We've all experienced the mood after the sale of a nice horse to a country elsewhere - inward groans; saddened fans; discouraged breeders, hoping to keep that stakes-winning blood for themselves. There was a negative stir from his admirers when I'll Have Another was sold to Japanese interests shortly after his Belmont scratch. Despite their disappointment, his owners did what was best, as there simply was not enough American interest in the Derby and Preakness-winning colt.
Nearly a quarter-century before I'll Have Another, another classic-winning colt was stuck in the same boat. Despite his brilliant 1989 season in which he captured the Horse of the Year title over Easy Goer, there was little buzz around Sunday Silence's future stud career. Zenya Yoshida, who already owned one-fourth of the horse, bought out the other owners and sent him to Japan. Shadai Stallion Station, a peaceful place on the smaller Japanese island of Hokkaido, would be his new home.
The leading sire in Japan at that time was Northern Taste, a blaze-faced chestnut stallion who had done his best racing in France. He got the ball rolling for Yoshida, producing many classic winners and giving Shadai enough money and prestige to start purchasing more horses. The new kid on the block, Sunday Silence, would end up covering many of Northern Taste's daughters - a fusion of blood that would ultimately prove successful.
Where America saw little, Japan saw promise, and turned that promise to gold. Sunday Silence's first crop of foals to race included Japanese Derby winner Tayasu Tsuyoshi, Japanese Oaks winner Dance Partner, and champion juvenile Fuji Kiseki, who would later become a great sire himself. 1995 was the first year that Sunday Silence would top the sire list - taking that title from stablemate Northern Taste - and that reign would continue until 2007, more than five years after his death.
He had a knack for siring stallions. One of the early greats was Stay Gold, who not only won big races in Japan but in Hong Kong and Dubai as well. There was also Dance in the Dark and Special Week, both of them classic winners. Agnes Tachyon, who won the Japanese St. Leger as a racehorse, was the world's leading sire by earnings in 2008. Zenno Rob Roy excelled at longer distances, while Daiwa Major (out of a mare by Northern Taste) was a great mile runner.
The beginning of the 21st century brought even more promise for the stallion, including his best runner, who was born only months before his death. Deep Impact became one of Japan's most celebrated runners, winning the Triple Crown as well as a handful of prestigious races for older horses. The only horse to beat him in his home country was Heart's Cry (also by Sunday Silence), who would later win in Dubai. Hat Trick became a world-renowned miler and is now at stud in the United States. And let us not forget about the ladies! Still in Love won 2003's Triple Tiara, and Dance in the Mood also was a champion three year-old filly in Japan.
After several months battling laminitis, Sunday Silence passed away from heart failure in 2002. He left big shoes to fill at Shadai, but his sons quickly began to carry on his legacy. The first Japanese horse to win the Melbourne Cup, Delta Blues, was by Sunday Silence's son Dance in the Dark. Orfevre (Stay Gold) and Gentildonna (Deep Impact), who are two of Japan's most celebrated racehorses today, both have Sunday Silence as their grandsire. Deep Impact, who was Sunday Silence's greatest runner, is now arguably his greatest producer as well.
It is hard to find a top runner in Japan without Sunday Silence in their pedigree. The black stallion, who in 1990 was largely ignored by American breeders, revolutionized the bloodlines of his new home. It can be argued that his sons and daughters propelled Japan into the 21st century as one of the world's premier racing countries.
You know that saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure"? While he certainly was never trash, Sunday Silence certainly remains one of Japan's national treasures.
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