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Sunday Silence
Derby Owners Club card with Sunday Silence image on it.
Sire:	Halo
Grandsire:	Hail To Reason
Dam:	Wishing Well
Damsire:	Understanding
Sex:	Stallion
Foaled:	1986
Country:	USA (Kentucky)
Colour:	Black/Brown
Breeder:	Oak Cliff Thoroughbreds, Ltd.
Owner:	H-G-W Partners
Trainer:	Charlie Whittingham
Record:	14: 9-5-0
Earnings:	$4,968,554
Major Racing Wins & Honours & Awards
Major Racing Wins
Santa Anita Derby (1989) San Felipe Handicap (1989) Kentucky Derby (1989) Preakness Stakes (1989) Super Derby (1989) Breeders' Cup Classic (1989)
Racing Awards
U.S. Champion 3-Year-Old Colt (1989) United States Horse of the Year (1989)
Honours
United States Racing Hall of Fame (1996) #31 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century Leading sire in Japan 1995 through 2006
Infobox last updated on: February 4, 2007.

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.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Race for the Crown and the Fight with Easy Goer 3 Retirement 4 Death 5 His Progeny Leave their Mark 6 Sunday Silence in Pop Culture 7 References

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. A.B. Hancock 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.

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 to win the Super Derby and finishing 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 7 Wins in 9 Starts, giving him easy nomination to win 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 placing second in the Hollywood Gold Cup. But he suffered an injured ligament, which eventually led to his retirement.

Sunday Silence was eventually sold to Japanese breeder Zenya Yoshida to stand at the Shadai Stallion Station in Hokkaido. Yoshida had bought 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 over the last decade, topping their sire list from 1995 through 2005.

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.

Sunday Silence has managed to leave his mark on the racing world, as his descendants break earnings records, mainly in Asia. Conservative estimates on total winnings made by Sunday Silence descendents place the total near $500 Million.

Among some of his more notable heirs include:

Daughters/Sons

• Dance in the Dark (1993), is a successful sire in Japan. Winner of the Kikuka Sho(JPN-G1).
• Dance in the Mood (2001), a sister of Dance in the Dark, became the first Japanese Racehorse of Sunday Silence descent to run in the American Oaks (US-G1), but lost to English Filly Ticker Tape by a length in 2004. Previously, she had won the Oka Sho (Japan 1000 Guineas) (JPN-G1), yet lost in the Yushun Himba (Japan Oaks) (JPN G-1).

• Deep Impact (M) (2002) Wins include the Japan Triple Crown, the Japan Cup and the Arima Kinen.
• Heart's Cry (2001), is a winner of the Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-G1) and Arima Kinen (JPN-G1).
• Silence Suzuka (1994), was famous for establishing the fascinating early pace. In 1998, He marked six consecutive victories inclueding the Takarazuka Kinen (JPN-G1). But he couldn't get the seventh victory, the Tenno Sho (JPN G-1), for a sudden life-threatening injury didn't allow him to keep on running. He was put euthanasia. This accidental death is known as a tragic episode.
• Special Week (1995), a winner of the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) in 1998, who retired in 1999 with a bankroll of $9,346,435.
• Stay Gold (1994), who earned $8,682,142, helped earn his sire some additional international acclaim when he won the Hong Kong Vase (HK-G1) at Sha Tin racecourse and the Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-G2:then) at Nad Sheba in 2001.
• Still in Love (2000) - Winner of the Japan Triple Crown.
• To the Victory (1996), a $5,303,281-earning mare that finished second in the 2001 Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1).
• Zenno Rob Roy (2000), whose three G-1 wins included a score in the Japan Cup, was named Horse of the Year for 2004 and champion older male by the Japan Racing Association. Zenno Rob Roy closed out the year with earnings of $8,994,210 from two years of racing.

Other descendants

• Cesario (2002), a daughter of Special Week, whom managed to win the 2005 Yushun Himba (Japan Oaks) ( JPN G-1) yet losing the Oka Sho (Japan 1000 Guineas) (JPN G-1) due to her rider racing another horse (and at that point giving her a 4 win/5 start record), managed to avenge Dance in the Mood's loss in 2004 by winning the American Oaks (US G-1) in a stunning July 2005 upset against favorite Melhor Alinda. Her win was the first US stakes race won by a Japanese bred horse since the 1950's.
• Delta Blues (2001), a son of Dance in the Dark, is a winner of the 2006 Melbourne Cup.

In the Horse Racing game Derby Owners Club, Sunday Silence is one of the Sires you can pick to breed in the game. He also has his face on one of the official DOC cards (The Blue-Green bordered card), and his name is used in the instruction plates on the machine. Some enthusiasts in Japan often breed with Sunday Silence, even though Thunder Boy is the top Sire in the game to breed.

• Sunday Silence pedigree
• The Derby of Sunday Silence
• Preakness winners
• Sunday Silence story and photographs