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58.
Heart Failure
Claims Sunday Silence
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19/08/2002 |
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Sunday
Silence, one of the world’s greatest sires, lost his fight for life in Japan
on Monday when he died from heart failure.
The 16-year-old stallion had been battling a debilitating condition brought on
by laminitis in his forelegs at Hokkaido’s Shadai Stallion Station, his base
in Japan since he went to stud in the early 1990s.
Japan's leading sire since 1995 and US Horse of the year in 1989, Sunday Silence
has suffered from major leg problems for the last four months.
He had undergone three operations since May and was reported to be making a good
recovery until the onset of the fatal disease laminitis in his left foreleg last
month.
Shadai Stallion Station issued bulletins last week warning that Sunday Silence
may have to be euthanized if his condition
continue to worsen.
The son of Halo had not been able to lie down for a week prior to his death,
reported at 11am Japan time on August 19.
The impact of not being able to take his weight off his infected legs resulted
in his death from heart failure.
''For the last three days, his condition has been getting worse, and we used a
lot of strong medicines,'' said Eisuke Tokutake, spokesman for the Shadai
Stallion Station in a statement issued after his death.
''But today, he layed down and couldn't get up.''
Shadai Stallion Station had been inundated by correspondence and gifts from
well-wishers who were hoping Sunday Silence would pull through.
Katsumi Yoshida, head of the Shadai operation established by his late father,
had visited the stallion every day for the last week when it was apparent he was
facing a battle to survive
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