Local horse beats the odds
‘Nobody wanted him, he almost died twice, and quite frankly, he was lazy when he was young,’ co-owner says. Now this proven winner is a favorite in Saratoga. It’s a big week for his local owners in more ways than one.By LOU REUTER, Enterprise Senior Sports Writer
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Tin Cup Chalice, a horse that fought for his life shortly after birth, will be in the race of his life Wednesday, as he looks to make a historic run on the track in Saratoga.
After two brushes with death, once as a foal and again as a weanling, Tin Cup Chalice has become one of the top 3-year-old racehorses in the United States. On Wednesday, the gelding will attempt to stay unbeaten and win his seventh race in the $150,000 Albany Stakes, which is the day's feature race at Saratoga.
With wins earlier this year at Belmont and Finger Lakes, Tin Cup Chalice can earn a handsome payoff - the OTB Big Apple Triple bonus - with a victory in the Albany Stakes. Not only will the horse claim approximately a $100,000 payoff with a win, but he will also collect the additional $250,000 bonus that comes with winning the triple, which is similar to racing's national Triple Crown, but for New York-bred horses.
The early months of Tin Cup Chalice's life could be described as traumatic, for both the horse and Scott Vanlaer and Michale Glennon, who raised him on their Ray Brook farm. After watching their horse nearly die of botulism when he was a week old and then seeing him survive another brush with death due to colic, Vanlaer and Glennon have been experiencing what could be described as a "fairy tale" summer as half owners of Tin Cup Chalice.
Vanlaer and Glennon, who breed racehorses on their Glen Laer farm in Ray Brook and normally attempt to sell them as one-year-olds, found themselves stuck with Tin Cup Chalice after not receiving a single bid on him when he was up for auction at Saratoga two years ago.
"Just the fact that he's turned out so well is hysterical," Glennon said from her home in Ray Brook Monday evening. "Nobody wanted him, he almost died twice, and quite frankly, he was lazy when he was young. Tin Cup Chalice is not the kind of horse you think would be successful."
"He isn't the type of horse that's attractive at auction," added Vanlaer. "He's a gelding, so he won't be a stud horse, and he doesn't have an attractive pedigree. Some horses that are sold for millions of dollars never win a race, and this horse, we couldn't give him away. So far, he's six for six."
In his six wins, Tin Cup Chalice has banked more than $225,000, and as half owners, Vanlaer and Glennon normally collect 40 percent of the prize money earned.
"Usually, the jockey gets 10 percent, the trainer gets 10 percent and the owners get 80 percent," Vanlaer said.
So far, that money has helped the Ray Brook couple install geothermal heating at their home, and a victory Wednesday would bring prize money they plan to use to install solar power there.
As of Monday, Tin Cup Chalice was listed as a 2-1 favorite to win the Albany Stakes, but Vanlaer admitted his horse has a better shot at falling short in the race than finishing first.
"He's more likely to lose than win," said Vanlaer, who is also a state Department of Environmental Conservation forest ranger. "This is going to be the toughest race of his life. His stiffest competition is a horse owned by a former ambassador from Denmark. I think that guy is worth about a half-billion dollars."
Tin Cup Chalice, who Glennon named after a Jimmy Buffet song, is now based out of the Finger Lakes race track, where he is trained by Michael Lecesse, who owns the other 50-percent stake in the horse. Vanlaer said the next time Tin Cup Chalice will be in Ray Brook is when he enters retirement, which the owners hope won't be any time soon.
"Hopefully, he's just getting going," Vanlaer said. "We'd love to see him run as a 4, 5, 6 and 7-year-old. He loves to run, he loves the competition, and he knows his job. Tin Cup Chalice knows that his job is to finish ahead of the other horses in a race."
Vanlaer will be at the track Wednesday seeing his horse run in the most important race of his life. Glennon, however, will be watching at home on her television. At 6 a.m. Thursday, she is scheduled to give birth to a son, which will be the couple's second child. They also have a 2-year-old daughter, Phoebe.
"Fortunately, Scott got us two racing channels on television," Glennon said. "I'd love to watch the race at the (Saranac Lake branch) OTB. Everybody there knows Scott, and that would be fun. But they won't let Phoebe in, so it looks like we will watch the race from home."
Glennon said about half of Ray Brook will be at Saratoga for the race, which will also feature horses that ran in both this year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness events. Win or lose, both Glennon and Vanlaer said they have had the experience of a lifetime as owners of a special horse they raised on their small farm in Ray Brook.
"This horse has already given us more than anyone could have hoped for or imagined," Vanlaer said after watching Tin Cup Chalice train at Saratoga on Monday. "It doesn't matter what happens Wednesday - the field is stacked against us. We're just enjoying everything that has happened on the run up to this race."
