Word: jockey
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Last Saturday the 18-year-old jockey sensation won the race he was, it seems, born to ride, booting home Affirmed to a 1½-length victory in the 104th running of the Kentucky Derby. It was a classic race-from the early speed burst of the front runners to the galvanic closing rush of second-place Alydar-and the savvy young rider showed textbook mastery of horse and course...
...time Cannonade won in 1974, Steve had been working to learn the jockey's trade for two years. He watched the race with a wise young eye, studying how the riders broke from the gate, maneuvered for position in the backstretch and then opened up for the run to the wire. At 14, he vowed to win the Derby himself some day. Some day came very soon: five days after his 18th birthday, just two years and one week after he had received his jockey's license...
...been brief. Weighing only 95 Ibs. and standing just 5 ft. 1 in., he had tremendous strength in his outsized hands, an innate sense of balance and pace and, despite his years, the cool confidence that he could win. In his first full year as a jockey, he won 477 races in New York State alone, and this despite a four-week hiatus after a terrifying spill had left him with a broken rib, a smashed arm and facial lacerations. Three times he rode six winners in a nine-race program; four times he won five. In one amazing week...
...greatest compliment to a jockey is being offered a ride on a Derby contender, and young Master Cauthen came to Louisville to handle quite a contender...
...knew the race was his. Cauthen was not so sure: "I was waiting for the other horse [Alydar] to come, but he never did, so I started riding my horse. His ears pricked up and he picked up. It went real smooth." After a perfect ride from his jockey and a few flicks of the whip, Affirmed eased home the winner in as relaxed and smart a race as Derby fans have seen in years...