Cauthen making comeback after serious race fall

Press, 8 March 1989, Page 47

Cauthen making comeback after serious race fall

NZPA-Reuter Newmarket Steve Cauthen, threetime winner of Britain’s champion jockey title, who was fortunate to escape with his life when a three-year-old filly Preziosa came down suddenly and without warning in a race at Goodwood in August is on the way back. The first jockey to net SUS6M in one season and the youngest to win the American Triple Crown, Cauthen arrived in Britain 10 years ago aged 17 and weighing a mere 45kg to capture all five English classics as well as a host of other top

races. Cauthen’s natural touch, combined with a tenacity that pulled him through a run of 100 losers a decade ago, should have toughened him for his comeback this season. With 12 years raceriding behind him, one fall has not scared the “Kentucky Kid”. “I’ve walked away from worse falls. It’s the risks of the game. One day, I don’t know when that is, I might decide I don’t want to take that risk, but now I just want to pick up where I left off,” he said. “I was lucky to just

walk away with a broken neck. “I’ve been in the saddle of an exercise bike, but since the fall this was my first real ride out,” Cauthen said after exercising two horses belonging to top trainer Henry Cecil last week. With less than three weeks to shape up before the British flat season begins, Cauthen concedes he is not as fit as he’d like to be. Time-out on his parents’ stud farm in Kentucky pushed his weight over 57kg. Cauthen has worked it down to 56kg but he still needs to

shed 2.2 kg to hit his target. His weight problem dates back to 1985. It led then to tiredness, depression, an inclination to drink too much and a spell in a health clinic. “The last few pounds are always the hardest. It’s an every-day battle and will be that way for the rest of my life.” The American intends to be back race riding on March 25, the first day of the new season. “You don’t look forward to the grind of getting it back together, but it might just be the best year I’ve ever had,” Cauthen said.