Gentildonna and Sunday Silence

There are beautiful blue skies outside with a light breeze stirring the wind chimes on my patio.  It's 50 degrees outside, I have the patio door open, and am sitting at the desk wearing jeans and a T-shirt.  Lovey is perched on the top of the cat tree, and Nedi is waving his plume between the monitor and my face - with his feet between my arms as I type.  Bob is outside, talking to my kits, while his Mom calls him from two doors down.  I just had lunch with Nancy, Bob's Mom, so I can smile at him easily when he comes in for a mouthful of "stolen" food ...
   I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Gentildonna and her racing exploits last year, and this year.  I think she brings me as much pleasure as I received watching her grandsire, Sunday Silence, defeat Easy Goer in the Breeders Cup Classic at Gulfstream Park.  I always preferred Sunday Silence to Easy Goer, and was disappointed when the bright chestnut colt beat the black one in the Belmont Stakes.  Easy Goer never lost on a race track in New York, but Sunday Silence bested him at Churchill Downs, Pimlico, and Gulfstream Park.  When Sunday Silence was retired from racing, and was purchased by a Japanese syndicate and moved to the Far East for his stud career, I was devastated.  No more.
  Gentildonna, and other grandsons and granddaughters, are making things much brighter. This past weekend, Gentildonna won the Grade I Japan Cup, becoming the first horse in history to do so.  Last year, as a three-year-old, Gentildonna won Japan's Triple Crown for fillies, and followed up with last year's Japan Cup.  The Japan Cup is raced over turf, at 2400 meters (or just about 1.5 miles), and the weight the horse carries in the race is based on the horse's age.  This year, Deep Impact, a son of Sunday Silence was the sire of both Gentildonna, the winner, and of Denim and Ruby, the filly who finished second.  The Japan Cup was worth $5.7 million in prize money, and was open to males and females.  .....   Yeah!!!  Way to go, Sunday Silence!  Way to go, Gentildonna!  ....   Thank you for making dreams come true.