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He was working-class all the way, a hero for the common man. Once horse that nobody wanted, he became one that few could beat. Iit was all there, the complete package, buried deep within his obsidian exterior. Sunday Silence had the guts, the fight, the drive. Iit took the skill of a master to expose it, but Charlie Whittingham found every last ounce of talent inside Sunday Silence’s gleaming frame. What resulted was pure magic.
The year was 1989. Aas winter gave way to spring, and the classics loomed large on the horizon, the eyes of the nation centered on a fiery colt from the East, the next superhorse they called him. He was Easy Goer. Hardly a glance was being given to an eager son of Halo, developing
smoothly out West under Whittingham’s Hall of Fame touch. But it was no wonder. Sunday Silence, after all, was the one you couldn’t even give away.
Owner Arthur Hancock III had tried to sell his Kentucky-bred at auction – not once, but twice. There just weren’t any takers. His pedigree wasn’t stellar. Neither were his looks. But Whittingham sensed something special, and he bought in, along with Dr Eernest Gaillard. From there, the fairy tale took wing.
While Eeasy Goer was running rampant from Florida to Nnew Yyork, defeating his competition with ease and with monotonous regularity. Sunday Silence was busy staking his own claim in California. Aa runaway jaunt in the Santa Aanita derby that April
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signaled that Easy Goer at least would have something to tangle with throughout the Triple Crown.
And so the stage was set. The clash was imminent, and it has the makings of a timeless saga. Iit was East versus West. Blue blood against blue-collar. Goer and Sunday Silence, head to head, in the grandest arena of them all – the 115th Kentucky Derby.
It was a piercing late afternoon when they finally squared off, the temperature hovering just above freezing. Though the conditions suggested otherwise, the 1989 Derby forever marked a beginning. The race was all but accorded to Easy Goer by most people, but Sunday Silence shocked his chestnut opponent that day. He relished the Churchill Downs mud, zigzagging to the wire for a clear two and a half-length victory. Easy Goer finished second. A rivalry had begun and would become one of the greatest match-ups the game has ever seen.
The Preakness Stakes, quite simply, was one for the ages. Sunday Silence and Easy Goer engaged at the top of the Pimlico’s stretch, battling to the finish as one. They were inseparable, unwavering; neither was backing down. Sunday Silence prevailed by a head. The sport was now at the threshold of a Triple Crown. The Belmont Stakes, however, painted a much different picture. This time, it was all Goer. There was no sweep in the cards for the Derby-Preakness winner. Back on his home turf, Easy Goer won by eight.
They would not meet again until late
fall. With a Super Derby title added to his credentials, Sunday Silence stepped up for a rematch with Goer in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Gulfstream Park. Together again, in their final bout, Sunday Silence left his rival behind on the far turn, then had enough to hold off Goer’s menacing late rush. Aat the end of ten furlongs, it came down to a neck. Nnow there were no doubts. Sunday Silence was the best three-year-old in the land. He was also best of all, honoured as the Horse of the Y year in 1989.
His career, however, was cut short by injury after just two starts at four. Wwith victories in seven major stakes spread from coast to coast, Sunday Silence walked away with earnings of nearly $5-million, third at the time only to Aalysheba and Jjohn Henry, The horse that Wwhittingham once said couldn’t stand getting beat had never finished worse than second.
Shortly after his retirement, Sunday Silence left for Jjapan, where he began his stud career. By 1995, Sunday Silence had become Jjapan’s leading sire. Aa year later, he was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame, modest bloodlines, awkward build, and all. black beast with dazzling style and an iron will. Iit made him a champion.
Extract from ‘Thoroughbred Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century”
Published by Eclipse Press A Division of Blood-Horse Publications. To order, go online: www.ExclusivelyEquine.com.
HALO,
Dkb/br, 1969
Hail to Reason, 1958
Turn-to, 1951
Royal Charger
Source Sucree
Nothirdchance, 1948
Blue Swords
Galla Colors
SUNDAY SILENCE,
Dark bay or brown colt,
March 25, 1986
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