Father Says Steve Cauthen in Final Stages of Cincinnati Alcohol-Dependency Program

Jockey Steve Cauthen, who dazzled the horse racing world in 1977 by riding 487 winners at age 17, is completing a hospital program for alcohol dependency, it was disclosed Thursday.

Cauthen, 25, a native of nearby Walton, Ky., has been racing in England in recent years. He has two days to go in the three-week alcohol program at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, his father told the Cincinnati Post.

“Steve felt he had an alcohol problem,” George Cauthen said. “He felt it was something he needed to work on. And there was no better time than now, when he had the time off.”

With British racing closed for the season, Cauthen arrived at his family’s home late last month for a visit.

George Cauthen said his son had attended several Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in England.

“He quit drinking about three months ago,” the father said. “Probably this is a thing that’s built up over a period of time. He just felt it was interfering with what he was doing.”

Cauthen became the youngest Triple Crown winner, aboard Affirmed in 1978, when he was 18. In 1979, however, he endured a 110-day winless streak and soon began racing in England, where he has been the top jockey the last two years.