Sunday Silence

Early years

Sunday Silence was foaled March 25, 1986, by Halo out of Wishing Well by Understanding. Though he was registered as a dark bay/brown, he was in fact a true black. He was bred by Oak Cliff Thoroughbreds, Ltd. and escaped death twice: first as a weanling when he nearly died from a freak virus; and later at age two, traveling in a van when the driver experienced a heart attack and the van flipped over. He was passed over twice at the sales ring as a yearling before he was sold in California for $50,000 as a two-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, the van 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. (Ownership designate: H-G-W Partners)

1988: two-year-old season

Although Sunday Silence showed ability, he didn't make it to the races until late in his two-year-old season, finishing second in a maiden race, then winning a maiden special weight race and finishing second in an allowance race from three starts.

1989: three-year-old season

Sunday Silence began his three-year-old year by winning an allowance race. He then won the San Felipe Stakes and the Santa Anita Derby to qualify for a start in the Kentucky Derby.

Kentucky Derby

In the buildup to the 1989 Triple Crown, a rivalry developed between the West Coast-based Sunday Silence and the East Coast-based Easy Goer, winner of the 1988 Eclipse Award for best Two-Year-Old Colt. In the 1 1/4 mile Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown, Sunday Silence and jockey Pat Valenzuela defeated Easy Goer by 2½ lengths over a muddy track in the slowest time(2:05) for a Kentucky Derby since 1958. Easy Goer had a history of having difficulty handling a muddy track at Churchill Downs. Easy Goer's jockey, Pat Day, and his trainer, Shug McGaughey, expressed their thoughts and explanations on the race. Daily Racing Form writer Dan Illman stated after Sunday Silence's victory that "the best horse won that afternoon." Daily Racing Form chairman Steve Crist stated his opinion that "Easy Goer had a legitimate explanation for his defeat, as he didn't handle the muddy Churchill track."

Preakness Stakes

While both horses were preparing for the 1 3/16 mile Preakness, each had minor ailments. Sunday Silence came up dead lame after a gallop 7 days before the race. Trainer Whittingham contacted well-known Kentucky veterinarian Dr. Alex Harthill. Dr. Harthill diagnosed a bruise under the sole, a common injury that "wasn't a serious problem but it had happened at a serious time." Harthill had Sunday Silence step on a clean sheet of white paper which was subsequently faxed to Dr. Ric Redden of Lexington, Ky., and from which Redden prepared a set of aluminum bar shoes. Redden and his assistant then flew via rented jet to Baltimore with the bar shoes and x-ray machine to confirm that no fracture was involved. After the shoes were fitted, Sunday Silence resumed training 4 days before the race. After his connections saw the colt's "remarkably" rapid recovery from the injury, the bar shoes were removed the day before the race.

Meanwhile, at his rival's stable, throughout Preakness week(as late as Friday, the day before the race), Easy Goer's front feet were being soaked in a tub of Epsom salts due to small scratches or cracks on both heels. An ultrasound was also performed on his ankles and knees. Some wondered if these ailments could compromise the chances of both horses. Easy Goer had "problematic, puffy" ankles that he dealt with throughout his career. Trainer Thad Ackel (trained Breeders' Cup Turf winner Great Communicator) stated, "Easy Goer has got a couple of osselets (enlargements of the fetlock joints usually caused by excess fluid), and it looked to me like there's come calcification there. I was surprised that such a good horse could have ankles like that."

Sunday Silence again prevailed over his arch-rival, this time by a nose, in a head-and-head battle down the home stretch. This race has been proclaimed by many experts to be the "Race of the Half Century." Some Easy Goer loyalists in the media maintained their horse's superiority, attributing the loss to the fact that Easy Goer had dwelt at the start and his jockey, Pat Day, reined Easy Goer's head to the right when he had a short lead in the home stretch. Day, who lodged a failed objection against Valenzuela, has called his ride "a mistake." Bill Christine of the Los Angeles Times and trainer Shug McGaughey also expressed their opinions on the mistakes they thought Day made during the race.

Belmont Stakes

The day before the 1 1/2 mile Belmont Stakes, known as the "Run of the Carnations" and "Test of a Champion", Sunday Silence, with exercise rider Pam Mabes up, was spooked and kicked trainer Whittingham in the temple, a glancing blow that came close to killing the trainer. The Belmont track, which received several inches of rain in the days leading up to the race, was rated fast with Sunday Silence the 9:10 post time favorite, and the entry of Easy Goer and Awe Inspiring at 8:5.

Easy Goer defeated Sunday Silence by eight lengths in the time of 2:26 producing the second fastest Belmont Stakes in history, behind only Secretariat, and denied Sunday Silence the Triple Crown. In the process, Easy Goer seemed to vindicate his reputation as the reigning champion two year-old. By virtue of his two Classic wins and his runner-up performance, Sunday Silence was awarded the third $1,000,000 Visa Triple Crown Bonus for best three-year-old in the series.

Breeders' Cup Classic

After the Belmont Stakes, Sunday Silence finished second to eventual Breeders' Cup Turf winner Prized (Easy Goer defeated Prized by over 20 lengths in the Jockey Club Gold Cup) in the Grade II 1 1/4 mile Swaps Stakes on July 23, and won the Grade I Super Derby on September 24. Easy Goer won 4 successive Grade I stakes after the Belmont, consisting of (in chronological order) the 1 1/8 mile Whitney Handicap, 1 1/4 mile Travers Stakes, 1 1/4 mile Woodward Stakes and 1 1/2 mile Jockey Club Gold Cup, with three of those wins against older horses.

This set up one final face-off between Easy Goer and Sunday Silence at the season-ending $3 million 1 1/4 mile Breeders' Cup Classic at Gulfstream Park, run on November 4. The contest was expected to decide the winner of the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year. Sunday Silence's jockey Pat Valenzuela had earlier been suspended for cocaine use and was replaced by veteran Chris McCarron. Sunday Silence was the post time 2:1 second choice behind Easy Goer at 1:2. In the early part of the race, Easy Goer was 11 lengths behind the leader early and about 6 lengths behind Sunday Silence. Sunday Silence was 5 lengths behind the leader in the early part of the race. With 3 furlongs remaining, he was 4 lengths behind the leader and 1/2 length ahead of Easy Goer. Daily Racing Form chart caller noted that Sunday Silence "went after Blushing John approaching the stretch, headed that rival just inside the final furlong, lugged in slightly while edging away and turned back Easy Goer under good handling and Won driving" to win by a neck over Easy Goer. The chart also noted that Easy Goer "lost his position when he tried to head towards the gap leaving the chute, advanced quickly from the outside to reach contention nearing the end of the backstretch, wasn't able to stay with the leaders while continuing wide around the far turn, then finished boldly."

At this point, Sunday Silence had earned a single-season record $4.59 million (since surpassed by horses such as Cigar, Silver Charm, Curlin, Smarty Jones, and Pleasantly Perfect) and won seven times in nine starts for the 1989 campaign, earning him Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Male Horse and Horse of the Year honors. For the latter award, Sunday Silence received 223 of 242 votes, making him the most decisive winner since John Henry eight years earlier. Former New York Times racing writer and current Daily Racing Form chairman Steve Crist stated in his N.Y. Times article in January 1990 that had the question on the ballot been, "Who is the better horse, Sunday Silence or Easy Goer?" a lot more than 19 would have voted against Sunday Silence", while concluding in the same article that "by any standards last year [1989] belonged to Sunday Silence." Paul Moran of the Los Angeles Times and Newsday agreed, stating that "Sunday Silence is Horse of the Year, but most still believe Easy Goer is the better horse." In 1996, Sunday Silence was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. He was ranked #31 in the Bloodhorse Top 100 Horses of the 20th Century, while Easy Goer ranked #34. Blood-Horse stated that its rankings "will generate debate for years to come." The electoral friction was ultimately reflected in the introduction to the Blood-Horse's "Top 100 Racehorses" book, which said, "For all the work and dreaming that went into it... one approaches the list... with a nagging sense of its folly as a rational exercise and of the maddening arbitrariness of its outcome."

Since the Breeder's Cup Classic was instituted in 1984, Alysheba and Sunday Silence were the only two horses to win three legs of a four-race sequence that was defined in 2015 as Thoroughbred racing's Grand Slam: The Triple Crown races, plus the Breeders' Cup Classic, and the first horse to win three legs of the modern Grand Slam in the same year. As the Breeders' Cup began after the 1978 Triple Crown win of Affirmed, the potential for a sweep of all four races only became possible in 2015 after American Pharoah won the Triple Crown, and eventually the Grand Slam.

1990: four-year-old season

At the age of four, Sunday Silence won the Californian and placed second in the Hollywood Gold Cup behind Criminal Type. He suffered an injured ligament that eventually led to his retirement. Out of 14 career races, he won nine and placed second in the other five.

Stud record

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 from 1995 through 2008, taking over from Northern Taste (10 time leading sire in Japan). However, breeders were generally not successful expanding his influence outside of Japan. His progeny have won many races in Japan, including 20 out of 22 JRA Grade 1 flat races (the only exceptions are the NHK Mile Cup and the Japan Cup Dirt). His progeny also have won International Grade 1 race including the Hong Kong Vase, Hong Kong Mile and Dubai Sheema Classic.

Descendants of Sunday Silence have broken many earnings records, mainly in Japan where the purses are significantly higher than the rest of the world. Conservative estimates on the earnings of Sunday Silence descendents place the total near JPY 80 billion (approximately $800 million.) However, Average Earnings Index (Horse Racing) is a popular statistic in North America used to put the earnings of a sire's progeny into proper perspective although it is easily skewed by one or two big earners. Sunday Silence's career AEI is 2.15. Some of the all-time leading American sires by AEI rankings are: Bold Ruler 7.73, Alydar 5.21, Nasrullah 5.16, Northern Dancer 5.14, Nijinsky II 4.74, Danzig 4.53, Mr. Prospector 4.25, Seattle Slew 4.12, Buckpasser 3.94, Storm Cat 3.93, A.P. Indy 3.74.

Major winners

c = colt, f = filly

Sire of sires

Many of Sunday Silence's sons have gone on to become successful breeding stallions, with at least sixteen of them siring Group or Grade I winners. These include:

In addition to his sons, his daughter Sun is Up was the dam of 2014 Breeders' Cup Mile winner Karakontie.

Death

Sunday Silence died on August 19, 2002. He had been treated for laminitis for the previous 14 weeks and had developed an infection in one leg as well. He had been given a stronger dose of a different painkilling medication the previous day to provide him relief, and apparently as a result, he had become comfortable enough to lie down for the first time in a week. The following morning, he appeared unable to rise, and while veterinarians were discussing what to do, he died, apparently of heart failure.

Pop culture

In the horse racing game Derby Owners Club, Sunday Silence is one of the sires available to breed in the game. He is also pictured on one of the official game cards.