[img]http://image.pathfinder.com/time/asia/2004/personoftheyea
r/people/images/silent.jpg[/img]
Silent Witness suffered the second narrow
defeat of his career when he finished third in the $2 million Yasuda Kinen (Jpn-I)
Sunday at Fuchu Racecourse in Tokyo.
Asakusa Den’en won the one-mile event before a crowd
of more than 75,000, holding off the closer Sweep Tosho by a neck with Silent Witness a short
head back in third. Timed in 1:32.3, it was the second fastest running of the race, which is
the second leg of the Asian Mile Challenge, in 20 years.
The Tony Cruz-trained gelding
Silent Witness, the top-ranked turf sprinter in the world, had won the first 17 races of his
career, all sprints, setting a modern-day record for consecutive victories. The streak ended
with his first attempt at the mile distance when stable mate Bullish Luck defeated Silent
Witness by a short head in the Champions Mile (HK-I) at Sha Tin on May 14. Bullish Luck
finished fourth Sunday.
Silent Witness, ridden by Felix Coetzee, was under restraint while
racing second most of the way. He overtook the leader Lohengrin two furlongs from home and
pressed the advantage until tiring late.
"He ran a crackerjack race. He was very brave, he
fought all the way and I’m very proud of him. Hong Kong can be very proud of that run too,"
said Silent Witness’ owner, Archie da Silva, adding: "He will have a nice long break now and
he will be back to sprints next season."
To finish second in two
Not to mention the fact that he’s Australian bred, but