WILGERBOSDRIFT’s exciting young sire Soft Falling Rain made the perfect start to his stud career when he headed the First Crop Sires List at the 2018 Cape Premier Yearling Sale, which concluded on Sunday.

The former Equus Champion Two-Year-Old, himself a R350 000 buy from the inaugural Premier Sale, had seven members of his first crop of yearlings fetch R4 000 000 at the sale. This gave Soft Falling Rain an impressive average of R571 428 .

His average also placed Soft Falling Rain above such notable stallions as Querari, Var, and What A Winter (in terms of average) –as well as the Coolmore based four time G1 winner Camelot.

Top priced paid for a Soft Falling Rain yearling was R1 400 000 which was spent by Shadwell Stud (who raced Soft Falling Rain) to acquire the sire’s colt out of G3 Strelitzia Stakes winner Valdivia.

Lot 167: Soft Falling Rain x Valdivia.

Consigned by Highlands Stud part of Ridgemont, the handsome colt (whose dam is by Var) is closely inbred to champion sire Storm Cat, through the latter’s sons Forest Wildcat (sire of Var) and Giant’s Causeway (damsire of Soft Falling Rain).

Shadwell’s Angus Gold said of the colt, “Obviously we know the stallion, he was a genuinely good horse, so we’re keen to support him, provided we like the stock. I liked this colt very much. We have six homebreds by him at the moment, we’ll put four into training and might sell a couple. On the whole I’ve been very pleased with what I’ve seen by the sire and it’s lovely to come here and see what he’s producing from other people as that gives you the confidence to go back in and keep breeding to him.”

Gold went on to say, “I thought this was an outstanding colt from the first time I saw him,” continued Gold. “He’s big and powerful and out of a good sprinting mare. Hopefully he’ll have the size, strength and scope to go to Dubai if he’s good enough. Now we just have to hope he can run. He came from a great farm so I’m delighted to get him.”

Soft Falling Rain also had a colt out of Zemfira fetch R800 000 to the bid of Michael Dale Kushner, while Shadwell South Africa also purchased a filly out of the Jet Master mare Imperial Rose by their champion for R500 000.

A graded stakes winner in three different countries, Soft Falling Rain is a half-brother to Listed Java Handicap winner Let It Rain, who contests the G2 Heineken Cape Stayers on Sun Met day this Saturday.