'I cried watching it, it means so much' - Donna Cowens on the breeze-up reject aiming for more Group glory

Visitors to DNA Equine’s yard on the Curragh last month would have encountered Wilson the traumatised terrier and his owner Donna Cowen in floods of tears, ones of joy and relief prompted by Copacabana Sands, the filly rejected for the breeze-up sales, winning the Group 3 Ballycorus Stakes at Leopardstown.

Wilson and his owner could replay that scene again this week as the filly is entered in Leopardstown's Group 3 Brownstown Stakes on Thursday.

The Sands Of Mali filly purchased by Cowen and her partner Nicky Souza de Oliveira for just €7,000 as a yearling at Tattersalls Ireland has won two straight stakes races, following her success in the Listed Owenstown Stud Stakes at Naas.

Cowen, and Wilson, watched on television as Souza de Oliveira was back home in Brazil for a break following a hectic breeze-up season.

She recalls: “I did half think about going up myself but, with the yard of horses to look after on my own, I didn’t. I watched it at home on my own. Wilson, my poor dog, ended up hiding behind the sofa because I was roaring at the TV. I cried watching it. It means so much. 

“We broke her, pre-trained her and I put up the videos [on Instagram] from last year of Nicky sitting on her in the stable, rubbing her head and telling her she’s going to be a Group 1 winner, and for her to actually go and win a Listed and a Group race and be seen as a genuine Group 1 horse . . .”

Her voice trails off, and certainly the magnitude of the achievement is not lost on Cowens or anybody watching on.

Tattersalls Ireland’s September Yearling Sale falls around the time of Souza de Oliveira’s birthday and the filly, who was purchased there from Springfort Park Stud, is jokingly referred to as his birthday present.

Bred by Peter and Hugh McCutcheon, the dark bay shares her sire with Commonwealth Cup heroine Time For Sandals and boasts a beautiful Cheveley Park pedigree.

She is one of four winners out of Buttonhole, a Montjeu half-sister to Red Bloom, victorious in the Fillies’ Mile and placed at the highest level in the Pretty Polly Stakes (twice) in addition to the Coronation Stakes and the Nassau. 

Red Bloom is the dam of Hong Kong Group 3 winner Senator, while another half-sister, Red Blossom, produced the Listed winner Thanksfortellingme.

Copacabana Sands’ second dam, Red Camellia, was a Group 3 and Listed winner at two and the following year finished third in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches. However her granddaughter was showing more later-maturing tendencies to the DNA Equine team and, despite impressing in her work, the sales company inspectors remained unmoved.

Cowen says: “We nominated her for the sales and she was put on the waiting list, but last year was so hard to get into a sale; there was a really high volume of entries. 

“She didn’t look like an early two-year-old when they came to inspect her, even though she went very well. She didn’t look like a typical breeze-up horse, she doesn’t have the flashiest pedigree in the world and she was a €7,000 yearling.”

Undeterred, and fully confident they had a racehorse with talent in their yard, they set about devising a new plan. Copacabana Sands, with a name paying homage to Rio de Janeiro’s world famous beach and the filly’s sire, was sent to Diego Dias to be trained, but the ‘for sale’ sign was firmly posted outside her stable door.

“We knew that she needed time,” says Cowens. “You learn from your mistakes and when we had her, we ran her as a two-year-old and we said we’d sell her off the back of a good run at two, even though we knew she wasn’t going to be at her best.”

Copacabana Sands ran five times at two without winning, but impressing in defeat particularly as she matured and developed.

Michael O'Callaghan: "he’s the one who has put her in the headlines"Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Third in the EBF Final at Naas in October, she had her first foray into Group company at the Curragh nine days later in a contest that was won by Pretty Polly Stakes winner and Oaks runner-up Whirl.

In stepped Michael O’Callaghan.

Cowens is honest about the realities of trading horses for a living and not about to indulge in thoughts of ‘what if?’

“We’d have loved to have been in the position to keep her, but she was always for sale, we have to make a living,” she says. 

“One of the biggest things was she went to Michael, who is fantastic at what he does, he leaves no stone unturned. If she’d stayed with us or gone to a different trainer she might not have taken the same path.”

That ability Cowens, Souza de Oliveira and Dias all knew she possessed has been apparent from the start of this season. Just as they believed it would be.

Second in a Curragh maiden to Bint Queen Kindly on the opening day of the season, she put in an eye-catching performance in the Group 3 Priory Belle Stakes at Leopardstown.

A return to Naas and Copacabana Sands shimmered in the Listed race, surprisingly the first win of her career. For her Group 3 success she carried the silks of Barbara Keller, her new owner.

Her former owner is quick to deflect the praise to O’Callaghan.

She says: “Michael has done the major work with her, he’s the one who has put her in the headlines. He’s done a great job with her this year. 

Copacabana Sands and Jamie Powell after Listed victory at NaasCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

“We were delighted to sell a horse to someone like him, even when you sell them at the breeze-ups that’s always a big thing – you might not sell them for huge money, but if you sell them to the right person who can produce them the best for their careers, that is so important.”

Copacabana Sands’ success also highlights the judgment and equestrian skills of Cowens and Souza de Oliveira, which should serve as a calling card.

“You can sell one for massive money but if it doesn’t go out on the track, you get a reputation very quickly for producing  breeze-up horses that don’t train on,” she says. 

“If we can just keep selling them, hopefully we’ll build a reputation for producing racehorses and people will keep coming back to us.”

Souza de Oliveira’s birthday present last year was a Nando Parrado colt who was a €12,000 purchase. He made five times that at the Tattersalls Ireland Breeze-Up Sale, to Kevin Ross on behalf of Gavin Cromwell. Out of a mare called Love Oasis, in this summer of the Gallagher brothers’ return, the colt is one to watch.

At the weekend, their eyes were on San Sebastian where Eclair Lune made a winning debut. The Lucky Vega filly who is from a different branch of Copacabana Sands' family tree, was part of their first draft at the Osarus La Teste Breeze-Up Sale in April. A €22,000 sale to Outsider Bloodstock, the filly was picked up for just €2,000 by Whitecastle Stables as a yearling.

Copacabana Sands’ journey is not done, with O’Callaghan posing potential autumn targets for the filly and she is entered in the Group 1 Matron Stakes at Leopardstown during Irish Champions' Festival.

“He mentioned the Group 1 at Longchamp [Prix de la Foret], obviously he knows what he’s doing but I totally agree with him,” says Cowen. “I think she’s up to that and it’s very exciting.

“We always knew she was good and we hoped she’d be really good, but you never know how it will work out. It all happens for a reason.”

When that day dawns, Wilson will know what’s coming. 

Read more

Why buyers have at least 30 good reasons to pay close attention to the July Sale draft of this major breeding operation 

‘With little twists of fate, you end up with the right one’ – value the aim as Boman sharpens July Sale focus