oaklawn Park, where jockey Keith James Asmussen guided Lukas trainee Just Steel to a runner-up finish in the Grade 1, $1.5 million Arkansas Derby on March 30. It gave Just Steel the points needed to secure a spot in the starting gate for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. It also earned the 25-year-old Asmussen a mount who will be competing against the Fair Grounds-prepped Track Phantom, trained by his father, Hall of Fame horseman Steve Asmussen. The father-son duo has won 96 races together since Keith James’s first career mount in 2020 – numbers that would suggest the rider’s first Kentucky Derby mount was more likely to be for his father rather than a fellow Hall of Famer in Lukas. “I’m sure it’s in line with what people would think, that my first Derby mount would have been for my father,” Keith James said. “But that’s just kind of how blessed I am, being surrounded by horses of this talent level, and in addition to the horses, exceptional horsemen in D. Wayne Lukas and my father.” :: DRF Kentucky Derby Package: Save on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. And so it will be The Coach – a nickname for the 88-year-old Lukas – and The Kid together in the Kentucky Derby. Keith James teamed with Just Steel for the first time in the Arkansas Derby, and the pair rallied home at 32-1. “He had options in the Arkansas Derby, and he chose correctly,” Steve Asmussen, who started three runners in the race, said of Keith James. “Lukas has the pony. What do you want to say? He’s got the right horse for him.” Keith James, who has a master’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas, had some familiarity with Just Steel prior to the Arkansas Derby. “I was lucky enough to get to work him multiple times before the race,” he said. “I had actually worked him once before the Smarty Jones and always thought the world of him – been super impressed with his ability, his talent, and his mindset.” Lukas says much the same about Keith James, who he feels is the right rider for Just Steel in the Kentucky Derby. “He rides a very intelligent race,” Lukas said. “With a 20-horse field in the Derby, and he’s getting along with that horse, I just thought it would be a good fit. I want somebody who will make intelligent decisions in a 20-horse field. There’s always some decisions that make or break you there, and his confidence is sky-high.” Keith James is in the midst of the best meet of his career, with 54 wins at Oaklawn through April 27 for mount earnings of $4.3 million. He surpassed a personal goal he set of 50 wins, and ranks second in the standings. “It is amazing how well he has put his mounts in position to win, to have a chance,” said Steve Asmussen, the meet’s leading trainer. “It is just smooth trip after smooth trip after smooth trip, which is not that easy to do.” Grandfather Keith, now 82, has been impressed by the same skill. An accomplished Quarter Horse jockey in his day, he operates a renowned training center in Laredo, Texas, with wife, Marilyn, and son Cash, the Eclipse Award winner turned five-time champion jockey in France. Keith Asmussen is looking forward to being at Churchill to watch Keith James ride. “He’s riding awfully good,” Keith said. “I think he’s placing his horses very, very well. And he doesn’t interfere with a horse. He’s real smooth with his hands.” Keith first met Lukas at Park Jefferson racetrack in South Dakota. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  “It was the year I got married,” Keith recalled. “The first time I met him we were both training. I had a busted-up leg or something and we were running at P.J. And then the following year, I got back sound enough to ride and I think in Denver I started riding for him. I had first call with him for a couple of years, with Quarter Horses, and we’ve been associated back and forth for that many years. Wayne’s been one of my very best friends for 63 years.” Lukas said he and the Asmussens decided to leave the smaller circuit for new opportunities. “We packed up everything in our pickups that we owned – and you could get it all in a pickup – and we went to Claremore, Oklahoma,” Lukas said. “Now we were right in the middle of all the Quarter Horse racing. “We got in there and November came along and December came along and it was bitter cold and we were sitting around most of the day waiting for the track to thaw out so we could train. We were all sitting around a giant pot-belly stove and I said, ‘Why are we here? We need to go where it’s warm.’ And Keith said, ‘They just opened a track in Laredo, Texas.’ We loaded the pickups up again and away we go.” About a year later, Lukas left for El Paso, Texas, while Keith and Marilyn decided to settle in Laredo. The personal and professional association continued. At one point, Lukas used his skills as a former college basketball coach to regularly wrap an injured leg of Keith’s so he would be ready to ride the favorite in the All American Futurity. And later on, there would be more ties. “Cash Asmussen was the best man at my son Jeff’s wedding,” Lukas said. “That’s how close the families are.” Keith James was born in Arlington, Texas, and is the oldest of Steve and his wife Julie’s three sons. Darren Asmussen, 23, is the second oldest, while Erik Asmussen, 21, is an apprentice jockey at Lone Star Park near Arlington. Julie, a South Dakota native from the same town as Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, will be somewhat like NFL mom Donna Kelce on Saturday in that she will be cheering for opposing teams in the Derby. She said she is proud of Keith James. “He’s riding incredibly well,” she said, noting he’s also secured a Kentucky Oaks mount on Lukas trainee Lemon Muffin. “It is his passion and his love, and I support him 100 percent. I couldn’t be more excited for him and what he’s doing. It’s just phenomenal.” Keith James not only gets the riding bug from his father’s side of the family, but also from Julie, whose rodeo skills earned her a college scholarship. “I grew up on a ranch,” she said. “I rodeoed. I never rode races. I did barrel racing. When Steve and I dated and we were first married, I would pony horses for him, or take jockeys to the pole. I did know how to ride and I did know a little bit about horses, but not the racetrack. I had to learn all that from Steve.” Steve Asmussen said Keith James is ready for the moment at hand next Saturday. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. “He’s been very involved in it at this level his entire life and there’s something to be said for that,” he said. “I don’t believe any of this is surprising to him. He has been privy to every one of the conversations that pertain to racing at this level and knows what the plan was going in and has watched extremely talented riders before him execute it.” Now, it’s Keith James’s turn. “It’s impossible not to have confidence in a horse like this,” he said of Just Steel, who races for BC Stables. “And to be able to do this with Mr. Lukas, it just makes it all the more special. Our families are pretty intertwined and have been for a long time.” And next Saturday, they could make more racing history together. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.