Eighth first crop winner for Soft Falling Rain


Short-lived champion Soft Falling Rain was responsible for his eighth first-crop winner when his two-year-old son Aemiliano shed his maiden at Fairview on Friday.
Bred by Piemonte Stud, and trained by Gavin Smith, the colt was a bit fractious in the starting stalls, but was quickly away and was never in danger of defeat after that.

Under jockey Muzi Yeni, Aemiliano drew clear to post a two and a quarter length score over 1000m at the third time of asking.

Out of the Trippi mare Taj Mahal Trip, Aemiliano had been second on debut when beaten only by subsequent Dahlia Plate runner up Foreign Source.

He is the eighth winner to have emerged from Equus Champion and globetrotting star Soft Falling Rain’s first crop, with this crop also including G3 Pretty Polly Stakes runner up Gin Fizz, debut winners Alramz, Mawsool, and Al Jahbath.

One of 16 G1 winners sired by Danzig horse National Assembly, the tragically short-lived Soft Falling Rain is second only to Vercingetorix, at the time of writing, as South Africa’s Leading First Crop Sire by winners thus far.

The champion has two colts on offer at the KZN Yearling Sale, including a colt (Lot 165) out of a full-sister to recent Derby winner St Vladimir, and a colt (Lot 179) from the family of G1 winning two-year-olds Reward For Effort and Overreach.