Pat Eddery

Few horses have appeared on the 3-year-old scene that seem capable of scaring favored Snow Chief in the Kentucky Derby a week from Saturday at Churchill Downs. From Thursday's $265,600 Blue Grass Stakes, however, there emerged a horse that may see to it that the Derby is more than a two-minute waltz for Snow Chief. The strange part is that this horse didn't win the Blue Grass.

What can you do when you hit the home stretch and you are only 18? Steve Cauthen changed tracks. In 1977 he was America's boy wonder. The 17-year old jockey from Walton, Ky., rode an unprecedented 487 winners in one year. He won three Eclipse Awards. The Associated Press, the Sporting News and Sports Illustrated chose him as man of the year when other boys his age were worrying about making their high school basketball teams. The next spring, Cauthen rode the last Triple Crown winner, Affirmed.

What everybody probably doesn't need at the end of the year is another best-10 list for 1985. These lists--best movies, best news stories, best restaurants, best bank robberies--suffer from being overdone. But horse racing had an exciting if confusing year--John Henry was retired and there was no national hero to replace him--and while it would be impossible to isolate the 10 best races (for lack of criteria), at least it might be fun to briefly revisit the 10 most memorable.

Few horses have appeared on the 3-year-old scene that seem capable of scaring favored Snow Chief in the Kentucky Derby a week from Saturday at Churchill Downs. From Thursday's $265,600 Blue Grass Stakes, however, there emerged a horse that may see to it that the Derby is more than a two-minute waltz for Snow Chief. The strange part is that this horse didn't win the Blue Grass.

What can you do when you hit the home stretch and you are only 18? Steve Cauthen changed tracks. In 1977 he was America's boy wonder. The 17-year old jockey from Walton, Ky., rode an unprecedented 487 winners in one year. He won three Eclipse Awards. The Associated Press, the Sporting News and Sports Illustrated chose him as man of the year when other boys his age were worrying about making their high school basketball teams. The next spring, Cauthen rode the last Triple Crown winner, Affirmed.

American jockey Steve Cauthen was the runaway champion for the second successive year during the English flat-racing season that ended last weekend. He had 195 winners, 33 more than runner-up Pat Eddery.

Quest For Fame won the 211th running of the Epsom Derby Wednesday, beating 17 rivals with a stretch drive that gave him a three-length victory. The 9-2 favorite Razeen, ridden by American Steve Cauthen, ran a disappointing race, eventually tiring to finish 14th. The winner, ridden by Pat Eddery, Britain's top jockey, was second coming around Tattenham Corner, a half-mile from the finish and then swept past the pacesetter Treble Eight. Blue Stag finished second, followed by Elmaamul.

Bob's Return passed pace-setter Armiger 600 yards from the finish line on Saturday and went on to a 3 1/2-length victory in the 217th running of the St. Leger, thoroughbred racing's oldest classic. Bob's Return, the 3-1 favorite in the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old colts and fillies, was ridden by Philip Robinson. Armiger was ridden by Pat Eddery in the nine-horse field. Bob's Return was the eighth favorite in the last 11 years to win the race.

Steve Cauthen won the British Jockeys' Championship for the third time Saturday, clinching the title on the final day of the racing season. Cauthen, 27, finished with 197 victories, the most for him since coming to Britain in 1979. Defending champion Pat Eddery of Ireland was second with 195, also a career best. Cauthen, who won titles in 1984 and 1985, and Eddery each had one winner Saturday at the last meeting of the year at Doncaster, in northern England.

What everybody probably doesn't need at the end of the year is another best-10 list for 1985. These lists--best movies, best news stories, best restaurants, best bank robberies--suffer from being overdone. But horse racing had an exciting if confusing year--John Henry was retired and there was no national hero to replace him--and while it would be impossible to isolate the 10 best races (for lack of criteria), at least it might be fun to briefly revisit the 10 most memorable.

Zafonic surged from last to first and scored a record-setting victory Saturday in the 2,000 Guineas, the second race of English racing's classic series. Zafonic's time for the mile was 1 minute 35.32 seconds, the fastest in the 185-year history of the mile race. Zafonic, the odds-on favorite, was last in the field of 15 halfway through the race, with Silver Wizard setting a fast pace under Lester Piggott.

Steve Cauthen, the one-time Kid from Kentucky who won the Triple Crown on Affirmed in 1978, will try for a second straight victory in the Irish Derby on Sunday at the Curraugh. Cauthen, who moved to England in 1979, will ride Belmez in the 125th Derby, which has a purse of about $950,000. Also in the field of 10 3-year-olds is Quest for Fame, this year's winner of the English Derby at Epsom. He will be ridden by Pat Eddery, who has won the Irish Derby three times.