Sunday Silence (Thoroughbred Legends) [Hardcover]

Raymond S Paulick (Author)

Book Description

Series: Thoroughbred Legends | Publication Date: March 25, 2002

Sunday Silence was like a scrappy kid from the other side of the tracks who wouldn't go down without a fight.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Eclipse Press; 1 edition (March 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581500610
• ISBN-13: 978-1581500615
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,399,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe the Best Book in the Legends Series, August 20, 2002

By 

K. Palmer (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sunday Silence (Thoroughbred Legends) (Hardcover)

I have read all 17 books currently available in the Thoroughbred Legends series and have been telling myself to write a review of the Sunday Silence volume as I believe it is the best in the series. The recent passing of this unique horse has finally given me an incentive to write about it.

The Sunday Silence book is probably the longest of the books dealing with a single horse (the Affirmed and Alydar book is longer, but is that way because it deals with the lives of both horses). Author Ray Paulick has thoroghly researched the life of Sunday Silence and has used interviews to tell a great tale about a horse nobody wanted who went on to win two-thirds of the Triple Crown, including a victory in what is arguably the greatest race of all time, the 1989 Preakness, where he went nose-to-nose with his arch-rival Easy Goer in an exciting stretch duel.

Sunday Silence's rags to riches story is told alongside the story of his breeder, Arthur Hancock, who was passed over in the succession of his father at the great Claiborne Farms (his younger brother was chosen instead), but who went on to develop his own farm successfully. Also intertwined is the story of his jockey Pat Valenzuela, a talented jockey whose career was later stunted by substance abuse (he is making a comeback and doing well, I understand).

The book also tells of Sunday Silence's breeding career in Japan, where he became a superstar sire and a nation's hero. Reading this part of the book might let you understand why his Japanese owners elected not to euthanize Sunday Silence when he came down with laminitis in August 2002, letting nature eventually take him on her own. He was loved so much in Japan, they obviously didn't want to let him go.

Many of the Legends books were written by people who obviously didn't do much but look at old newspaper and horse racing trade articles to write their stoies. Paulick made an effort, with interviews, and it shows. I believe this is the only book he has written in the series, but I hope to see more from him in future books. There are still many great horses who haven't been written about (Secretariat, Kelso, Count Fleet) who could use the Paulick treatment.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another GReat Rivalry Horse who defeated famous Easy Goer, August 5, 2003

By 

TheStickRules.Com (Locust Valley NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sunday Silence (Thoroughbred Legends) (Hardcover)

Sunday Silence went on to Japan and became a leading sire of the horses in that country.

However, his record speaks for itself on the racetrack !

What makes a horse special and famous is who he ran against, which races he won, and how fast he went.

During the campaign of Sunday Silence, a superhorse was also being raced on the east coast named Easy Goer.

Easy Goer would have been a secretariat in his time if not for Sunday Silence.

Both horses ran on opposite coasts, and it helped foster the east/west rivalry that we see in some years but not many.

Coming into the Kentucky Derby, everyone was talking about Easy Goer. He was exceptionally well bred, and he was huge in stature. He has destroyed fields in NY and the east on his way to Kentucky.

Sunday Silence had done well in california, but no one really thought of him as a real threat.

Well we had a Derby and a Preakness go to Sunday Silence and it looked as if we would have a Triple Crown sweep by him.

The large striding Easy Goer came home to the Belmont Stakes and despite the crowd now favoring Sunday Silence, everyone in the know and the art of handicapping knew Belmont Park was Easy Goer's home field.

Turning for home, Easy Goer had extra gears to handle the distance and surface, and he opened up daylight turning for home. It was a hard defeat for Silence and his connections who (if you read the book) had a rivalry with the connections of Easy Goer.

Well lets say it was 2-1 in favor o Sunday Silence, but everyone who loved Easy Goer, and that was a large audience of people, felt that Goer had stamped himself the better of the two.

We had a showdown that year in the B.Cup Classic, and get the book to find out who won !

It was dark and raining, and not a single person left the track on that day. This book covers the story, enjoy it it was well done.

Best Regards to all, MC - TheStickRules.Com

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner from thoroughbred legends, March 30, 2002

By 

Dennis Epperson (roanoke, va, usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sunday Silence (Thoroughbred Legends) (Hardcover)

A fine treatment of 1989 Triple Crown hopeful. This volume contains a good number of photos and is overall a classy looking book, as are all of the Thoroughbred Legends series. The text does a great job of covering the rivalry between Sunday Silence and Belmont Stakes spoiler Easy Goer.