The short answer is no, he didn’t, but it’s also fair to say that victory in the Longchamp showpiece was he one glaring omission from the CV of Kentucky-born Cauthen. His best chance, at least in theory, came in 1987 aboard Reference Point, trained by Henry (later Sir Henry), on whom he had already won the Derby, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the St. Leger. Odds-on at Longchamp, Reference Point attempted to make all, as was customary, but weakened quickly once the race began in earnest and was later found to be suffering from a foot abscess.
Back in Britain, Steve Cauthen won the Flat Jockeys’ Championship for the third time that year, no mean feat considering he was a direct contemporary of Lester Piggott, Pat Eddery and Willie Carson, who won 27 jockeys’ titles between them. Dubbed “The Six Million Dollar Man” on home soil after riding 487 winners and amassing over $6 million in prize money in 1977, Cauthen won the American Triple Crown on Affirmed in 1978, making him the youngest jockey to do so.
Alongside Cecil, for whom he rode nine of his ten British Classic winners – including the Fillies’ Triple Crown on Oh So Sharp, and the Derby on Slip Anchor, in 1985 – he became a force majeure on the opposite side of the Atlantic in the second half of the eighties. Cauthen retired relatively early, aged 32, in 1993, but remains the only jockey ever to ridden the winner of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and the Derby at Epsom.
