Triple Crown a vivid memory for ex-jockey Cauthen

Posted: Wed May 13, 1998 at 1:05 PM ET

It's been 20 years since Steve Cauthen rode Affirmed to racing's last Triple Crown    (CNN/SI)

VERONA, Kentucky (CNN/SI) -- It is peaceful along the lake. A spring mist pecks silently at the water as Steve Cauthen and the women in his life stop for a moment. They are the masters of their blue-grassed domain, a 300-acre wonderland off the back ro ads of northern Kentucky.

Daughters Katelyn and Karlie take to their horses like big pets. It surely must run in their blood. They are the offspring of one of the most remarkable jockeys in horse racing history.

Much has been made of this 20th anniversary of the last successful run at horse racing's Triple Crown, when Cauthen -- "The Kid" -- took the delicate chestnut Affirmed through the agonizing gauntlet of the Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont.

Cauthen was just 18 years old then, so young that his dreams seemed to make great sense to him.

"Why not?" Cauthen said as he relaxed at his farm. "It's kind of like when you're a kid and you say 'Why not? Why shouldn't I?' Why shouldn't Tiger Woods shoot 18 under at Augusta? Why shouldn't I win the Triple Crown?

"It wasn't like I was expecting to do it. But I didn't see why I couldn't do it."

MULTIMEDIA

Steve Cauthen descibes the action in the 1978 Preakness, his second victory on the way to the Triple Crown Audio (448K) Cauthen describes how the pressure built during the weeks between the Preakness and the Belmont Audio (224K) Cauthen felt he had a shot at the Triple Crown right after he won the Kentucky Derby Audio (256K) Cauthen achieved the amazing Triple Crown as a teenage jockey Quicktime (1.4M) Cauthen never doubted the strength of Affirmed in any of the three Triple Crown races Quicktime (1.3M) As Cauthen began to grow he found new success in Europe Quicktime (1.5M) Cauthen is now part owner in a track and is active in breeding Quicktime (928M)

STATS

1998 Kentucky Derby results

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Cauthen's place in history -- and that of his mount -- is much like Muhammad Ali's or any other great champion pushed to the pinnacle by another. Affirmed's version of Joe Frazier was a magnificent Kentucky-bred sensation named Alydar.

"It's like Joe Louis and another great fighter coming along in the same era," Cauthen said. "A lot of times those rivalries start in racing but they never end up because one of the horses gets injured or something happens. But what was so tremendous wi th this was that they both came back and gave 100 percent -- both of them -- every time. And it kept getting closer and closer each race."

Every so often, when somebody asks, Cauthen will dust off the tapes and relive the memories. It is surely like yesterday, the two decades flying by.

The Derby was first in his Triple Crown quest. Ironically, it was to be Cauthen's last Derby.

"As we moved down the backside, even during the race, I was thinking 'This is too good to be true. Everything's going perfect,'" Cauthen said, watching the tape of the race in his home. "I was always waiting for the challenge from Alydar that really ne ver, in the Derby, really appeared. It really was the easiest of the three races."

Affirmed won the Derby by a length and a half, setting up a rematch at the Preakness two weeks later. As he watches the tapes now, the memories come flooding back.

"Right there," he said, pointing out the part of the race when the horses were rounding the last turn, "I could see the silks of Alydar. I wanted to get my horse in motion before [Alydar] made a big run and passed me. I didn't want him to catch me off guard.

"These horses flew home this day. I mean, they really flew. They ran the last 3/16, the last 1/4 mile as fast as Secretariat did. But I always knew I had him. I had been able to dictate the race enough.

"The Belmont wasn't the same."

While Alydar was gaining on him in each race, Affirmed never gave in. But his jockey was feeling the pressure going to the Belmont.

"The three weeks in between the Preakness and the Belmont were probably some of the toughest times, and the most pressure I felt, in my entire career," Cauthen said. "It started making me think, 'Hey, I do have a chance to win the Triple Crown. What ha ppens if I slip up?'"

He would not.

But on that stunning June day at Belmont Park in New York, he would find himself locked in one of the most memorable races of all time.

"I knew he'd probably come and try to push me early," Cauthen said, looking again at what has become one of the most famous horse races in history. "But I didn't think quite as early as he did. We were hooked for 7 furlongs.

"Once [Affirmed] got his head back in front, I knew. We probably could have gone around the track again -- he wasn't going to let him get by. Having said that, Alydar never gave up, either.

"It was a thrilling finish. When I passed the wire, I had a million emotions running through my mind. One of the biggest ones was relief."

Cauthen and Affirmed had beaten Alydar once again, this time by a nose, and the world belonged to the teenage wonder. Affirmed would join the likes of Citation, Secretariat and Seattle Slew as a Triple Crown winner.

The fire of the accomplishment burned 72 pounds off Affirmed's pre-Derby weight. But Cauthen, who was 5-foot-1 and 110 pounds, began to grow. His size put his American career in jeopardy. An offer came to ride in Europe.

"I could see I wasn't going to be able to ride in America, physically, because of the weight," said Cauthen. The weight restrictions for jockeys in Europe are not as harsh as they are in the United States.

"It's only four pounds," Cauthen said. "But to a jockey, that's like 20 pounds. It was a big difference."

Cauthen stands with Triple Crown champion Affirmed    (CNN/SI)

He turned the European experience into a major success, becoming the only jockey in history to win the world's five major derbys -- Kentucky, Epsom, French, Irish and Italian.

The Hall of Fame came calling in 1994, a year after he retired.

Today, Cauthen is vice president of Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky, just up I-75 from his farm. He's become active in breeding.

And while the world celebrated the anniversary of his win at the Kentucky Derby 20 years ago, he watched the race on television.

At home, at peace, in his Kentucky wonderland.