OAK TREE AT SANTA ANITA : Cauthen Makes a Rare Appearance

In the eyes of many horseplayers, Steve Cauthen will always be 18, his age in 1978 when he rode Affirmed to victory in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, becoming the youngest jockey to win the Triple Crown.

Strange as it may seem, Cauthen is 31. “The Kid,” who won 487 races in 1977 and was voted three Eclipse Awards, has not ridden regularly in the United States since 1979; his Kentucky twang melted into an English accent long ago; he has been through alcohol rehabilitation and he is engaged to be married.

Steve Cauthen is so old that he has been riding for 15 years, which makes him newly eligible on the ballot in next year’s election for America’s racing Hall of Fame at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Since Cauthen, losing the mount on Affirmed to Laffit Pincay and already showing signs of having a weight problem, went to England in 1979 and signed with Robert Sangster’s stable for a reported $400,000 a year, his returns to the United States have been frequent but fleeting. He will be at Santa Anita Sunday, riding Sheik Mohammed al Maktoum’s filly, Colour Chart, in the $400,000 Yellow Ribbon Stakes.

Cauthen hasn’t ridden in California since the Breeders’ Cup at Hollywood Park in 1987 and he hasn’t been in a race at Santa Anita since 1984.

With the English season over by November, Cauthen has usually spent winters in Kentucky with his parents and old friends. Last Saturday, he rode in the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs, the track of two major milestones. It was there on May 12, 1976, 11 days after his 16th birthday, that Cauthen rode in his first race, finishing last. Two years later, almost to the day, Cauthen rode Affirmed to a 1 1/2-length Kentucky Derby victory over Alydar in the beginning of their matchless Triple Crown rivalry.

At Churchill Downs a week ago, Cauthen rode In The Groove, the British filly, to a seventh-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. Cauthen was closest to a Breeders’ Cup victory in 1985 at Aqueduct, where Strawberry Road II came within a neck of catching Pebbles in the Turf.

“Come back here to ride, Steve,” a fan shouted to Cauthen at Churchill Downs as he went out to ride In The Groove last Saturday.

Cauthen has ridden more than 1,400 winners in England, leading that nation’s jockeys three times, most recently in 1987. He now rides at 119 pounds, too heavy to get mounts regularly in the United States.

“I’ll always come back to ride in the States, but I’ll never be based here,” Cauthen said. “My weight situation fits me better in Europe.”

Cauthen has ridden Colour Chart five times, including to a couple of recent seconds, at Arlington International outside Chicago and in France. In the Arlington race, the Beverly D, Colour Chart finished two lengths behind Fire The Groom, another Yellow Ribbon entrant. In France, Colour Chart was second and Fire The Groom fourth in a four-horse blanket finish.

The Yellow Ribbon, which is at 1 1/4 miles on grass, will help settle the Eclipse Award for best female on turf.

The 14-horse field lines up this way, with jockeys and weights: Kostroma, Kent Desormeaux, 123 pounds; Plenty Of Grace, Jerry Bailey, 123; Colour Chart, Steve Cauthen, 123; Appealing Miss, Laffit Pincay, 123; Lady Blessington, David Flores, 119; Flawlessly, Chris McCarron, 119; Campagnarde, Pat Valenzuela, 123; Flaming Torch, Corey Nakatani, 123; Once In My Life, Angel Cordero, 119; Crnacora, Alex Solis, 119; Free At Last, Eddie Delahoussaye, 123; Lady Shirl, Garrett Gomez, 123; Fire The Groom, Gary Stevens, 123, and Leariva, Edgar Prado, 123.

Plenty Of Grace is winless in six starts since she won the Yellow Ribbon a year ago at 56-1. Darrell Vienna, who trains Crnacora, has indicated that he might save her for Monday, when the Oak Tree season closes with the $200,000 Burke Handicap.

A year ago, the first running of the California Cup was dominated by longshots, with only one favorite, Theresa’s Pleasure in the Juvenile Fillies, among the seven winners.

Today’s California Cup could wind up the same way. Best Pal is the 4-5 morning-line favorite in the Classic, but the other races are considered wide open. The other favorites are Ebonair, 5-2 in the Juvenile; Ashland Rose, 3-1 in the Juvenile Fillies; Blaze O’Brien, 2-1 in the Mile; Teresa Mc, 7-2 in the Matron; Answer Do, 5-2 in the Sprint, and Bel’s Starlet, 7-5 in the Distaff.

For a day, the Pick Six will be replaced by the Pick Seven, on Races 3 through 9. There will be no carryover in the Pick Seven. First post is 12:15 p.m., with Santa Anita also taking bets on the Tanforan Handicap from Bay Meadows.

Horse Racing Notes

Bertrando’s injury isn’t nearly as serious as Arazi’s, but the runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile also came out of the race hurting. Bertrando has a sore shin, a common injury for young horses, and while he will remain in trainer Bruce Headley’s barn at Santa Anita, the colt will be out of training for three to four weeks. Bertrando’s X-rays were negative. His 2-year-old season over, he will be prepared for a campaign designed to lead to next year’s Santa Anita Derby and Kentucky Derby. Arazi, who beat Bertrando by five lengths in the Juvenile, underwent arthroscopic surgery for bone chips on both knees Wednesday and is expected to return to action next year.

Missionary Ridge will skip Monday’s Burke Handicap because of a quarter crack in a hoof. . . . Robbie Davis, who has been in semi-retirement in Idaho, will ride River Master in the California Cup Classic. . . . Hollywood Park’s fall season opens Wednesday, with Santa Anita and Los Alamitos taking bets on the Inglewood track’s races for the first time.