THOROUGHBRED RACING : Keeping Record Straight May Cause Hall of Fame Problem for Cauthen

For years, Eclipse Awards voters have had to judge horses who have run in Europe and North America in the same season. Voting guidelines have not been a help, because there are none. An Eclipse voter is simply sent his ballot and told to vote for the best horses.

When All Along, the French filly, came to the United States in 1983, she had already won the Arc de Triomphe, the Kentucky Derby of Paris, but it was suggested to Eclipse voters that they forget that, as though any of them could. Ruminations about the Arc became academic when All Along, with three deft strokes, beat males again, in some of the best fall turf races that the United States and Canada could offer. All Along didn’t need the Arc victory in her credentials in order to lock up North America’s horse-of-the-year title.

Last year was more difficult for the Eclipse voters. Arazi was the star of two continents, winning six consecutive races in France after losing his first start, then coming to Churchill Downs, where he humbled America’s best 2-year-olds in a Breeders’ Cup cakewalk. It isn’t known whether the 27--out of 283--voters considered Arazi’s French record when they cast their ballots for him for horse of the year. Many of the voters who elected Black Tie Affair as the champion said, however, that they couldn’t have considered Arazi for the title off only one race.

Now the 100 voters who will participate in this year’s Racing Hall of Fame election will be saddled with a similar dilemma: What do they do with Steve Cauthen, who is eligible for the first time for enshrinement in the jockeys’ wing at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.?

Cauthen, who in 1977 became the only jockey to win three Eclipse Awards in the same year, might seem like a shoo-in for election, if his European-American record is combined. But already those connected with the election process are being cautioned. When the committee that determines which horses and horsemen go on the ballot received its instructions, there was this advisory: “Cauthen is being considered for his record in the U.S. before he went to England.”

Brief as it was, Cauthen’s U.S. record is unparalleled. In 1977, his first full year in the saddle and his first year of riding in the big leagues, the teen-ager from Kentucky won 487 races and his mounts earned $6.1 million. He broke the record for purses by about $1.4 million. Besides his laurels within racing, Cauthen was also voted male athlete of the year by the Associated Press.

In 1978, Cauthen’s figures may have shrunk slightly, but not his reputation. Five days after his 18th birthday, Cauthen won the Kentucky Derby with Affirmed, and they completed the Triple Crown, making Cauthen the youngest jockey to win the Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes in one year.

By the winter of 1979, however, Cauthen had gone on a 110-race losing streak at Santa Anita, his weight was already becoming a consideration and he was replaced as the rider of Affirmed. Offered a reported $400,000 contract to ride for Robert Sangster in England, Cauthen left in March of that year. Looking back, he says he might have been burned out before he reached 19. He rode in more than 5,000 races in the United States in less than three years.

Since then, Cauthen has re-established himself as a world-class rider. He has been England’s champion jockey three times. He has won the Epsom Derby twice and the Irish Derby once. Competing in far shorter seasons than the United States has, Cauthen has ridden more than 1,600 winners abroad.

Can the American Hall of Fame voters ignore these 13 accomplished years when they evaluate Cauthen? That is asking too much, and would be unfair to the jockey. Cauthen’s American record, meteoric as he was, still consists of fewer than 1,000 victories. Sandy Hawley, also likely to be on the ballot, has won close to 6,000 races, and another candidate, Eddie Delahoussaye, has won two Kentucky Derbys, almost 5,000 races and in 1978, the year after Cauthen’s bust-out season, he led the country with 384 wins.

Jockeys must have ridden a minimum of 15 years to be eligible for the Hall of Fame. It is inconsistent if Cauthen is eligible, because he has gotten those 15 years in both countries yet he has to be judged only for what he has done in the United States.

Hall of Fame voters have enough trouble sorting out the contenders. The mystique of Steve Cauthen is that he was adaptable enough to rebuild a career that otherwise would have been labeled as flash in the pan.

Trainer Wayne Lukas hinted after Twilight Agenda’s victory in the San Pasqual Handicap that the 6-year-old wasn’t a sure starter for his next logical race, Saturday’s $300,000 San Antonio Handicap at Santa Anita.

“Twilight Agenda is a great shipper, and there are a jillion places to go,” Lukas said.

When the weights for the 1 1/8-mile San Antonio were released by the track’s racing office, Lukas was as surprised to see that Twilight Agenda gained a pound, to 126 pounds, as he was to see that his horse would be giving three pounds to In Excess, who finished second behind Black Tie Affair in the Eclipse Awards voting for best older horse last year.

As a result, the San Antonio, the final local prep for the $1-million Santa Anita Handicap on March 7, will have In Excess in a 13-horse field, but not Twilight Agenda.

A probable off track Saturday may have also been a factor in Twilight Agenda not running. In Twilight Agenda’s only American start on an off track, he finished third at Santa Anita last winter. By contrast, In Excess won the Whitney Handicap on an off track at Saratoga last August.

Ibero, second to Twilight Agenda in the San Pasqual and a horse who likes mud, drew the No. 1 post. Alex Solis, who won four races Thursday, will ride, with Ibero carrying 115 pounds. Qathif, with 113 pounds and Corey Black, is next in the lineup, followed by Defensive Play, Eddie Delahoussaye, 114 pounds; Fly Till Dawn, Laffit Pincay, 118; Hollywood Reporter, David Flores, 110; Admirallus, Joe Judice, 115; High Energy, Sandy Hawley, 113; Secret Witness, Martin Pedroza, 112; Tokatee, Pat Valenzuela, 115; In Excess, Gary Stevens, 123; Sir Beaufort, Chris McCarron, 115; Cobra Classic, Kent Desormeaux, 114; and Lovely One, Corey Nakatani, 110.

Horse Racing Notes

Hall of Famer Johnny Longden is celebrating his 85th birthday today. . . . Santa Anita was hit by almost four inches of rain in a 24-hour period this week. . . . Three Peat, a John Sadler trainee who ran six furlongs in 1:08 2/5 in his first start, might move into stakes company next. . . . Mineral Wells, undefeated in three starts, is expected to run in the one-mile San Rafael Stakes on Feb. 29, which would be the 3-year-old colt’s first test around two turns. . . . Trainer Gary Sherlock was surprised when his 5-year-old gelding, Rocket Gibralter, was claimed for $100,000 last Sunday by Alan May. Rocket Gibralter, who ran second in the race, has won 10 of 48 starts and earned about $300,000. . . . The record for a claim at Santa Anita is $110,000, set in 1986 when Honor Medal was bought out of a race. . . . In 1983, owner Allen Paulson had his trainer, Ron McAnally, claim Twin’s Tornado out of race at Hollywood Park for $170,000.