Producing winners a ‘hoot’

Wandering Eyes · May 30, 2023

Successful Newport breeder Jarrod Sharp doesn’t try to hide his pride, admiration – and most of all – affection for his grand producer Cosmic Owl, which recently celebrated an incredible milestone.

When youngster Façade was victorious at Geelong on Anzac Day, she was her mother’s 100^th winner.

Then at last Friday night’s Sandown Cup meeting, Departed, another member of Cosmic Owl’s fourth and final litter to former WA superstar Tommy Shelby, completed an emphatic clean sweep of the rich Vic Bred Maiden series with a dominant 29.52sec victory.

Departed is trained by Sharp’s great mate and long-time trainer Jeff Britton and handed Britton the first leg a feature double, with Korda taking out the G1 Sandown Cup.

Departed (3 wins), Façade (2 wins) and littermate Closure (2 wins) don’t turn two until September, and their early promising signs continue a remarkable journey, where Cosmic Owl has overcome adversity at regular intervals.

“She’s produced 100 winners but if her first litter had been no good, it wouldn’t have mattered, she’s the best pet you could ask for.”

“‘Nelly’ (Cosmic Owl) has certainly been through the wars,” said Sharp.

“She’s broken a leg, had a toe amputated, had really bad corns, and cancer.

“But she just loves life, and she shows how resilient greyhounds are and how much pleasure they give us.

“She’s produced 100 winners in her four litters and thrown city winners in every litter, but if her first litter had been no good, it wouldn’t have mattered, she’s the best pet you could ask for.”

The Cosmic Owl story started almost two decades ago, when Sharp was keen to breed with his 2004 G1 National Derby winner Pacific Sky.

On the advice of Robert Britton, Jeff’s brother, Sharp purchased Coulta Sky off SA owner Bob Irvine for $5000.

“Coulta Sky had won three races when we bought her and she ended up winning 20,” Sharp said.

“I bred a couple of litters with Coulta Sky, but they weren’t what I was hoping for, so I wasn’t that keen to breed with her again.

“But Shane Fisher, who was working for Robert Britton, wanted to breed a litter and he decided to go to Cosmic Rumble. I was getting one pup and Shane rang me to say my bitch was ready to pick up. So I didn’t get to choose, but she ended up being the best in the litter!

“I asked a guy from work, Shane O’Hehir, if he wanted to pay for her rearing and go halves. He’d only had one dog before and it didn’t race.”

In an 81-start career, Cosmic Owl earned a tick under $90,000 in prizemoney.

The most significant of her 14 wins came in the Listed Cup Night Middle Distance at Sandown in 2015, while she ran fourth in the G1 Rookie Rebel.

In the latter stages of her racing career, Cosmic Owl relocated to Western Australia, where a broken leg became the catalyst for a rewarding transition to motherhood.

“No word of a lie, she must have lived at the vets for four or five months after the injury,” Sharp recalled.

“She had a cast on her leg for months and her toes curled right up, so she needed physio, and we walked her at the beach a lot because the sand was good for her toes.

“Then she started getting really bad corns on her feet. Her feet are horrible!

“She’s also got cancer on her leg. You start thinking, what else could go wrong, but she’s got the best life! Don’t worry about that.

“She’s just amazing. She’s the most loving dog.”

Living a life of luxury, Cosmic Owl shares residence (in every sense of the word) with her daughter Silken, which won six of her 23 starts, debuting with a flying 29.86sec maiden victory at The Meadows.

Silken is now looking to follow her mother’s feats in the breeding barn, having produced a litter to super sire Fernando Bale.

“Silken was a flying machine; she’d be the fastest Cosmic Owl has produced,” Sharp said.

“Cosmic Owl and Silken absolutely love each other. Whether or not they know they’re mother or daughter, I don’t know, but they’re inseparable.

“’Nelly’ has done her job now and she’s passed on the baton to ‘Rose’ (Silken), and hopefully she’ll run with it!”

With breeders often the unsung achievers of racing, Sharp is a great believer in the $1.175 million Sportsbet Pink Diamond series, which commences on Sunday at Warragul and is offering a massive $118,810 in breeder’s bonuses, catering for greyhounds of all ages and abilities.

Two of Cosmic Owl’s best-performing progeny, Drumroll Please and Run And Carry (both 17 wins) qualified for the inaugural Pink Diamond finals in 2021 in the Champion Distance and Champion Short Course divisions, respectively.