Mike Lecesse was nervous. His undefeated New York-bred Tin Cup Chalice missed a breeze in early August. Then he coughed five times Wednesday morning. Then his jockey Pedro Rodriguez left his red-and-white silks at Finger Lakes.
Lecesse sat stone still in a crowded box, row E, situated a few yards before the wire. His daughter was there, his father was there, as were a gaggle of friends, fans and family.
All there to see Tin Cup Chalice earn Lecesse and co-owner Scott Van Laer a cool $340,000 for winning the Albany and completing the OTB Big Apple Triple.
Lecesse sat still during the post parade, sat still during the first 7 furlongs of the 9-furlong race. Turning for home, Tin Cup Chalice faced his acid test – graded stakes horses Icabad Crane and Big Truck took runs at him.
Lecesse stood up and started pleading with his Finger Lakes dynamo. Tin Cup Chalice dispatched Icabad Crane and Big Truck then had to stave off a final barrage from That’srightofficer who couldn’t threaten Tin Cup Chalice in their first two meetings. This time, he made it close – desperately close for Lecesse – but couldn’t get past the stubborn Tin Cup Chalice.
Lecesse jumped out of his box and headed down the stairs.
“What a horse,” Lecesse said. “What a horse.”
Yeah, what a horse. Tin Cup Chalice, a gelded son of Crusader Sword, boosted his record to 7-for-7 while increasing his earnings to $565,720.
“It’s unbelievable. I love seeing the streak kept alive,” Lecesse said. “I love seeing any unbeaten horse stay unbeaten. That was my goal and it’s still my goal – keep him unbeaten.”
Jockey Pedro Rodriguez cued Tin Cup Chalice to take his customary spot on the lead while breaking from the 5 hole. Outside him, favorite Big Truck stumbled, but was over it quickly to collect a stalking spot in second after a dawdling quarter mile in 25.66 seconds and a half in 50.88. Tin Cup Chalice led by a length over Big Truck while second choice Icabad Crane and Almighty Silver filled out the phalanx in third and fourth. Outsiders That’srightofficer and Overextended bided their time behind the front four.
Without pace factor Writingonthewall, who scratched Wednesday morning, Tin Cup Chalice waltzed through three quarters in 1:15.33.
“It was amazing,” Rodriguez said after the race. “I never would have expected they’d give me that kind of pace. I expected more pressure from Big Truck. My horse relaxed good in front, they let me go in almost 51. I could tell I went a half in 50 at least, then I just wait, wait, wait.”
In store was a sterner test than Tin Cup Chalice had met in six previous races. Big Truck went after him and Icabad Crane circled up on his outside. Tin Cup Chalice shook them off and then had to face That’srightofficer who came roaring to his jugular. He couldn’t get past. At the wire, Tin Cup Chalice held off That’srightofficer by a head. The winner stopped the clock in 1:51.33.
“I’ve been getting on him in the morning,” Rodriguez said. “Mike had this horse ready 200 percent. The horse helps us too, he does everything right, he’s not a tough horse to train. Most of his races, you put him in gear out of the gate, then lower it down and he responds, then he does the rest. The last quarter of a mile, he gave me another gear, I had plenty of horse left. He’s a game, game horse.”
Rick Schosberg, trainer of That’srightofficer sought out Lecesse after the race.
“I tried to spoil it for you, buddy,” Schosberg said, shaking Lecesse’s hand.
“Whew,” Lecesse said.
The Finger Lakes bus had its steam. Jason Czudak, who’s had a few horses with Lecesse over the years, came traveled from the Finger Lakes region to cheer on his friend and his freak.
“You did it. You did it. You did it,” Czudak said. “This is like the Kentucky Derby for New York-breds.”
In that case, Tin Cup Chalice reigns as the Affirmed of New York-breds.
Lecesse still couldn’t quite believe it had happened.
“I had a first-time starter win here but this is the biggest ever,” he said. “You’re always nervous. I was second-guessing myself on everything. Like this morning, he was coughing. I was like, ‘What’s happening here?’ He didn’t do it last night, he didn’t have any snot, didn’t have a temperature, I thought I should scope him. I got him out and walked him and he seemed fine, but I was nervous. It was probably a little dust, but everything is everything.”
Especially when it comes to taking down the Big Apple Triple, a $250,000 bonus awarded to the horse who sweeps the Mike Lee at Belmont Park, the New York Derby at Finger Lakes and the Albany. Since its creation in 1999, no one had swept the series.
“It hasn’t sunk in. I’ve never thought about the money. I just focused on the race. I just wanted to win. The streak. The unbeaten horse is tough to keep,” Lecesse said. “He does everything like it’s nothing. He takes everything in stride. He’s unbelievable, he’s so quiet in the paddock. We schooled him, the first day he was a little nervous but he got himself together and was great. He’s just a game horse. He wants to win. And so do I.”
Lecesse has carved out a niche at Finger Lakes. He tried Philadelphia Park in the late 80s and did OK, then had to come back to Finger Lakes to help his dad in their bowling alley. He tried to train a few horses on the side but eventually had to give them up to help his father. That was tough.
“I had a couple of horses and worked at the bowling alley at night. Then I had to get out because my dad really needed me,” Lecesse said. “Once he didn’t need me, I went back into the horse business. It was great. I told my dad, I loved the horses, couldn’t get it out of my skin.”
Adorned in a “Tin Cup Chalice” hat and carrying a tin cup (no kidding), Pete Siegel, bloodstock manager for Van Laer, shook Lecesse’s hand.
“Your work schedule with this horse was a thing of beauty,” Siegel said. “When I saw that sharp 6-furlong work, legendary type of conditioning, that’s why he held on.”
Lecesse couldn’t take too much credit.
“I was a little bit worried,” Lecesse said. “I actually missed a work in between because he was snotting a little bit, that’s why I was so worried this morning when he was coughing.”
Not that he told Rodriguez.
“He said nothing,” Rodriguez said after the race when told about the coughing. “In the post parade, he was so happy, the horse, he was stomping the ground, he was ready for this race, he knew what was going on. I can’t believe he was coughing, I’m going to tell him, ‘I was worried going to the gate because he coughed a couple of times.’ ”
It wouldn’t have mattered.
