Witnessing the end of an era

Archie da Silva's seven-year-old gelding SILENT WITNESS (El Moxie), the most

successful Hong Kong-based racehorse of all time, finished ninth of 10 runners

in his career finale in Sunday's Centenary Sprint Cup (HK-G1) at Sha Tin in Hong

Kong.

Silent Witness never really got into the 1,000-meter Cup, a race he'd won

twice before. Instead, it was the seven-year-old Scintillation (Danehill) who

shined, cruising under jockey Eric Saint Martin to a three-quarters of a length victory over

rival Absolute Champion (Marauding), the winner of the Hong Kong Sprint (HK-G1)

in December. Trained by Danny Shum, Scintillation is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Hui

Sai Fun.

Despite being denied the fairytale ending, the popular Silent Witness was

recognized by the 27,000-strong crowd at Sha Tin for a brilliant career that saw

the sprinter win nine Group 1 events and 18 races in all that included a

remarkable stretch of 17 straight victories from his debut in December 2002

until April 2005, which eclipsed the 16 straight victories established by

American champions Citation and Cigar.

Trained by A. S. Cruz and ridden by jockey Felix Coetzee through his entire

29-race career, the Australian-bred registered consecutive victories in the Hong

Kong Sprint (HK-G1) in 2003 and 2004 and swept the three legs of the Champion

Sprint Series in both 2004 and 2005. Silent Witness was twice voted Horse of the

Year at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Champion Awards and earned the title of

champion sprinter three times. He retires as the highest prize money earner ever

in Hong Kong racing with earnings of HK$62,496,396.

"He began his career at a time when Hong Kong was in the midst of an economic

depression and SARS," an emotional da Silva said . "He has that fighting spirit

that took him through 18 wins, breaking so many records. That same spirit is in

me; it's also in the Hong Kong people. He has made us all very proud."

Supporters will be given one more chance to say goodbye to their hero when

Silent Witness is paraded at a farewell party at Sha Tin on February 25. The

gelding will then retire to "Living Legends," the international home of rest for

champion horses outside Melbourne, Australia.