HORSE RACING
Tin Cup Chalice stays unbeaten
Finger Lakes race results in 3-year-old cruising to victory
By Robert J. Summers
NEWS SPORTS REPORTER
Updated: 07/13/08 7:02 AM
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- Pedro Rodriguez rides Tin Cup Chalice to victory in the $159,600 New York Derby for state-bred 3-year-olds.
CANANDAIGUA — “You don’t see too many undefeated horses,” Michael Lecesse noted in the winner’s circle at Finger Lakes Race Track Saturday afternoon.
He was smiling broadly since a few minutes earlier Tin Cup Chalice — the unbeaten gelding he bred, co-owns and trains — romped to a front-running, 1z-length victory in the $159,600 New York Derby for state-bred 3-year-olds.
Victory in the second-richest race on the Finger Lakes calendar (after the $200,000 New York Breeders’ Futurity Oct. 4.) was the sixth straight career win for the handsome bay. He’s 4 for 4 this year after winning both his starts as a 2-year-old.
Lecesse, 48, said he knew he had a “good horse” in Tin Cup Chalice “when I first worked him last spring. . . . He got beat in his first workout, but he learned something that day. . . . He just learned how to run. He learned how to not get beat.
“He’s just there. He does his job and he knows he’s good at it.”
None of his five rivals in the New York Derby came close to marring his perfect record during the 1:45 4/5 it took to run the 1 1/16 miles.
Tin Cup Chalice, a grandson of Spectacular Bid, the 1979 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, bounded to the front from the No. 3 post position and led through fractions of 23 3/5, 47 2/5, 1:12 3/5 and 1:39 1/5. Alexandros, with John Davila Jr. up, tracked him for about 7 furlongs before fading on the turn.
Runner-up Almighty Silver, with Dennis Carr aboard, came from last place to get within about a length at the top of the stretch, but could not close ground in the final furlong.
Carr said Almighty Silver, the 2-1 second choice who broke sharply but quickly ended up last in the early going, “had a very good trip. . . It opened up inside and he got a perfect run through there. . . . I went outside for clear sailing, but I couldn’t get to the eventual winner.”
Winning jockey Pedro Rodriguez was so confident he raised his whip in triumph in his right hand even before crossing the wire.
“He’s got a lot of speed. He’s a real good horse. He knows what he’s doing out there. He’s push-button, you know,” said Rodriguez, Tin Cup Chalice’s rider in his last four starts.
The 3-4 betting favorite of the crowd of 2,581 paid $3.50, $2.60 and $2.10. Almighty Silver returned $3.40 and $2.40. That’srightofficer paid $2.50. There was an $8.20 exacta and $17.80 trifecta as the top three betting choices finished in order.
Before the race, there was some question about Tin Cup Chalice’s ability to carry his speed around two turns for the first time. All his previous wins were at 7 furlongs or shorter.
But Rodriguez said he’s confident the horse can go even farther.
“I got a lot of horse left. . . . I got nothing to worry about,” Rodriguez said.
With his $95,760 winner’s share, Tin Cup Chalice has earned $225,720 since his debut win last Oct. 23 by 15v lengths. Five of his six wins have come at Finger Lakes and his average winning margin has been 5.4 lengths.
Tin Cup Chalice will now try to stretch his speed another 1/16 mile (110 yards) in the $150,000 Albany Stakes at 1n miles at Saratoga on Aug. 20.
The Albany is the final race in the Triple Crown-like series called “The OTBs’ Big Apple Triple.” Tin Cup Chalice, who won the first leg — the $100,000 Mike Lee Stakes at Belmont Park on June 22 — can become the first horse to win the series, and its $250,000 bonus, since the Triple started in 1999. Five horses have won two of the three races and three horses — Image Maker (2000), Ferocious Won (2006) and Chief’s Lake (2007) have won the first two.
“I don’t know if he can get a mile and an eighth, but we’ll find out. . . . The Saratoga race is always a tougher race because people want to win at Saratoga,” Lecesse said.
Lecesse said the $250,000 bonus “doesn’t dance around in my head. . . . To keep his win streak alive is what we’re striving for more than anything.”
In the secondary feature, favorite Karakorum Katie ($4.50) ran down the front-running Amalfi Drive and held off the fast-closing Afleet Alexandra to win the $50,000 Niagara Stakes for state-bred 3-year-old fillies by a nose under leading jockey John Davilia Jr.
Karakorum Katie’s $30,000 prize raised her career bankroll to $87,147 with three wins from seven starts.
