Superstar Thoroughbred trainer and Mechanicville native Chad Brown will be honored this summer at the 26th Annual Newton Plaza Siro’s Cup. Siro’s signature track-related fundraiser, which benefits the Center for Disability Services, will be held on Wednesday, July 10, right before opening day at Saratoga Race Course, which starts a week earlier than usual on July 11. The perennially popular Siro’s Cup will include live music, dancing and dinner stations with a special menu prepared by Siro’s itself, as well as a tribute to Brown’s accomplishments and a brief presentation to the award-winning trainer.
Brown’s rapid rise in the world of Thoroughbred racing is nothing short of a legendary, and much of his success has come right here in the Spa City. In 2008, Brown won the first race on opening day with the first horse he entered (it was his first-ever run at Saratoga Race Course). Over the last few years, Browns’ winnings total and fame have skyrocketed, with three consecutive Eclipse Award wins in the last three years, in addition to a 2017 win at the Preakness Stakes with Cloud Computing for his first Triple Crown leg win. Brown’s also recently set some impressive racing records: Last year, he won 20 Grade 1 races, more than any other trainer in North America, amassing a total of $27,546,057 in purse earnings, the second highest all-time amount by a trainer in a calendar year. (It’s no wonder Brown made saratoga living‘s Saratoga 20.)
“Chad Brown is a perfect Siro’s Cup honoree because of his strong commitment to the community and the horse racing industry, [and because] he supports charitable organizations such as the center,” says Anne Schneider Costigan, spokesperson at the Center for Disability Services. For 77 years, the nonprofit organization has been one of the largest providers of programs and services for individuals with disabilities living in Upstate NY. The center’s more than 80 locations annually assist around 12,000 individuals ranging from infants to seniors. The proceeds from the Siro’s Cup fundraiser will help fund a number of the center’s initiatives, including medical and dental equipment for its Center Health Care, repairs and upgrades at the Center’s Clover Patch Camp (a disabilities-friendly camp in Glenville), and renovations to St. Margaret’s Center, the center’s pediatric and young adult nursing facility.
Siro’s Cup serves as a traditional kickoff event to Saratoga’s summer social season. Like last year’s event, award-winning artist James Fiorentino will return to make a hyper-realistic painting for the honoree. The event begins at 6:30pm with live entertainment provided by Funk Evolution, and a unique menu created by the racing-season-only restaurant’s executive chef and staff. The tribute and presentation to Brown will be at 7:30 (guests can stay and dance till 11). Reservations to Siro’s Cup are $125 per person, $1,100 for a group of ten, or $150 at the door.