Maurice underlines that Screen Hero needs to be taken seriously

When Japanese raiders strike on the international stage, Sunday Silence invariably features as part of the package. His dominance on the sport in Japan is well documented and grows year on year; of the 123 Graded races run so far this year in Japan, 74 have fallen to members of the Sunday Silence sire line.

Naturally, that dominance continues to play out internationally. Take this season as an example; three Japanese-bred horses struck in Pattern events across Europe and all were by Sunday Silence’s best son Deep Impact (A Shin Hikari, Makahiki and Akihiro).

It was a different story at Sha Tin in Hong Kong on Sunday, however. Like last year, when A Shin Hikari and Maurice scored in the Hong Kong Cup and Mile, Japanese supporters had plenty to cheer. Yet on this occasion, neither paid homage to the Sunday Silence sire line.