Our People

Steve Sexton
President, Churchill Downs

Steve Sexton brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in the horse racing industry to his position as an executive vice president focusing on overall operations and as president of historic Churchill Downs. While providing oversight and guidance to all of Churchill Downs Incorporated’s (“CDI”) racing operations, Sexton also manages all of CDI’s Kentucky operations, including the home of the Kentucky Derby and Trackside Louisville, an year-round stabling and training facility that is also used for off-track betting (“OTB”). Sexton also oversees the Company’s interests in Kentucky Off-Track Betting Inc., a collection of OTB facilities owned in partnership by Kentucky’s Thoroughbred racetracks, and Kentucky Downs, a Thoroughbred racing and simulcast facility located in Franklin, Ky.

As Churchill Downs’ president, Sexton helped steer CDI’s flagship operation through its massive $121 million grandstand and clubhouse renovation, which was completed in April 2005. He also oversaw the track’s record sixth hosting of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships in November 2006.

Sexton joined the Churchill Downs management team after serving as president of Arlington Park and head of CDI’s Illinois operations since August 2001. During his tenure at Chicago’s premier racing oval, Sexton guided the Arlington team through preparations for the first Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships to be presented by an Illinois racetrack. Throughout his extensive racing career, Sexton has marketed and managed top horse racing facilities throughout the country including Santa Anita, Golden Gate Fields and Lone Star Park, which he helped establish as a new and vibrant Southern racing center.

A graduate of Claremont McKenna College, with a double major in economics and psychology, Sexton first became involved in racetrack management at Santa Anita in 1983 as sales promotion manager.

In 1985, Sexton was appointed assistant marketing director at Ladbroke's Canterbury Downs. He was promoted to assistant general manager/director of marketing for Ladbroke's Golden Gate Fields in 1986. In 1991, Sexton was appointed general manager at Thistledown.

In May 1994, he was appointed vice president/assistant general manager at Lone Star Park and was heavily involved in the start-up of the Texas racetrack. He was promoted to executive vice president and general manager there in January 2000 and served in that capacity until joining the Arlington team as executive vice president in April 2001. Sexton was promoted to president of the Arlington Heights, Ill., racetrack four months later.

James D. Gates Jr.
General Manager

A background in financial planning and analysis combined with a keen interest in horse racing and knowledge of the industry have propelled Jim Gates into the heart of Churchill Downs' management team. Gates serves as general manager and assists Steve Sexton, President, in overseeing day-to-day operational issues at Churchill Downs.

Gates had previously served as vice president of development with Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI), the parent company of Churchill Downs. In that post, he coordinated CDI's merger and acquisition activities and played a crucial role in the Company's merger with Arlington Park and its acquisitions of Hollywood Park, Calder Race Course and Ellis Park. Gates also served as the primary contact for the equity analysts who follow the Company's stock.

Gates' career at the home of the Kentucky Derby began in 1996 when he joined the Company as director of financial planning. A year later, a promotion expanded his role to include financial analysis. He was promoted to director of development in 1999 and was named vice president of development in 2000. In 2001, he was named vice president of administration for Churchill Downs racetrack, and in 2002 was promoted to acting general manager. In 2004, Gates was named general manager for Churchill Downs racetrack.

Prior to joining CDI, Gates managed an internal audit group for Providian Corporation in Louisville, Ky., and was a senior auditor for Price Waterhouse in Cincinnati.

A certified public accountant, Gates graduated with high honors from the University of Notre Dame, where he earned his master's degree in business administration. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Dayton.

A native of Louisville, Gates serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Louisville Urban League, and is on the Board of Directors of the Greater Louisville Sports Commission. Gates has also been chosen to serve on the International Events Advisory Committee for the State of Kentucky.

John Asher
Vice President, Racing Communications

John Asher, vice-president of Communications at Churchill Downs, has worked in the Thoroughbred racing industry as a journalist and a publicist for more than 20 years.

Asher joined Churchill Downs in January 1997 and has served in his current position since March 1999. In that position he oversees communications and public relations efforts at Churchill Downs, the home of the world famous Kentucky Derby and the flagship operation of Churchill Downs Incorporated.

As a radio journalist at WHAS-AM and WAVE-AM in Louisville he earned five Eclipse Awards for "Outstanding National Radio Coverage of Thoroughbred Racing" and several other awards that recognized his coverage of the horse industry. His work on other issues earned recognition that included a National Headliner Award, a Scripps-Howard Award, and honors from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Radio & Television News Directors Association and the Kentucky Broadcasters Association. The Associated Press honored Asher as the "Best Reporter" in Kentucky Large Market Radio seven times.

He was recognized in 2003 as "Public Relations Practitioner of the Year" by the Western Kentucky University School of Journalism and Broadcasting.

The native of Leitchfield, Ky. is a graduate of Western Kentucky University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Journalism.

Asher is a past president of the Turf Publicists of America and serves as vice-president of Kentucky Thoroughbred Media.

Asher is a member of the board of trustees of WLKY-32's Spirit of Louisville Foundation, which oversees the annual Bell Awards; the board of directors of the Kentuckiana Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, on which he serves as vice president of communications; the boards of directors of the Western Kentucky University Alumni Association and the Catholic Education Foundation; and the Presentation Academy board of trustees.

He lives in Louisville with his wife, Dee, and three daughters.

Raymond V. Lehr Jr.
Vice President, Track Superintendent

For evidence of the respect accorded to Butch Lehr as the track superintendent at Churchill Downs, one need only to hear what others in the racing industry say about his care of the main track and turf course at the home of the Kentucky Derby.

The Jockey's Guild, which represents the nation's jockeys, noted the safety of Churchill Downs' dirt and turf courses when it named Lehr "Track Superintendent of the Year" in 1997. In early 1998, racing officials in Dubai brought him to Nad Al Sheba Race Course to consult on the care of the sand track that is home to the $6 million Dubai World Cup and the training base for the powerful international racing operation known as Godolphin Racing.

Lehr oversees the crews that care for the 1-mile dirt oval and the 7-furlong turf course over which such graded stakes races as the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks, Early Times Turf Classic, the Stephen Foster Handicap and the Clark Handicap are run each year. Since 1988, the Breeders' Cup Championship has brought the best horses in the world to run over Lehr's tracks an unprecedented five times.

Lehr began his long affiliation with Churchill Downs in 1967 when he took a job with the track's backside crew. He learned his craft under renowned track superintendent Thurman Pangburn, who appointed Lehr as assistant track superintendent in 1976. Lehr was appointed track superintendent in 1982 and has overseen several major projects, including the resurfacing of Churchill Downs' dirt track, the construction of the $3.2-million Matt Winn Turf Course, the design and construction of the training track, and a 500-barn stabling area at Churchill Downs Sports Spectrum.

Thomas J. Schneider
Vice President, Guest Services

Thomas J. Schneider brings an extensive record of success in the hotel and hospitality industry to his new post as vice president of guest services at Churchill Downs.

The Chicago, Ill., native supervises all guest services functions at the track, including the operation of the Turf Club, premium box seats and the premium Jockey Club Suites created in the $26 million Phase I of Churchill Downs' $121 million "Master Plan" renovation. Schneider also supervises Churchill Downs' staff of guest services representatives, known to track patrons as the "red coats."

Prior to joining the home of the Kentucky Derby, Schneider served as chief operating officer with Musselman Hotels LLC of Louisville, Ky., a position he assumed in August 2001. His duties included oversight of the day-to-day operations of 26 company-owned hotels that operated under 15 different brands. Schneider was also responsible for corporate office functions, franchise relations, new project development, human resources and purchasing.

Prior to his association with Musselman Hotels, Schneider spent seven years with Tharaldson Property Management, which is based in Fargo, N.D., and operates hotels in several states. Schneider rose to the post of regional vice president with that company in 1997, a post in which he supervised the operation of 63 hotels with nine different brands in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Tennessee.

Schneider's introduction to the hospitality industry came in 1986 when he took a job as a van driver, bellman and assistant bell captain at an Illinois hotel while he attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill. He held positions at several hotels in the Midwest before he joined Tharaldson Property Management in 1994 as an area director for the company's hotel properties in four states in the Midwest and South. Schneider was honored as "Area Director of the Year" for all Tharaldson properties in 1996 and rose to the post of regional vice president the following year.

David Sweazy
Vice President, Operations

When David Sweazy was named director of operations at Churchill Downs in 1996, someone told him that he would be making more decisions in a single day than the mayor of Louisville. Sweazy's assessment of that prediction is short and simple: "They were right," he said.

Now vice president, operations, Sweazy oversees all of the day-to-day activities that contribute to the smooth operation of the sprawling racing plant that is Churchill Downs, America's most famous racetrack and the home of the Kentucky Derby. Prior to being appointed the track's director of operations in 1991, Sweazy had concentrated his activities in the area of mutuels, and his expertise helped Churchill Downs quickly become a major force in the growing simulcasting segment of the racing industry.

Sweazy's affiliation with Churchill Downs dates to 1968, when he served as a pari-mutuel messenger at the track on Kentucky Derby Day. He joined Churchill Downs on a full-time basis when he was appointed mutuels manager in early 1988. His background in mutuels prior to joining Churchill Downs included mutuels work at Thoroughbred, Standardbred, Quarter Horse and Greyhound tracks.

Scott Graff
Vice President, Finance

Scott Graff was appointed vice president of Finance at Churchill Downs in Feb. 2005. In that post he oversees all financial activities in the home of the Kentucky Derby, including payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, purchasing, and financial reporting. In this role, Graff ensures that the Company is in compliance with local, state and federal regulations.A native of Cedar Grove, N.J., Graff joined Churchill Downs as controller in 1999. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, where he earned both a bachelor's and master's degree in accounting. Prior to joining Churchill Downs, Graff served at the Louisville office of PricewaterhouseCoopers from 1994-99 during which time he obtained his CPA certificate and rose to the level of senior accountant.Graff is a graduate of the Leadership Louisville Ignite program and has served on the boards of the Kentucky Society of Certified Public Accountants and of the Center for Women and Families.

He lives in Louisville with his wife, Michele, and their two children.