SARATOGA SPRINGS – Last Sunday, after a wrenching, months-long struggle, the final curtain came down on one of thoroughbred racing’s all-time epics.
Sunday Silence, whose hard-fought victories over arch-rival Easy Goer earned him Horse of the Year honors in 1989, died of heart failure at age 16 in his stall at Shadai Stallion Station on the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where he stood at stud since his retirement in 1990.
The brilliant black son of Halo had been battling for his life since early May, when he came down with an infection in his left foreleg that required two operations. Several weeks ago, laminitis set in – a painful inflammation of the hoof, and the same ailment that killed Secretariat – and Sunday Silence’s condition began to deteriorate. Treated with pain killers, he lay down Sunday morning and never got up again.
It was one of the few fights Sunday Silence ever lost.
Born on Stone Farm in the heart of Kentucky’s bluegrass country, as a weanling Sunday Silence survived a near-fatal intestinal virus. Twice, as a yearling and as a 2-year-old, he failed to sell at auction, and on the way back from the second sale his van overturned.
Sunday Silence walked away from that scrape, and owner Arthur Hancock Jr. – who described the colt as “an ugly duckling that turns into a swan with age” – decided to race him under his own colors, selling a half-interest to the legendary “Bald Eagle,” Charlie Whittingham, who began training Sunday Silence in California.
After winning once and running second in three starts as a 2-year-old, Sunday Silence came on like gangbusters at 3, winning an allowance race by 4 ½ lengths, followed by stakes victories in the San Felipe and Santa Anita Derby, where he drew off under Pat Valenzuela to score by 11 lengths.
Sunday Silence wasn’t favored in the Kentucky Derby, however. That honor went to New York’s Easy Goer, the reigning 2-year-old champ. Trained by Shug McGaughey and ridden by Pat Day, Easy Goer was 4-5 to win the Run for the Roses. But the track came up muddy that day at Churchill Downs, and Easy Goer floundered in the goo. He was lucky to be second as Sunday Silence took the lead at the top of the stretch to win by 2 ½ lengths.
The 114th Preakness was easily one of the two or three greatest races ever run. Easy Goer, closer than usual to the pace, made a bold outside move down the backside, placing Sunday Silence in tight quarters, and snatched a narrow lead around the far turn.
Just when it appeared Easy Goer had the jump on the Derby winner, Sunday Silence roared back into contention and swung outside to take the lead at the top of the stretch.
Now it was Easy Goer’s turn to counter-punch, and he dug in along the rail to reach even terms with a furlong to run. For an eighth of a mile they battled head-and-head, but when Day cocked Easy Goer’s head to the right so he could see his rival, Sunday Silence dropped his nose in front and held it there to the wire.
Three weeks later, back on his home court at Belmont Park, Easy Goer got his revenge, denying Sunday Silence the Triple Crown.
Easy Goer went on to win the Whitney, Travers, Woodward and Jockey Club Gold Cup, while Sunday Silence was upset in the Swaps and won the Super Derby. So when they met for the final time that November in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Gulfstream Park, Easy Goer was favored at 1-2, with Sunday Silence 2-1.
Sunday Silence, always the more nimble of the two, got the jump again. Ridden by Chris McCarron, he made his move around the far turn and took the lead with a furlong to run. Easy Goer, who dropped back around the turn after making a strong run toward the leaders, came with a tremendous rush after straightening for home, but once more Sunday Silence prevailed, this time by a diminishing neck.
Sunday Silence, after being injured the next summer, retired with nine wins from 14 starts and earnings of $4.97 million. He was the leading sire in Japan from 1994 to 2000, and he was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1996.