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Silence Suzuka
Japanese-bred Thoroughbred racehorse From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Silence Suzuka (Japanese: サイレンススズカ; Hepburn: Sairensu Suzuka; May 1, 1994 – November 1, 1998) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Grade I Takarazuka Kinen in 1998. In the same year, his career and life were cut short by an injury suffered during the running of the 1998 Tennō Shō.
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Silence Suzuka made his debut on the Japan Racing Association (JRA) circuit in 1997. Even in his maiden race, he flashed glimpses of brilliance, but after a loss in his second start, the Yayoi Sho, he struggled to find consistency. That changed in his final outing of the year, the Hong Kong International Cup, where teaming up with Yutaka Take for the first time, Suzuka found a new path to success with a daring front-running style.
By 1998, Silence Suzuka had fully blossomed into a superstar. Kicking off the season with the Valentine Stakes, he went on a six-race tear, racking up five graded stakes victories, including the prestigious Takarazuka Kinen (G1). All eyes were on Suzuka as he entered his ultimate goal, the Tenno Sho (Autumn), but tragedy struck mid-race when he shattered a bone in his left foreleg. The injury was beyond repair, and Suzuka was humanely euthanized.
Throughout his career, Silence Suzuka was primarily ridden by Hiroyuki Uemura, Hiroshi Kawachi, Yutaka Take, and Katsumi Minai.
Silence Suzuka was the inspiration for a main character of the same name in the 2018 multi-media franchise Uma Musume Pretty Derby.
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Early life
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On May 1, 1994, at Inahara Ranch in Biratori, Saru District, Hokkaido, Silence Suzuka was born.[1][2] Since it was Wakia's second foaling and the foal was relatively small in size, Wakia had an easy delivery, and the foal managed to stand on his legs about 30 minutes after birth.[1] However, Kazumi Inahara, the president of Inahara Ranch, worried because although a bay mare, Wakia, had been bred with the bay Sunday Silence, the foal was chestnut and also smaller than an average foal. He feared that, since it resembled neither parent, the foal might not live up to expectations. Aside from these concerns, the foal's coat gave him an unusual elegance for his age, and the balance when he stood was excellent, so there appeared to be no noticeable flaws.[1]
Masayuki Inahara of Inahara Ranch recalled Silence Suzuka at birth as "small, delicate, and cute," but at the time, the general evaluation of Sunday Silence offspring, represented by Fuji Kiseki, was that "if a horse runs, it’s a black horse." Since Silence Suzuka was born a bright chestnut, he was far from the typical "black horse" standard, giving a first impression full of anxiety.[3] Mitsuru Hashida, who later became his trainer, also recollected seeing the horse before he was even a week old: "He was a well-proportioned, nice horse. But that goes for any horse. At that point, there’s no way to know how far he would run, let alone imagine that he would run like Silence Suzuka later on."[1]
In October of his second year, he was transferred to the Nibutani Light Horse Breeding Center in Nibutani to begin training.[4] Mikio Wakabayashi, who was in charge of his training, was initially worried upon seeing him for the first time, thinking, 'He’s so small; can he really become a racehorse?'[5] However, once the familiarization process began and he started riding him, Wakabayashi was amazed by the horse’s abilities, noting the difference in speed compared to other horses and how he could effortlessly complete training exercises such as breaking through gaps between horses in a single attempt.[5] Even during winter training in deep snow, Silence Suzuka proceeded without hesitation despite being submerged up to his belly, which drew the attention of the Nibutani staff,[6] and Wakabayashi remarked, 'He really is an incredible horse.'[5] In addition to demonstrating exceptional ability in training, his evaluation improved further locally when Ishino Sunday, another chestnut offspring of Sunday Silence, won the Satsuki Sho in April of his third year, dispelling the rumor that had circulated since his birth that 'chestnut offspring of Sunday Silence do not run well.'[7]
At 3 years old, Silence Suzuka moved from Nibutani to Ritto Training Center, and arrived at Hashida Stable on the 21st of the next day.[8] Riki Kamo, who was in charge of the stable, was worried about the horse at the time of entering the stable, saying, "No matter who sees it, the body is small, and I'm sweating profusely in the stable"[8]However, when Yoko Uemura, who was to be in charge of the saddle in the new horse race, rode for the first time as a trainer, "There was a tremendous impact. There was no horse that made such a move in a 3-year-old horse, so I was convinced that 'this will definitely take a big place', and I had a lot of expectations." When he timed the horse for the first time on January 5th, he surprised the surroundings with an extremely excellent time of 52.3 seconds on the slope course (800m) in Ritto, and on January 24th, the semi-open horse Admire Lapis chased with him, and he was 0.5 seconds ahead of Admire Lapis and gave a clock of 6 furlongs in 78.0 seconds. At the same time as attracting attention from those around him, Silence Suzuka became a hot topic among the trackmen of horse racing newspapers and sports newspapers.[8] From these facts, Hashida did not register, but he was thinking of making his debut with a special race under 5 million conditions that will be held by horses that have already won 1 race.[8]
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Racing career
Silence Suzuka was unbeatable on the turf from 7 furlongs to 10 furlongs, and in 1998 year he was one of the greatest turf racehorses. His career and his life ended when he suffered a severe leg fracture in the middle of the 1998 Autumn Tenno Sho and was subsequently euthanized.[9]
Pedigree
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External links
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