Sunday Silence
Sunday Silence (1986-2002) was an American thoroughbred race horse. He was foaled in 1986 Sired by Halo out of Wishing Well. Though he was registered as a dark bay/brown, he was in fact a true black. In the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century, Sunday Silence is ranked #31.
Sunday Silence was bred by Oak Cliff Thoroughbreds, Ltd. Passed twice at the sales ring as a yearling, he was finally sold in California for $32,000 as a 2-year-old in training. Arthur B. Hancock III bought him as a “buy-back” (he had bred him), hoping to ship him to Kentucky. However, an accident kept Sunday Silence in California. Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham bought a half share of the colt and then sold half of that to Dr. Ernest Gaillard. (Ownersip designate: H-G-W Partners)
Sunday Silence is a unique horse in that out of 14 career races, he never finished worse than second. Nine of his races were Win (First), 5 were Place (Second).
Although he showed ability, he didn’t make it to the races until late in his 2-year-old season, winning a maiden special weight and finishing second in an allowance from three starts. In his third year, he managed to get an allowance win. In the Race to the Roses, Sunday Silence won the San Felipe Stakes and the Santa Anita Derby to allow him to qualify for a slot at the Kentucky Derby.
1989 U.S. Triple Crown
At the Kentucky Derby, a rivalry between him and east-coast thoroughbred Easy Goer developed, with each horse fighting each other in the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. In the Kentucky Derby, Easy Goer’s reluctance to race in mud gave Sunday Silence the win by 2 1/2 lengths. In the Preakness Stakes, Sunday Silence won the race by a nose over Easy Goer. But in the Belmont Stakes, Easy Goer crushed any attempt by Sunday Silence to grab the Crown by leaving him in the dust of an eight length lead.
Sunday Silence shook off the defeat and went on to win the Super Derby and finish second to eventual Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Prized in the Swaps Stakes. Easy Goer and Sunday Silence locked bridles again in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Gulfstream Park, where once again Sunday Silence went off as second choice. He got the lead in the stretch and held off Easy Goer’s late rally to win by a neck.
At this point, Sunday Silence had won seven times in nine starts, giving him the 3-year-old championship and the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year. In 1996 he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
During his 4th Year, Sunday Silence managed to win the Californian and place second in the Hollywood Gold Cup. But he suffered an injured ligament which eventually led to his retirement.
Retirement
After being ignored by most American breeders, Sunday Silence was eventually sold to Japanese breeder Zenya Yoshida to stand at his Shadai Stallion Station in Shiraoi, Hokkaido. Yoshida had acquired a 25% interest in Sunday Silence early in his 4-year-old season and bought out the other partners for an undisclosed amount.
Sunday Silence flourished in Japan and became their leading sire in the last decade of his life, topping their sire list from 1995 through 2007.
In August of 2002, Sunday Silence finally lost his battle with laminitis, suffering a fatal heart attack. In May, infection in his right leg brought on laminitis in his left leg. His owners had been discussing whether to euthanize him or not for days. On the day of his death, he lay down in his stall, could not get back up, and eventually died of heart failure. He had been in a lot of pain which required strong pain killers to be administered.
A favorite horse of many, a lot of fans took his death hard. Sunday Silence was buried at Shadai Stallion Station. In time, his extended bloodline left a significant mark in racing history.
1989 Preakness Sunday Silence
Kentucky Derby
Sunday Silence
1989 Breeders Cup Classic