Just Steel trainer, jockey, owner, record and more to know about 2024 Kentucky Derby horse

Just Steel is one of 20 horses expected to enter the 2024 Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs.

Spots for the Run for the Roses are earned by gaining points through a series of Kentucky Derby prep races that began last September.

The post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, April 27. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 4.

Just Steel will enter the Kentucky Derby off a second-place finish in the Arkansas Derby on March 30 at Oaklawn Park. He currently ranks 12th on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard with 65.

Just Steel

Color: Bay

Bred in: Kentucky

Sire: Justify

Dam: Irish Lights, by Fastnet Rock

Price tag: $500,000 at 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale

Owner: BC Stables (John Bellinger and Brian Coelho), first Derby

Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas, 4 for 49 in Derby. Won with Winning Colors (1988), Thunder Gulch (1995), Grindstone (1996) and Charismatic (1999).

Jockey: Keith Asmussen, first Derby

Record: 2-4-1 in 11 starts

Career earnings: $724,545

Road to the Kentucky Derby points: 65 (No. 12)

Last race: Second in Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on March 30 at Oaklawn Park, 2 lengths behind Muth

Running style: Stalker

Notes: Just Steel opened his racing career last June at Ellis Park and owns a victory at Churchill Downs, winning the $225,000 Ed Brown Stakes on Nov. 25 at 12-1 odds. … Keith Asmussen is the son of trainer Steve Asmussen, who will saddle Track Phantom in the Kentucky Derby. Cash Asmussen, Steve’s brother and Keith’s uncle, rode three times in the Derby from 1979-91. His best finish was with King Celebrity (fourth) in 1979. … Lukas will have his first Derby starter since 2018, when Bravazo finished sixth.

What they’re saying: “I was confident about my horse,” Lukas said after the Arkansas Derby. “I was telling someone else, ‘When there’s a little bit of brilliance in there, when you see it, you can dig in there and get it.’ If they don’t have that brilliance, then you’re just in la la land bringing these horses over and hoping. But he’s got some in him, and now we just have to see if we can get it out of him.”

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.

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