Sunday Silence Dominates Broodmare Sires

Since Blood-Horse sire lists began including adjusted Japanese earnings, the appearance of Sunday Silence at the top of the 2016 leading broodmare sire list is not surprising.

The dual classic-winning son of Halo became a tour de force following his 1991 export to Japan. Sunday Silence was the most successful stallion in Japanese history, leading the sire ranks 13 consecutive years, from 1995 through 2008, according to the Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association.

Two factors set up Sunday Silence's appearance on the Blood-Horse broodmare sire list, which only includes stallions represented by at least one North American starter.

Running Kentucky-bred, Japanese-based Lani in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) opened the door. Lani earned a spot in the Derby starting gate by winning the UAE Derby Sponsored by The Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group (UAE-II).

Lani made steady progress through the Triple Crown series, finishing ninth in the Derby, fifth in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), and third in the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets (gr. I).

Once qualified to appear on the broodmare sire list, Sunday Silence then got a boost from his Japanese runners. The large disparity between North American purses and the substantially higher offerings in Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, the Blood-Horse does not account for these earnings using a straight currency conversion.

Beginning with 2015, an adjusted earnings model that puts Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore earnings on par with North America was applied. A stallion gets credit for the earnings and the distortion is minimized.

Sunday Silence died in 2002, but even with adjusted earnings he is dominating the broodmare sire list with $21,258,065 in progeny earnings. His continued influence speaks volumes.

His chief earner, Duramente, won the Nakayama Kinen (Jpn-II) and finished second in the Dubai Sheema Classic Presented by Longines (UAE-I) and in the Takarazuka Kinen (Jpn-I). His earnings to date are $1,779,157.

Danehill was the last stallion outside the U.S. and Canada to top the North American broodmare sire list. He led in 2011 with $16,833,880 in progeny earnings. This year Danehill ranks ninth by earnings through July 23 but is the leading broodmare sire by number of black-type stakes winners with 23.

With 11 black-type stakes winners, Sunday Silence is in a three-way tie for fourth place with Galileo and Sadler's Wells.

Storm Cat, the second-leading broodmare sire, also had help from adjusted Japanese earnings. As a broodmare sire his chief earner Real Steel has $3,671,319 in earnings to date. Most came from winning the Dubai Turf sponsored by DP World (UAE-I), but he picked up another $1.039 million finishing third in the Nakayama Kinen.