The Legacy of Sunday Silence Lives On
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Photo:
Kate Hunter
Back in May when I
saw the same horse that won the Satsuki Sho, or Japanese 2000 Guineas, had come
back to win the Tokyo Yushun, or Japanese Derby, I immediately scanned his
pedigree. Sure enough, I found what I was looking for. The horse, Orfevre, was a
descendant of the great Sunday Silence.
Not only was
Sunday Silence the Horse of the Year in 1989, and personally one of my all-time
favorite race horses, but he became one of the most influential sires the world
has ever seen. So dominant a sire in Japan was Sunday Silence that it became
difficult to find a big race where his sons of daughters were not the ones to
beat. The former American great was the leading sire in Japan no less than ten
times, and his progeny earned and incredible figure of approximately $800
million. Today, the legacy of Sunday Silence was strengthened yet again, when
his grandson Orfevre won the Kikuka Sho, or Japanese St. Leger, at Kyoto
Racecourse.
In so doing, the
son of Sunday Silence’s son Stay Gold, became the first racehorse to win Japan’s
Triple Crown since the great Deep Impact swept the series in 2005, and only the
seventh to win it overall.
Under jockey
Kenichi Ikezoe, the heavily favored Orfevre took command as the 18-horse field
entered the stretch run of the 3,000-meter marathon, and quickly sprinted away
from the rest on the way to cruising to a 2 ½ length victory over late running
runner-up Win Variation. Despite the long gap in between races, the St. Leger
exacta was the same as the result of the Japanese Derby, and for the winner it
assured his place in Japanese racing history.
It remains to be
seen whether the young star will earn the popularity, or enjoy the overall
career of the last Triple Crown winner, Deep Impact, but clearly he is off to an
amazing start. And in case you didn’t know, Deep Impact, arguably Japan’s
greatest ever runner, is a son of Sunday Silence.
It’s been more
than nine years since Sunday Silence was taken away from the world far too early
at the age of 16. After losing a prolonged battle with laminitis, we may no
longer be privileged to see the sons or daughters of Sunday Silence on the
track, but with the ongoing excellence of his bloodlines, and sires like Stay
Gold, and Deep Impact, and runners like Orfevre, we know he will not soon be
forgotten. Not bad for a horse most American breeders had little interest
in.
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