Cousino: 'I Knew Jancis Would Be Good Because She's Always Been A Fighter' 

Owner-breeder Arturo Cousino has promised to cheer on Jancis (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) when she lines out in the G1 Matron Stakes at the Irish Champions Festival after admitting to have been completely lost for words when his star filly landed a Group 3 at Leopardstown last week.

What that victory meant to the 63-year-old, whose family is steeped in racing and breeding history in his native Chile, can scarcely be put into words. Literally.

“Honestly, I couldn't believe it,” Cousino recalled of that Brownstown Stakes success. “When I saw her racing in her own style in the early part of the race I said, 'I don't believe this, she's going to win,' and she did. I was watching it at home on my computer with my brother and there were almost no words. Not even one shout. That will change in the Matron–I will shout!”

In Willie McCreery, Cousino has a trainer who has a knack of producing a high-class filly at fever pitch for the Matron. It is almost a decade since Fiesolana (Ire) (Aussie Rules) provided the trainer with a breakthrough success at the highest level in the race and now new dreams abound for the latest star filly at the Curragh stable. But it's not just McCreery who can be attributed for helping Cousino fulfill a lifelong ambition of finding a filly of this quality.

He explained, “It has been a personal project that began a few years ago. I went into this venture with [bloodstock agent] Chad Schumer. He bought the mare, Blameless (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}), and we have a lot of respect for that line in Chile because Blameless goes back to Cristalline (Chi), who is a very famous mare in Chile. A lot of our best horses can be traced back to that line. It is by far the most respected line in Chile. So, when Chad bought Blameless [for €22,000 from Darley at Goffs in 2014], I proposed to him that we do foal shares together so that I could recover that line. My thought was that the line was getting lost, not only because of a lack of investment, but also some intelligence with getting the best out of that line in terms of matings.

“That was one of the things that Chad and Nancy Sexton did a great job with. We had a relationship with Chad for about 15 years already. Chad helped me source some stallions from Europe down through the years so we have been working together for some time.”

Jancis with her dam Blame The Ruler | Ballylinch Stud

To say that Jancis has done her bit to revive the Cristalline line would be an understatement. But Cousino doesn't need to be so modest in deflecting the spotlight as few people would have devoted such time and patience to the project.

He continued, “What can I tell you? Finally! After many years trying, we have a filly like Jancis. My family has been involved in this activity of breeding horses in Chile for over a century and a half. As a matter of fact, they were the first thoroughbred breeders in Chile and, along with other families, founded the first racetrack–Club Hipico–in the country as well. That was back in 1870.

“So it has always been a hobby for my family. My grandfather won several of the most important races in Chile. In those days they were not Group races but they are Group 1s now. So, I just kept going in this activity, breeding a few horses and having fun, but only as a hobby. It's more than a hobby, though, more of a tradition now.”

Blameless produced just one filly for Cousino. A daughter of Derby winner Ruler Of The World (Ire), she raced just twice in France for trainer John Hammond. Sadly, Blame The Ruler suffered a career-ending injury after winning her maiden over 1m4f at Clairefontaine as a three-year-old, with the owner revealing that Hammond made it clear the esteem in which she was held in before that injury cut her career short.

He said, “With Blameless, we had a few foals. The first two were colts and we sold them in the sales. But when she gave me my first filly, by Ruler Of The World, Chad decided to sell Blameless to Chile. Unfortunately, Blameless died on that trip. I kept the Ruler Of The World filly, who we named Blame The Ruler, and I sent her to race in France with John Hammond. She was very late-maturing and was a stayer. She raced only twice–second and first. But after she broke her maiden, John called me to tell me that she had suffered an injury and couldn't race anymore.

“But what was interesting was that John said, 'please, whatever you do, don't get rid of her.' He said he thought she was a very talented stayer who would have made some noise in France had she not gotten injured. I was never going to get rid of her anyway but I took her to Ireland and asked Chad and Nancy to try and help me bring this pedigree up. To try to recover it.”

And that they did. The recommended mating with Tamayuz, who stood for a modest €8,000 at Derrinstown Stud at the time, is looking an inspired decision now.

“Nancy and Chad came out with this cross with Tamayuz, making a beautiful pedigree. I saw so many families who have bred on similar lines–Height Of Fashion being one. It's the same with Allegretta (GB)–you can find so many things in that pedigree. I said, okay, let's go with it. This filly was born beautiful but Blame The Ruler died two days after the birth.”

Oh my God.

“Yes, oh my God. I said the same thing! I knew that she was going to be a good filly from the beginning because she has always been a fighter. To lose your mother on your second day of life, even in Ireland where everyone speaks your language–the language of horses–you've got to be a real fighter. So here we are, a couple of years later, we have Jancis being a very successful little filly and who knows what else.”

To that extent, huge credit has to go to Ballylinch Stud, who raised the orphan Jancis along with Blame The Ruler and Blameless before her. If they say it takes a village to raise a child, the same can be said with Jancis, as this has been a collaborative effort from the very outset.

“All of the team that Chad and Nancy have assembled for this project have been amazing and I am also so grateful to Ballylinch Stud. Finally, we are paying back their favour with a filly who is making good impressions. It is beyond dreams. And actually, it's kind of crazy here in Chile, too, because everyone is talking about Jancis. They are amazed about what has been done with this famous line. Everybody's so happy that the line has been recovered. There wasn't a fear that it had been completely lost because, every once and a while, a horse would come out of the same line. But it was dying abroad until Jancis came along.”

Cousino added, “The reason I went into this partnership in the beginning with Chad was because I always dreamed of one day having a mare good enough to breed from. What I mean by this is to have a mare good enough to send to all of the stallions that I read about in the TDN. You know, in Chile you can only watch horses like this, so my dream was–whether in Kentucky, England or Ireland–to have a good mare. At this time, my dream has already been fulfilled in that I know I can send Jancis to some very good stallions. If she gets a Group 1, the only difference is that we will have to pick even better stallions!”