Manuel Ycaza
Encyclopedia
Manuel Ycaza is a retired United States Racing Hall of Fame
jockey
who led the way for Latin America
n jockey
s in the United States.
The son of a bus driver, Deycaza began riding ponies at age six and by age fourteen was riding professionally in Panama. He went on to race in Mexico City
before emigrating to the United States
in 1956. Within a few years "Manny Ycaza" was winning major races at tracks all over the country. However, the hard-riding, fiery-tempered Ycaza was frequently in trouble with racing officials and despite his unquestioned ability, after major suspensions many owners and trainers were reluctant to hire him. However, stable owner Harry F. Guggenheim took a chance on Ycaza, hiring him for the 1959 racing season. Guggenheim's Cain Hoy Stable
was one of the major Thoroughbred racing operations in the U.S. and Ycaza's ten-year affiliation with them saw him become one of the country's top jockeys and be voted the 1964 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award
by his peers.
An icon in his country of birth, Manuel Ycaza's success inspired other diminutive Panamanian youngsters to pursue a career as a jockey. In 1962, Sports Illustrated
magazine published an article about the "Spanish invasion" of American Thoroughbred
horse racing
led by Ycaza.
In 1962, Manuel Ycaza married Linda Bement
, Miss USA
and Miss Universe
of 1960. The couple had two children before they divorced in November 1969.
then came back the following year to become the only back-to-back winner in the history of the prestigious international race. In the American Classic Races, Ycaza was second aboard Ridan
in the 1962 Preakness Stakes
, and in 1963 earned a second place finish on Never Bend
in the Kentucky Derby
. Hired by prominent Canadian owner/breeder E. P. Taylor
to ride for his Windfields Farm
in the 1963 Queen's Plate
, Ycaza won Canada's most prestigious race aboard the colt, Canebora
. A year later, he ended E. P. Taylor's bid for the U.S. Triple Crown
when he rode Quadrangle
to victory in the 1964 Belmont Stakes
over Derby and Preakness winner, Northern Dancer
. In 1968 Manuel Ycaza rode Dark Mirage
to the first ever Filly Triple Crown
when they won the Acorn Stakes
, Mother Goose Stakes
and the Coaching Club American Oaks
.
In 1971, injuries forced him into an early retirement but in 1983 he returned to competition, retiring for good the following year. During his career, Manuel Ycaza rode some of the great Thoroughbreds in American racing history and was a winner of 2,367 races with a 22.4 winning percentage. He was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
in 1977.
A resident of Forest Hills, Queens
, Ycaza is a longtime Major League Baseball
fan and often attends New York Mets
home games.
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
who led the way for Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
s in the United States.
The son of a bus driver, Deycaza began riding ponies at age six and by age fourteen was riding professionally in Panama. He went on to race in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
before emigrating to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1956. Within a few years "Manny Ycaza" was winning major races at tracks all over the country. However, the hard-riding, fiery-tempered Ycaza was frequently in trouble with racing officials and despite his unquestioned ability, after major suspensions many owners and trainers were reluctant to hire him. However, stable owner Harry F. Guggenheim took a chance on Ycaza, hiring him for the 1959 racing season. Guggenheim's Cain Hoy Stable
Cain Hoy Stable
Cain Hoy Stable was a Thoroughbred racing stable and horse breeding operation with training facilities in Columbia, South Carolina and Kissimmee, Florida. It was owned by Harry Guggenheim who also raced horses in Europe...
was one of the major Thoroughbred racing operations in the U.S. and Ycaza's ten-year affiliation with them saw him become one of the country's top jockeys and be voted the 1964 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award
George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award
The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been presented by Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, annually since 1950 to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack.The award was created...
by his peers.
An icon in his country of birth, Manuel Ycaza's success inspired other diminutive Panamanian youngsters to pursue a career as a jockey. In 1962, Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
magazine published an article about the "Spanish invasion" of American Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
led by Ycaza.
In 1962, Manuel Ycaza married Linda Bement
Linda Bement
Linda Jeanne Bement , is a beauty pageant titleholder from the United States who became the third Miss USA to be crowned Miss Universe.-Miss Universe 1960:...
, Miss USA
Miss USA
The Miss USA beauty contest has been held annually since 1952 to select the United States entrant in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operates both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA...
and Miss Universe
Miss Universe
Miss Universe is an annual international beauty contest that is run by the Miss Universe Organization. The pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world with 600 million viewers....
of 1960. The couple had two children before they divorced in November 1969.
Major race accomplishments
In his first year with Cain Hoy Stable, Ycaza won the 1959 Washington, D.C. International aboard Bald EagleBald Eagle (horse)
Bald Eagle was an American-bred Thoroughbred Eclipse Award-winning racehorse who competed successfully in both the United Kingdom and the United States. He won the Washington, D.C. International Stakes twice, in 1959 and 1960.-Pedigree:...
then came back the following year to become the only back-to-back winner in the history of the prestigious international race. In the American Classic Races, Ycaza was second aboard Ridan
Ridan (horse)
Ridan is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1961 was one of the best 2-year-old colts racing in the United States but lost the 1962 U.S. Champion 3-Year-old honors by a fraction of a nose....
in the 1962 Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
, and in 1963 earned a second place finish on Never Bend
Never Bend
Never Bend was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse and a leading sire in England.-Two-Year-Old Champion:Foaled at Claiborne Farm for owner/breeder Harry F. Guggenheim, Never Bend was the dominant two-year-old racing in the United States in 1962...
in the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
. Hired by prominent Canadian owner/breeder E. P. Taylor
E. P. Taylor
Edward Plunket Taylor was a Canadian business tycoon and famous breeder of thoroughbred race horses. Known to his friends as "Eddie", he is universally recorded as "E. P...
to ride for his Windfields Farm
Windfields Farm
Windfields Farm is a six square kilometre thoroughbred horse breeding farm founded by businessman E. P. Taylor in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The first stable and breeding operation of E. P. Taylor originated with a property near the city of Toronto known as Parkwood Stable when it was owned by...
in the 1963 Queen's Plate
Queen's Plate
The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...
, Ycaza won Canada's most prestigious race aboard the colt, Canebora
Canebora
Canebora is a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1963 and was voted the Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year....
. A year later, he ended E. P. Taylor's bid for the U.S. Triple Crown
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
when he rode Quadrangle
Quadrangle (horse)
Quadrangle was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1964 Belmont Stakes. Bred in Virginia by Paul Mellon, he was out of the mare Tap Day, a daughter of the Calumet Farm Champion stallion, Bull Lea...
to victory in the 1964 Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
over Derby and Preakness winner, Northern Dancer
Northern Dancer
Northern Dancer was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and the most successful sire of the 20th Century. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association calls him "one of the most influential sires in Thoroughbred history"....
. In 1968 Manuel Ycaza rode Dark Mirage
Dark Mirage
Dark Mirage was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Small in stature at just 15.1 hands, Dark Mirage proved big on the race track. Although her 1967 campaign as a two-year-old produced only two minor wins in fifteen starts, at three she completely dominated her female...
to the first ever Filly Triple Crown
Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing, formerly known as the Filly Triple Crown, is a set of three horse races in the United States which is open to three year old fillies...
when they won the Acorn Stakes
Acorn Stakes
The Acorn Stakes is an American Grade I race at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies. It is raced on dirt over a distance of one mile with a current purse of $250,000. It is the first leg of the US Triple Tiara and is followed by the Coaching Club American Oaks...
, Mother Goose Stakes
Mother Goose Stakes
The Mother Goose Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Raced on dirt, the Grade I race offers a purse of $250,000. Inaugurated in 1957 at a mile and a sixteenth, it was lengthened to a mile and an eighth in 1959...
and the Coaching Club American Oaks
Coaching Club American Oaks
The Coaching Club American Oaks is a race for thoroughbred three-year old fillies and the second leg of the Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing. Originally run at Belmont Park, the Grade I $250,000 stakes race was moved to Saratoga Race Course in 2010....
.
In 1971, injuries forced him into an early retirement but in 1983 he returned to competition, retiring for good the following year. During his career, Manuel Ycaza rode some of the great Thoroughbreds in American racing history and was a winner of 2,367 races with a 22.4 winning percentage. He was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
in 1977.
A resident of Forest Hills, Queens
Forest Hills, Queens
Forest Hills is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States.-Neighborhood:The neighborhood is home to upper-middle class residents, of whom the wealthier residents often live in the neighborhood's Forest Hills Gardens area...
, Ycaza is a longtime Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
fan and often attends New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
home games.