Picture: The Justin Snaith-trained Silver Falcon (far side) winning on Sunday under Richard Fourie in the familiar Nick Jonsson silks
PEDIGREE PROFILE -SILVER FALCON
by Sarah Whitelaw
Well bred gelding Silver Falcon, who showed such heart when winning at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday, lacks nothing in terms of pedigree.
A son of five times South African champion sire Silvano, the talented three-year-old is out of a top-class daughter of another champion South African sire Trippi.
Silver Falcon, who won two of his first four starts, was a R900 000 purchase from the 2020 Cape Premier Yearling Sale, where he was the joint third top priced lot by Silvano.
His deceased sire Silvano has had another fantastic, albeit posthumous season in 2021-2022, with the son of Lomitas having been responsible for nine black type winners of 14 stakes races thus far, and, at the time of writing, is currently leading the South African General Sires premiership. (Silvano also currently ranks third, to his outstanding son Vercingetorix, on the Leading Sires of 3YOs premiership).
Silvano came up with a record-breaking fifth July winner when his daughter Sparkling Water claimed the 2022 Hollywoodbets Durban July, while his other flagbearers in 2021-2022 include the G1 winning three-year-olds Safe Passage and Silver Darling, as well as G1 Brentford FC Garden Province Stakes runner up Marina, and G2 Independent On Saturday Drill Hall Stakes winner Silver
Operator (Safe Passage and Silver Darling gave their deceased sire a memorable G1 double when they claimed the G1 Daily News 2000 and G1 Woolavington 2000 respectively on the same day).
Another smart performer representing Silvano this season is Silver Falcon’s three-parts brother Silver Host, a multiple graded stakes winner who captured this season’s Listed Woolavington Stakes at Kenilworth.
Silvano has also enjoyed success as a broodmare sire in 2021-2022, and is currently fifth on the Leading Sires of Broodmares log, with his daughters having produced the earners of more than R11.17 million this season thus far.
With some promising two-year-olds to his name this season, it appears the final chapter in the Silvano success story is yet to be written.
However, Silver Falcon has also plenty to crow about in regards to his female line. He is out of the top-class Trippi mare Lanner Falcon, who earned more than R1 million on the track and whose eight career wins included scores in the G2 Diadem Stakes, G3 Champagne Stakes and Listed Ladies Mile. When victorious in the 2015 Diadem, Lanner Falcon accounted for four G1 winners including champion Talktothestars.
The well bred Lanner Falcon is a half-sister not only to the aforementioned Silver Host but also to talented US galloper Dynamic Host (by Dynaformer), who won North America’s G3 Tokyo City Cup and six other races.
Their unraced dam Hosta, a half-sister to G1 Flower Bowl Invitational winner Colstar, was sired by French Deputy, a son of Deputy Minister who has become a very successful broodmare sire. Among the more than 100 stakes winner produced by French Deputy mares are the G1 winning Cape based sire Visionaire, G2 The Debutante winner Rosier, and Japan Cup heroine Shonan
Pandora.
