Steve Cauthen recalls Triple Crown glory on Oh So Sharp

It may be 40 years since Oh So Sharp sauntered to St Leger victory at Doncaster, but Steve Cauthen still remembers clearly the year the horse he calls “the best filly I ever rode” entered the legend of racing history.

1985 would be the last time the Triple Crown was achieved in Britain and Cauthen would be centre stage aboard Sir Henry Cecil’s all-conquering daughter of Kris, who not only was the catalyst of the American’s desire to step into the Warren Place hotseat, but helped cement one of the great trainer-jockey relationships of their era.

Cauthen would win the St Leger three times alongside Cecil during their golden spell in the mid to late 1980s, but it was Oh So Sharp’s fabled victory on Town Moor that stands head and shoulders above the rest.

“She was the best filly I ever rode and I rode a load of good ones too,” said Cauthen.

“I won the Leger three times and they were all good horses. As a jockey you love winning Classics, they are the history-making races, especially when you rode a filly like Oh So Sharp – winning it on her was ultra-special, and winning the Triple Crown hasn’t been done for a long time by a colt or a filly.

“I rode Indian Skimmer, Cormorant Wood, Diminuendo, In The Grove – a whole bunch of them – and a couple of them had their flashes of brilliance, but Oh So Sharp was simply the best and should never have got beaten.

“She was why I wanted the job at Henry’s having seen her win the Fillies’ Mile and I thought she looked exceptional, but I didn’t know just how exceptional she would turn out.

“She had character and could be feisty when she wanted to be but she had all the right attributes and the desire to win and she knew she was good which the best ones do – she’d walk around with an air about her.”

Oh So Sharp had already displayed her dazzling turn of foot to win the 1000 Guineas and nimble athleticism to blitz the opposition in the Oaks, before injury to Cecil and Cauthen’s Derby hero Slip Anchor opened the door for a Doncaster date with racing destiny.

Narrowly touched off in both the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes and at York when taking on the colts, it was fears of a long season beginning to take its toll rather than any nagging stamina doubts that was causing trepidation for those in close quarters prior to her bid for immortality.

Committed for home early, Oh So Sharp showcased the desire for victory Cauthen always knew lay inside his star mount, securing glory by a quarter of a length but more importantly sealing her place in racing folklore.

Cauthen said: “I always thought she would be fine at the trip and there was never much doubt about her stamina and never any doubt at all about her talent. It was just whether she was over the top a little bit as it had been a long year and she had run in everything and not missed many dances.

“We were hoping we still had her just about where she needed to be and I think she might actually have been over the top but she was still good enough.

“Her class helped her and she actually won really easily. She was always one of those fillies who once she would hit the front she wouldn’t overdo herself and the only time she had really run through the line was the Oaks. The rest of the time she was happy to just dillydally along.

“But she did have a big, long stride and her will to win was second to none – she always had desire and loved a fight.”

Oh So Sharp’s St Leger triumph not only made her the first fillies’ Triple Crown winner since Meld some 30 years previous, but also saw Cauthen pocket four of the season’s five Classics during his debut year as stable jockey to Cecil.

Reflecting on the remarkable journey with Sheikh Mohammed’s filly four decades ago, Cauthen added: “She had so much talent and the ability to accelerate and I will never forget that last 50 yards going up the hill at the finish of the Guineas.

“She was never travelling but when she met that rising ground and dug in she started to go and I don’t think anyone in the stands thought she had won because it was quick the way she finally came to life.

“I thought I might have just got there and as it turned out it was a micro millimetre between first and second, it was so close.

“Then the way she beat Triptych in the Oaks was special. Triptych would win eight or nine Group Ones and she beat her that day like she was tied to a post and she was such a grand filly.”

Oh So Sharp’s exploits not only hallmark the Kentucky Kid’s time in Britain, but have stood the test of time, with Cauthen remaining the only jockey to win the Triple Crown on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Meld did it 30 years before Oh So Sharp and Nijinsky of course did it as well, but in 70 years they are the only horses to win a Triple Crown in Britain and those types of horses are few and far between so I’m glad she still holds that accolade,” said Cauthen.

“Henry loved her and I loved her and when she got us off to a great start you could only dream she would win a Triple Crown, but she did and it’s something that hasn’t been done since and wasn’t done for many years before that, so she was special and such a lovely filly to be around.

“I was blessed to ride two Triple Crown winners and I consider Affirmed the best colt I ever rode and Oh So Sharp the best filly because they were horses who could do it all.”