Thanks for the Info Glimmer, I’ll be watching with bells on FROM THE STATES!!! sticks tongue out at Emily and then turns around and shakes her tailfeather! Blinkers On: Mike’s AT, Jan, his other primary gallop boy, Ronny, and of course Pedro are all going. No one you know for here, but three very standup people who deserve the trip! I’m sorry I can’t offer a more inside look to you Emily. Maybe you should break out the binoculars. I bet you can catch a glimpse of the glory all the way from you $1.98 for gas paying Rising Scum roost. He he he. Beyond anything though, I am so very happy for TC’s connections, Mike’s staff, Scott, Jan, Ronny, Pedro, and of course Mike himself! Its a great end to a long year.
hello everyone, im new to the site but have been reading everything about TC. looks like a few people from FL are here lol well TC is amazing and the best part my aunts the AT (jan)and i know “weasel” the jocs agent lol so is the only place to watch the race gonna be TVG?
Maybe this is posted in the thread and I missed it, but when is the Japan Cup? I remember a few years ago setting my alarm so I could get up and watch Silent Witness (maybe - can’t remember for sure). My mom and grandma were up visiting and they thought I had lost my mind.
Best of luck to TCC’s connections.
dec. 7th
Just to clarify and avoid confusion, as the thread title is misleading…
Japan Cup = Sun Nov 30th, at Tokyo racecourse, 12f Turf, ~$4.75m
Japan Cup Dirt = Sun Dec 7th, at Hanshin racecourse, 9f Dirt, ~$2.5m
They are two very different races.
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;3642658]
Just to clarify and avoid confusion, as the thread title is misleading…[/QUOTE]
It was adjusted accordingly 
Regarding the ability to see the race yes I think TVG may be the only US television outlet to see the race. Although some times the regional Fox Sports channels do carry TVG as well and so it could be possible they too will have it.
TVG has had recent promos for other races in Japan and boasted of their exclusive signal agreement with the JRA.
As for watching the racing at your local OTB I believe that Emerald Downs (Seattle) has the direct association with the JRA and TVG works with Emerald. Accordingly it may be difficult for any other OTB outlets to broadcast the signal and take wagers as well. (Laurel Park, for example, is the only US outlet offering simulcast wagering with Argentina, Chile and Uruguay)
Tin Cup Chalice might get a fellow American runner in the Japan Cup Dirt - Frost Giant
Dutrow gained worldwide fame by winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness with Big Brown. Now, he has the potential to make his mark on two major international races. Dutrow is pointing Kip Deville to the Hong Kong Mile on Dec. 14, one week after possibly running Frost Giant in the Japan Cup Dirt on Dec. 7.
Frost Giant, who won the Grade 1 Suburban in July, has not run since being eased in the Northern Dancer on turf at Woodbine. Frost Giant was scheduled to breeze at Aqueduct on Tuesday morning.
The Daily Racing Form finally got the news that TCC is going to Japan, more then a week after it was already reported 
Nov 13, 2008 “Tin Cup Chalice to try Japan Cup Dirt”
“The purse is a big incentive to go and try for,” Lecesse said Thursday by phone from upstate New York. “He was going to run in a Grade 1 either way, why not try for a little more money? The status of both races is pretty high.”
The Japan Cup is run at about 1 1/8 miles. Though Tin Cup Chalice did win the Albany at 1 1/8 miles, he seems to be more effective at shorter distances.
“A mile and an eighth with 16 horses - possibly 18 is what they told me - obviously he’s going to have to run a superb race in order to win it,” Lecesse said.
Lecesse had to scratch Tin Cup Chalice out of the Best of Luck Stakes here on Oct. 29 due to a bruised foot, but Lecesse said the injury cost the horse only four days of training.
“Two days after I scratched him he popped his abscess and was walking sound right after that,” Lecesse said.
The Japan Cup Dirt is run clockwise, which is the opposite of the way races are run in North America. [b]Lecesse has worked Tin Cup Chalice in a clockwise direction for his last two breezes, including a seven-furlong move at Finger Lakes in 1:29.20 on Wednesday.
“The first time it was a new experience for him, he handled it okay; I wouldn’t say he was perfect,” Lecesse said. “The second breeze was much more productive the way he switched leads.”[/b]
Assorted bits
It was confirmed that TCC willbe joined with two other American horses in the Japan Cup Dirt:
Tin Cup Chalice will be joined by Mast Track and Frost Giant in making the trip to Hanshin Racetrack near Osaka for what will be the world’s second-richest race run on dirt this year, after the Dubai World Cup.
The Japan Cup Dirt was formerly run at 1 5/16 miles over the left-handed Tokyo course on the day before the Japan Cup, a race that will be run this year on Nov. 30. But the Japan Cup Dirt was switched to Hanshin this year on the Sunday after the Japan Cup - and, more important, the distance of the race has been cut to 1 1/8 miles in an effort to attract more American runners. At Hanshin, however, the race will be run on a right-handed course with a sharp undulation on the first turn.
Also - congratulations to Tin Cup Chalice and his connections on winning Finger Lakes’ Horse of the Year! He was named 2008 Finger Lakes HOY at the Finger Lakes Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association awards dinner on Saturday.
Democrat & Chronicle 11-15-08 “Tin Cup Chalice FL Horse of the Year”
TB Times 11-16-08 “Tin Cup Chalice honored by Finger Lakes”
DRF 11-15-08 “Tin Cup Chalice, Ross Morton honored by Finger Lakes”
konnichiha
He’s in Japan!
DRF 11-21-08 “Marsh Side, Tin Cup Chalice arrive in Japan”
Canadian International winner Marsh Side, who goes in the 1 1/2-mile Japan Cup on Nov. 30, checked into the Shiroi Quarantine Center east of Tokyo at 1:35 p.m. on Thursday (1:35 a.m. Eastern), while Tin Cup Chalice preceded him by about 45 minutes after a 24-hour journey from Finger Lakes in anticipation of his run in the 1 1/8-mile Japan Cup Dirt on Dec. 7.
Tin Cup Chalice touched down at Narita International Airport four hours prior to his arrival at Shiroi.
“It was a long-distance flight but he is not showing any fatigue and is doing great,” said his groom Jan Keuer. “He has a good appetite and I’m just relieved. It’s his first day here so we’ll only walk him around. He’ll enter the track tomorrow and begin light training. If all goes well here at Shiroi, we’ll give him one hard workout before we move to Hanshin Racecourse.”
Keuer was referring the nine-hour van ride that awaits Tin Cup Chalice on Thursday. Hanshin, located just outside Osaka in western Japan, is 300 miles west of Shiroi.
This year’s Japan Cup Dirt will be worth $2.9 million, making it the world’s third richest non-turf race after the Dubai World Cup and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The Mike Lecesse-trained Tin Cup Chalice, based at Finger Lakes, swept the Big Apple Triple for New York-bred 3-year-olds, then landed the Grade 2 Indiana Derby at Hoosier Park on Oct. 4 to make his record 8 for 9.
The Rick Dutrow-trained Frost Giant is scheduled leave New York on Tuesday, but Mast Track, who has accepted an invitation to run from the Japan Racing Association, is now only 50-50 to make the trip from Santa Anita.
The question is - will Tin Cup Chalice be like the retro club hit by Alphaville “Big In Japan”? One hopefully wishes so!
Just let him come back we don’t want him “turning Japanese” - (The Vapors - 1980)
A few more details from the local paper: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - “Farmington’s Tin Cup Chalice arrives in Japan”
… arrived in Japan yesterday after a 15 ½-hour plane flight.
The 3-year-old gelding will be in quarantine at the JRA Horseracing School Quarantine Center in Shiroi City through Monday, then will take a nine-hour van ride to Hanshin Racecourse for the race.
“I was more worried about that plane flight than anything,” said Mike LeCesse of Farmington, trainer and co-owner of Tin Cup Chalice.
LeCesse will head to Japan next week.
Glimmer, I just want you to know that thanks to you, I have had “Big in Japan” in my head all day.
Hey guys. Seems that all is well with TC. To correct the D&C article, Pedro isn’t yet in Japan. He and Mike will leave on Monday (after wasting nearly a week up here with a frozen track and a foot of snow). Jan, Mike’s AT, and his other exercise rider/jock Ronny are both there at present. I have my fingers, toes, and eyes crossed that all goes well!
Very glad he has arrived OK, and excited to see how he does!
There are a couple of pics of him unloading in Japan off their Racing Club’s website.
Barnfairy at least I didn’t cite Alphaville’s more famous hit and overused prom song of the late 1980’s Forever Young
Updates on the Japan Cup Dirt - Bobby Frankel’s Mast Track in going afterall, he’ll ship out today (11/26) to Japan from CA.
Frost Giant left Tues 11/25 from NY and arrived today at Narita Airport. The IEAH owned horse was originally under Aidan O’Brien in Ireland.
American jocks in the race are as follows: Tin Cup Chalice will have regular rider Pedro Rodriguez aboard. Cornelio Velasquez will take the reins on Frost Giant, while Garrett Gomez will ride Mast Track for the first time.
Home Page for the Japan Cup Dirt
It appears you will be able to see a replay of the race on-line via that site
PDF - past performances of the nominated horses in the field
From an unusual source: West Branch Times, West Branch Iowa 11-25-08 “Radford joins racing team for $2.4M Cup”
Julie Radford has a date with a horse, a race and possibly a $2.4 million purse halfway around the world.
Radford, owner of Paint ‘n’ Place Horses on Main Street, flies out Dec. 1 for the Japan Cup Dirt, where her “significant other,” Mike LeCesse, will watch his and Scott VanLaer’s 3-year-old Tin Cup Chalice run in the invitation-only race. And the Japanese Race Horse Association will pay their expenses.
I knew about TCC almost dying but I didn’t know they attempted to sell him at auction following that, see below:
Tin Cup had more than racetracks to overcome to reach this point in his life. Foaled in 2005, Tin Cup nearly died — twice — before his first birthday, Radford said. Once was a case of botulism passed on through mare’s milk. The second was a severe case of horse’s colic where the vet was already on his way in to put the horse down when the vet got caught up in traffic and, in the delay, Tin Cup got up on his own.
The illnesses left Tin Cup so underweight that LeCesse tried to sell him at auction, but he was so scrawny that no one made an offer, Radford said. So LeCesse took him home and started to train him.
Part of Radford’s West Branch business is raising and training well-bred Tobiano American Paint Horse Association horses and American Quarter Horse Association horses. In Japan, it will be her job to check on Tin Cup daily and to assist LeCesse in race preparations.
Such a cool story! I hope he does well, and comes back safe. Though I think that no matter what happens, it will have been a whirlwind fun adventure for all involved!
well news is Pedro will not be riding Tin cup. edgar prado will the joc instead
[QUOTE=jef9891;3695830]
well news is Pedro will not be riding Tin cup. edgar prado will the joc instead[/QUOTE]
Ouch - I hope this isn’t due to anything with an injury or falling out.
Other news Casino “I swear I’m special but can’t prove it” Drive will race in the Cup Dirt too.
TCC did work out Sunday and was hand walked Monday as he will be Tuesday:
Tin Cup Chalice worked out at Hanshin Racecourse, the site of the about 1 1/8-mile Japan Cup Dirt, on Sunday. The Michael LeCesse sophomore enjoyed an easier day Monday and was only hand walked.
“Since we had him do some fast work yesterday, we’re not planning on doing any more fast or strong work this week,” LeCesse said Monday. "The course here is a bit sandy and much deeper than at home, but the horse seems to like it. We feel honored to be invited by the JRA to race in the Japan Cup Dirt. He’s still young and this will be a big test for him, but we hope that this will be a big step up for him. We intend to just hand-walk him tomorrow, like today."
