“Stevie” Cauthen was only 18 years old when he jockeyed Affirmed to a 1978 Triple Crown win. The year before, Cauthen had become the first jockey - at the age of seventeen - to win over $6 million in a year. He was a phenom. 

The dueling front-runners in the 1978 Triple Crown contention - Affirmed and Alydar - will be forever linked in horse racing history. Affirmed won each of the Triple Crown races, yes. But Alydar, with Jorge Velasquez as guide, was only a couple of hoofbeats behind in all three.

Robert loved shooting Cauthen. The narrative of his youth captured Robert’s imagination. And then the excitement of the possibility - and achievement - of back-to-back Triple Crowns. Robert was all over this stuff. 

After riding for a few years in the United States, Cauthen went on to race in Europe. (He had begun having trouble meeting his weight limits in the US; Europe’s limits were more flexible.) Cauthen is the only jockey to have won both the Kentucky and Epsom Derbies.

Once again … the linked images above are from RRLT’s current licensing partner’s site, Getty Images. Enjoy!