15 years ago today

[pmayjr]

Speaking of St Liam...

I've always wondered this. So he only had one crop to race, right?


Is there any 2nd generation St Liams standing anywhere right now? Just to keep that line going? I was really excited for his prospects as a sire, and was tragic how he died so young.

I remember there was a St Liam horse that ran vs Wise Dan in the Firecracker at Churchill this past June. If that one isn't gelded maybe he has some potential at stud (just based on St Liam being his daddy). Or any good broodemares?

Pedigree Query lists his progeny out... but it seems jumbled

[hockey2315]

Originally Posted by pmayjr

Speaking of St Liam...

I've always wondered this. So he only had one crop to race, right?

Is there any 2nd generation St Liams standing anywhere right now? Just to keep that line going? I was really excited for his prospects as a sire, and was tragic how he died so young.

I remember there was a St Liam horse that ran vs Wise Dan in the Firecracker at Churchill this past June. If that one isn't gelded maybe he has some potential at stud (just based on St Liam being his daddy). Or any good broodemares?

Pedigree Query lists his progeny out... but it seems jumbled

He doesn't have any viable stallion sons that I can think of. Buddy's Saint died and Seruni, the horse you're talking about who would be very hard to make a stallion of anyway, is gelded.

Obviously he has Havre de Grace, who Mandy Pope bought for $10 million at Fasig November last year. . . Think she went to Tapit.

[Calzone Lord]

This is the performance by Silence Suzuka that really makes you wonder if any turf horse, from anywhere, in history could have beat him on this day:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf-QxcJfFyo


To me, this is one of the greatest turf performances ever, because it was a case of a horse almost sprinting 10 furlongs. Basically going as fast as he can, for as far as he can, and easily seeing out the trip.

I looked through stuff on an old desktop computer and was able to find the PP's of the 2nd and 3rd place finishers from that race.

The 2nd place finisher Midnight Bet had won four races in a row coming into the race... and won Hong Kong's most important race, the Hong Kong International at 42/1 odds off of a significant layoff.



The race in which he finished 2nd by 9 lengths to Silence Suzuka, Midnight Bet also won the following years edition of that same race.


The 3rd place finisher, beaten 10 lengths was a good horse himself:



Taiki El Dorado was a son of Theatrical and he had a 9-5-2-2 lifetime record with over $1.2 million in earnings. Stay Gold, the horse he was 3 lengths clear of in his following start, is the sire of back-to-back Arc 2nd place finisher Orfevre.

9 and 10 lengths are huge margins over a turf course so firm, that 10 furlongs was run in a course record 1:57 4/5.

One of the many cool things about Silence Suzuka was that his pedigree was red, white, and blue. Sunday Silence was a horse with a turf pedigree, who somehow managed to win 3 of 4 meetings with one of history's greatest horses, Easy Goer. The dam of Silence Suzuka was a Southern Cal speed ball who set the pace in a Graded Stakes on dirt, going just 6 furlongs at Santa Anita.

[outofthebox]

The greatest display of speed that i witnessed live going 1 1/2 turf was Hawkster in the 1989 Oak Tree Invt...Just ran off with Russel Baze that day. Granted the turf at Santa Anita in the fall could be rock hard, but visually i was just stunned by that performance.

I've never heard of Silence Suzuka before. Thanks for the post...

[Danzig]

silence suzuka didn't go to stud. he broke down in a race and couldn't be saved.