"To Wish Is a Big Thing"

"These things," said Manuel Ycaza, "are beneath the dignity of a man whose family has a coat of arms." The things that Jockey Ycaza (pronounced ee-kah-za) was talking about were the tactics that once won him the reputation of racing's roughest rider. But Ycaza, at 22, is already a reformed fellow. And though he is calmly vague about the details of his coat of arms (asked what it is, he replies: "Why, it is a coat of arms for the Ycaza family"), many a follower of the new Ycaza might suggest that it be a whip rampant on a field of winning $2 tickets.

Every Trick in the Book. One of nine children born to a Panamanian bus driver, Ycaza learned to ride ponies as a six-year-old, trained as a jockey in Panama and Mexico. Says his agent: "They're not strict down there. Everybody rides rough." In the U.S., Ycaza quickly endeared himself to the $2 bettors as a jockey who could win with a donkey--if only because he was more than willing to try every breakneck, hot-headed trick in the books. In 1957 track stewards grounded Ycaza for 130 days for fouls; in 1958 he was ordered out of the saddle for 110 days. From 1958 came the memorable picture of Ycaza, riding Jewel's Reward in Hialeah's Flamingo Stakes, and coming down the stretch bumping Rival Tim Tarn. Ycaza was suspended for 15 days, Jewel's Reward was disqualified at a cost of $77,800 to Owner Elizabeth Arden Graham, and Tim Tam went on to win the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. It was at about that point that trainers began shrugging Ycaza off as a foolish kid who let a hot temper cancel out cold talent.

But in 1959, Owner Harry F. Guggenheim of Cain Hoy Stable gave Ycaza a chance to redeem himself by hiring him as contract rider. Ycaza liked Cain Hoy. "It is like a family stable," he says. "They are all very nice to me." In that climate, he began mending his ways. "I wished to improve," says Ycaza. "To wish is a big thing." It was certainly a big thing to Cain Hoy--the U.S.'s leading money-winning stable last year, with purses totaling $742,081.

Holding Onto It. This year Ycaza has taken his place among the nation's best jockeys. A leader at Florida's Gulfstream Park, he recently flew to New York, got socked out by weather, finally landed and got to Aqueduct just 55 minutes before the day's feature race. He pulled on his silks just in time to mount and ride Mommy Dear to a win in the $28,050 Correction Handicap. Last week he had five winners in three days at Aqueduct--and not one of his rides was beneath the dignity of a man with a family coat of arms. Says Ycaza: "I used to want to win so much that I got excited when anything interfered, and I would lose my temper. Now I still have the same temper, but I know I've got to hold it."

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