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♦ Ray York Seeking Second Derby Win Pleasant Veteran Rider Has Assignment on Silver Spoon; Was Aboard Determine in#54 By OSCAR OTIS CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 1. — Jockey Ray York, with worlds of experience behind him, including the Kentucky Derby winner Determine in 1954, remains a "freshman" at heart. He seems to get more sheer exhilaration from riding especially winners than most saddle-smiths on the west coast. York was born in Gloucester, Mass., ina service family, and as a result, did a lot of traveling in his youth to some far-off places. In his early teens, his dad was stationed in San Diego and they lived in Mission Valley. It was Rays good fortune that a riding academy was nearby. He is a natural lightweight and it was but an easy jump from the riding academy to the nearby summer races at Del Mar, where he became an apprentice, riding his first winner at the Alameda county fair at Pleasanton on July 4, 1949. York rode the rest of that year with only modest success, winning with 18 of his 281 mounts. But in 1950, he began to hit his stride and he scored with 137 of his horses, not enough to place him with the leaders but an indication that better days were ahead. In fact, his reputation was so welf estab-| lished that in 1951 he obtained his first ! mount in the Kentucky Derby. Phil D., who J finished fourth, and in 1952 he rode Arroz, ; who was fifth. Learned Much From Trial His big day came in 1954 when Andrew J. Crevolin chose him to ride Determine in the Run for the Roses. Determine and his arch rival. Hasty Road Johnny Adams up, hooked up in a bitter duel in the Trial that year, and the latter proved the winner. The race taught the happy-go-lucky York a lot about Determine, however, and that was a different story in the Derby. Determine triumphed by a length and half, and York, exuberant, allowed his horse to step right along after crossing the finish line. Returning, York stood up in the stirrups and doffed his cap time after time to the cheering crowd, a grin of triumph clearly visible on his face. York has ridden many stakes winners since, mostly in California, among them several for one of his first owner-patrons, Mrs. Connie Ring of Three Rings Ranch, Beaumont. Last winter, at Santa Anita, he was in a bit of a slump for a short spell, but a connection wth his old friend, Bob Wheeler, changed all that and he got to ride Silver Spoon, the great C. V. Whitney filly by Citation. He gave her a masterful, well-judged ride to win with her in the Santa Anita Derby, and upon dismounting, immediately asked to be allowed to ride her in her Kentucky stakes engagements. This Continued on Page 34 D Ray York Seeks Second Derby Success Today Pilot of Determine, 1954 Victor, Will Be Up on Filly Silver Spoon Continued from Page 30 D permission was cheerfully granted — and in a hurry. York and his wife make their permanent home in the upper reaches of the San Fernando Valley, a considerable drive from "either Santa Anita or Hollywood Park, but the rider insists the drive is worth it, for when he reaches home he is quite remote from the racetrack. His hobby outdoors is gardening, and there is a dart board in his big den-rumpus room. He has become an exceptional "arrow" man and insists that dartmanship is not only good, sound recreation but sharpens the eyesight, and provides muscular coordination and timing, all valuable attributes in the saddle. / York is also an amateur entertainer and master of ceremonies of more than passing merit, as was disclosed on a winter charter air trip to Phoenix hosted by Turf Paradise president Walter M. Cluer. York "borrowed" the captains cap and coat and proceeded to regale those lucky enough to be aboard the DC7, with his plans to fly the plane back to Los Angeles, and just how he proposed to do it. His wit was spontaneous and brilliant, and to borrow a phrase from our Hollywood man, Herb Stein, he "layed em in the aisles." But carefree as he may be at play, on the racetrack he is almost all business where he is intelligent, alert, capable, and a hard finisher. What distinguishes his riding, more than anything else, is that his exuberance seems evident in his saddle work. When he leaves the gate, he seems to be saying, ."Lets just get there first." Riding to him is fun — a hobby as well as a profession.
