I believe many of you guys have heard of the tragedy of Silence Suzuka happened in the 1998 Tenno Sho Autumn.

But, have you ever wondered who won that race? 

The winner of that race is today's protagonist: ***Offside Trap オフサイドトラップ****,* and the picture is his original Umamusume design made by [KOPPERION](https://x.com/kopperion).

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Offside Trap’s life is also legendary. Throughout his career, he battled over bowed tendons, which is a condition often called the “cancer of racehorses.” He was forced to take long breaks for treatment for three times. But when he finally overcame the injury and captured his first G1 title, his moment of glory was overshadowed by another tragedy.

The first half of his story has already been written by another user, Sapporo\_245, so feel free to check out [that post](https://www.reddit.com/r/UmaMusume/comments/1meu69x/the_horse_that_won_on_silent_sunday/) for the details of the long battles he fought against bowed tendons. In this post, I will focus on what happened on the “Silence Sunday”, and how that moment shaped the reputation of Offside Trap and the team behind him.

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# November 1, 1998, Beyond the Zelkova Tree

After finally securing his first two graded-race victories at the age of seven, Offside Trap entered the prestigious G1 Tenno Sho Autumn. It was his another attempt in a G1 race since the Japanese Derby more than four years earlier. However, the jockey who had guided him to those two graded race wins, *Masayoshi Ebina (蛯名 正義)*, had already been booked to ride ***Stay Gold (ステイゴールド)***. As a result, *Yoshitomi Shibata (柴田 善臣)* took the reins. Given his age and the change of jockey, Offside Trap was sent off as the sixth favorite.

His biggest rival was ***Silence Suzuka (サイレンススズカ)***, the otherworldly front-runner who had won six consecutive races, including a G1, with his signature “great escape” running style. While other strong horses such as Air Groove, El Condor Pasa and Grass Wonder either chose, or were forced (due to the restrictions toward foreign-bred horse), not to participate, Silence Suzuka’s odds dropped to 1.2. The second favorite, ***Mejiro Bright (メジロブライト)***, stood at 6.2.

The dreams carried by Silence Suzuka were enormous. At the racecourse, all the talk was about his ambition to challenge the Japan Cup and even test his speed overseas in the United States. Despite the long-standing jinx that the most favored horse could not win the Tenno Sho Autumn, fans still believed he was the one who could break it, and make their shared dream come true.

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As the gates opened, Silence Suzuka broke sharply and quickly surged to the front of the pack, gradually widening the gap behind him. Offside Trap chose not to give chase and settled in third, behind ***Silent Hunter (サイレントハンター)***, a horse who shared the same owner as Special Week.

The horses ahead of Offside Trap pulled further and further away, but jockey Shibata remained calm. He knew Silence Suzuka would set a blistering pace, and his own mount was a veteran who had overcome bowed tendons. Shibata wasn’t trying to follow up his pace, he focused on the only thing needed to be done—giving Offside Trap the best chance to win within the limits his horse could endure.

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But after passing the zelkova tree, Silence Suzuka suddenly slowed and began limping toward the outside of the course. The crowd was shocked, yet the race went on. Silent Hunter shifted outward to avoid a collision, and seeing this, jockey Shibata quickly realized that Silence Suzuka had suffered an accident. Thinking fast, he guided Offside Trap to the inside rail, minimizing the impact of the incident and bringing his horse into the final stretch in the perfect position.

After the 400-meter mark, Offside Trap swept past Silent Hunter and held the lead. Though Stay Gold launched his attack at the 200-meter mark, he soon bore in and lost speed. 

At last, the seven-year-old veteran who had overcome bowed tendons three times crossed the finish line first, claiming his long-awaited first G1 title. No one had ever won the Tenno Sho Autumn under such circumstances. In that moment, the persistence of his trainer *Syuho Katou (加藤 修甫)*, the dream of his owner *Takashi Watanabe (渡邊 隆)*, and the devoted care of his groom *Akira Shiina (椎名 晃)* all came to fruition.

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# The Scenery a Winner Deserved?

At his winning run, though there was still applause when jockey Shibata struck a victory pose, many in the stands remained stunned by Silence Suzuka’s sudden pull-up. Even the race announcer and commentator focused mostly on Silence Suzuka, while being very cautious when speaking about Offside Trap.

Back in the weighing room, while the other jockeys stared at the television to see what had happened to Silence Suzuka, jockey Shibata was being interviewed by the press.

He was asked about his shout before returning to the weighing room. He replied: “I felt really good riding in this race, with Offside Trap giving his all. I just couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.”

At this point, it wasn't officially announced that Silence Suzuka had been euthanized, but many of his fans were upset by what jockey Shibata had just said. They felt that his joy showed disrespect toward Silence Suzuka, even though he did express sympathy later in the interview. Sensing the strange atmosphere, Shibata began his winner’s circle interview with: “To the very few Offside Trap fans out there, thank you very much for your support.”

After Silence Suzuka's death was confirmed, the topic of the 1998 Tenno Sho Autumn had become the "Silent Sunday" where Silence Suzuka passed away. Newspapers placed the tragedy on their front pages, and people mourned the fallen star. Some even said that the race had no value, and no one cared about the race result without Silence Suzuka. 

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Is this the scenery that Offside Trap, the winner of the race wanted to see, that the achievement he had strived so hard to earn was ignored by most people?

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After this race, he ran only once more in the Arima Kinen before retiring. Thanks to his G1 title, he was given the opportunity to stand as a breeding stallion, but his results at stud were disappointing. He soon became fully retired and spent his later years at Hidaka Kentucky Farm (日高ケンタッキーファーム) and Meiwa Farm (明和牧場), before passing away at the age of 20.

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# Transforming

As time went by, the pain from that race gradually faded, but no one could have imagined that their story would one day reach a wider audience unfamiliar with horseracing, until the appearance of Umamusume.

In 2021, the game revealed that Silence Suzuka would become the protagonist of its new main story chapter in game. While many players went through her story and gave it positive feedback, there was also controversy over how Cygames depicted the Tenno Sho Autumn that Silence Suzuka had run in.

>!In the story, Silence Suzuka successfully passed the zelkova tree and went on to win the race with the support of her trainer’s and friends’ thoughts and dreams. The winner in reality, Offside Trap, his name was nowhere to be mentioned. !<

Some argue that it’s just a mobile game and we don’t need to take the story so seriously. After all, one of the objectives of the game is to fulfill the dreams that could not be achieved in the real world, so it seems reasonable to make some adjustments when turning history into story. Also, no one says that the race in that part of story is "the 1998 Tenno Sho Autumn." So what happened within this timeline is just a fictional story.

But others say that this is "Umamusume", a game famous for telling the stories of racehorses based on reality, especially in its “main story.” If Cygames changes the history only for Silence Suzuka, then it would make more people believe that "no matter who finished first in reality, Silence Suzuka could definitely win the race if she didn't suffer an injury," which we couldn't be sure since it never happened in reality. And this strengthen the perspective of “the race result had no value because Silence Suzuka didn't finish the race”, a view that deeply disrespects the actual winner, Offside Trap, whose moment of glory had already been overshadowed by Silence Suzuka before.

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As for me, I just hope that Offside Trap’s story can be known and remembered by more people, which is why I made this post. He is a brave warrior overshadowed by tragedy of others, and his story should not be buried in sorrow and sadness.

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[Umamusume Design Source](https://www.pixiv.net/artworks/132143387)

[IRL Horse Picture Source](https://tospo-keiba.jp/breaking_news/33649)

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My past work:

[Hokuto Vega: Stardust Scattered in a Foreign Land](https://www.reddit.com/r/UmaMusume/comments/1nblcn4/a_quick_guide_to_hokuto_vega_the_extraordinary/)

[Narita Hayabusa: A Sand Falcon Born in the Wrong Era](https://www.reddit.com/user/Uma_Memoria_1910/comments/1n1kdjz/narita_hayabusa_a_sand_falcon_born_in_the_wrong/)



Offside Trap: The Winner on the Glorious but Silent Sunday (Art by: @kopperion)