Obituary of Carlos Manuel De Ycaza

Manuel Ycaza Obituary

Carlos Manuel Mario De Ycaza Jr. was born on February 1, 1938 in Panama City, Panama to Carlos Manuel Mario De Ycaza Sr. and Helena Purñiotis De Ycaza. He was one of nine children. Along with his older brothers Carlos, Rodolfo and Alejandro, Manuel began riding ponies and horses at an early age, growing up nearby the local racetrack. After briefly racing in 1954 at Santa Anita Park, near Los Angeles, he returned to Panama. He then raced in Mexico City before returning to the United States in 1957.

A pioneering trailblazer for Latin American jockeys, Ycaza’s talent was quickly established as he began winning major stakes races across the U.S. He paved the way for generations of Latin American riders in North America, as he broke the barrier to become the first of many Hispanic jockeys to find considerable success riding in the United States. His legacy lives on today with the plethora of top Latino jockeys in action at North American tracks.

Ycaza diligently worked his way up the ladder of American racing in the late 1950s and early 1960s, overcoming adversity and discrimination as one of the most penalized jockeys of all time for infractions on the racetrack. Published reports at the time indicate Ycaza cumulatively spent the equivalent of more than two calendar years suspended. Nonetheless, Ycaza will be remembered more fondly for his successes aboard some of the best horses of his era.

By 1957, he was considered one of the hottest jockeys on the West Coast. In his first year with trainer Woody Stephens and Captain Harry F. Guggenheim’s Cain Hoy Stable, Ycaza won the 1959 D.C. International aboard Bald Eagle, then came back the following year to become the only back-to-back winner in the history of the prestigious international race. He again won the race in 1967 aboard Fort Marcy.

At Saratoga, Ycaza earned four racing titles, and in 1959 he won 41 races in 24 racing days at the Spa, breaking a record that stood for 38 years. 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 rode Quadrangle to victory in the 1964 Belmont Stakes to thwart the Triple Crown bid of Northern Dancer. Though his skillful yet aggressive riding style and determination to win landed him in frequent hot water with stewards, Ycaza was selected by his peers as winner of the George Woolf Memorial Award in 1964. In 1968, 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.

Other major wins for Ycaza include the Travers Stakes (2), American Derby, Jerome Handicap, Kentucky Oaks (4), Suburban Handicap (2), Withers Stakes (2), Alabama Stakes, Arlington Handicap, Aqueduct Handicap, Bernard Baruch (3), Metropolitan Handicap, Champagne Stakes (3), Belmont Futurity (2), Saratoga Special (2), Blue Grass Stakes, Florida Derby, Tremont Stakes (2), Beldame Stakes, Hopeful Stakes, Santa Anita Oaks, Dwyer Stakes, Man o’ War Stakes, Strub Stakes, Diana Handicap, Brooklyn Handicap and Sanford Stakes, among others. He won 2,367 races from 10,561 mounts, with an impressive 22.4% winning percentage, and rode such acclaimed thoroughbreds as Ack Ack, Damascus, Dr. Fager, Sword Dancer, Intentionally, Bald Eagle, Hill Rise, Canebora, Never Bend, Quadrangle, Silky Sullivan, Top Knight, Ridan, Fort Marcy, Gamely, Lamb Chop and Dark Mirage.

In 1962, Ycaza was married to Linda Bement, who in 1960 had been crowned Miss USA and Miss Universe. The couple had two children, Manuel and Lindita, in 1963 and 1964, before divorcing in 1969.

After taking a career-ending spill and sustaining several serious injuries at Hialeah Park in 1970, Ycaza officially retired from thoroughbred racing in 1971. Bridging the gap from sports to politics, in 1973 Ycaza was appointed Consul General of Panama in New York by Brig. Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera. Ycaza met his wife Jeanne in 1973 when she interviewed him for a story about his being appointed Consul General of Panama. They soon began dating, and they married in 1982 in Fiji.

Manuel Ycaza was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1977. Ycaza briefly returned to ride as a standardbred harness driver in 1977, and made an unprecedented comeback to thoroughbred racing in 1983 at the age of 45 in anticipation of the birth of his daughter Carla. Since his last race in 1984, Ycaza had tended to real estate investments, made personal appearances and served as an Ambassador for the Jockeys and Jeans charity for disabled jockeys. He also enjoyed advising, mentoring and consulting with racing organizations and jockeys in the United States and Panama.

Ycaza died of pneumonia and sepsis in a local hospital in Forest Hills after being transported there when he suddenly took ill. He died peacefully, surrounded by his family. In addition to his wife, Jeanne (Detwiler) De Ycaza, he is survived by his daughters, Carla Jeanne De Ycaza and Lindita Elena De Ycaza; his son, Carlos Manuel Mario De Ycaza III; five grandchildren, Trevor, Christopher, Cristina, Jonathen and Christian; three great-grandchildren, Trey, Wyatt and Lewis; and a sister, Yolanda Olaechea.

Visitation will be held Friday July 20, 2018 from 2-5 and 7-9 p.m. at the Fox Funeral Home in Forest Hills, N.Y. A funeral Mass will be held Saturday July 21, 2018 at 9:30 a.m. at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs church, with burial to follow at the Mount St. Mary cemetery in Flushing, N.Y.

The family requests that memorial contributions be made to “Jockeys and Jeans” for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund https://pdjf.org/donate/.

Sources:

Daily Racing Form http://www.drf.com/news/manny-ycaza-barrier-breaking-jockey-dies-80

Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-manny-ycaza-20180718-story.html#

New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/18/obituaries/manny-ycaza-hall-of-fame-jockey-is-dead-at-80.html

The Globe and Mail https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/article-fiery-jockey-manny-ycaza-led-the-way-for-other-latin-americans-in/?cmpid=rss             

Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/fiery-hall-of-fame-jockey-manny-ycaza-dies-at-80/2018/07/17/3640fce0-8a19-11e8-9d59-dccc2c0cabcf_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b6ab48aa2e9c

ESPN http://www.espn.com/horse-racing/story/_/id/24124379/hall-fame-jockey-manny-ycaza-dies-80

Jockeys’ Guild http://www.jockeysguild.com/news/news/hall-of-fame-jockey-manny-ycaza-dies-at-80