Owners Looking To Have Fun Fun Fun In The Spring

OWNERS IN FOCUS – SIMON MUNIR & ISAAC SOUEDE

Leading owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede are no strangers to festival success, with Peace And Co (2015 Triumph Hurdle), Footpad (2018 Arkle Trophy) and Concertista (2020 Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle) having provided the duo with Cheltenham success during the past eight years. However, they seem to have a bigger and stronger squad than ever before with which to attack this year’s meeting.

BETWEEN 17th November and 5th February, Munir and Souede have won three Grade 2s, two Grade 1s and the mare Zambella has chipped in with a brace of Listed race victories. Nigel Twiston-Davies’ eight-year-old could run in the Mares’ Chase again (finished 4th last year), but the pick of their team, however, comes from Ireland, where Blue Lord and El Fabiolo have recorded top-level successes already this term.

Blue Lord won the Clonmel Oil Chase on reappearance and bettered that effort with a brilliant 11-length win at Leopardstown over Christmas. Unable to back that performance up at the Dublin Racing Festival, he has the option of either the Queen Mother Champion Chase or the Ryanair and with Allaho an absentee, the latter might become a more realistic option for the eight-year-old After Cheltenham, Aintree’s Melling Chase could be the ideal race for the son of Blue Bresil

El Fabiolo enjoyed a more fruitful Dublin Racing Festival, where he slammed a stellar-looking field to win the Irish Arkle by 10 lengths and more Given that it was just his second start over fences and only his seventh run over obstacles in his life, it was wildly impressive He was just a neck off Jonbon –when interfered with – at Aintree over hurdles last spring, so the rematch would look to be something to savour on day one of the festival Again, Aintree could be an option after the Arkle, whilst the Grade 1 at Punchestown will probably be on Willie Mullins’ radar. He is clearly a hugely talented novice chaser

In the novice hurdle division, Impaire et Passe –winner of the Moscow Flyer when last seen – tops the list. Still only five, he made a huge impact on his first start in Ireland, when running out a wide-margin winner at Naas and followed up in the Sky Bet-sponsored Grade 2, to provide his trainer with a ninth win in the race since 2009 Vautour and Douvan won the Moscow Flyer en route to Supreme glory, whilst Mikael d’Haguenet landed the Ballymore on his very next start and the 2m5f contest looks ideal for the son of Diamond Boy. The statistics will tell you that isn’t easy for a five-year-old to win that race, but his slick jumping and a lethal turn of foot could prove to be a potent combination.

Another winner at the Dublin Racing Festival was Fun Fun Fun, who was sporting the silks of Munir and Souede for the first time, when running out a comfortable winner of the Grade 2 Mares’ bumper. Bred (and previously owned) by Patrick Mullins, she had won in a canter on debut at Sligo in October and swept around the field on the homebend, before drawing right away from Lily du Berlais – herself owned by Munir and Souede, and the winner of the same race 12 months earlier – in the closing stages She could now head to Cheltenham for the Champion Bumper, or wait for the Nickel Coin, against her own sex, at Aintree. With a four-week gap between meetings, she could easily take in both

Munir and Souede have another live candidate for the Weatherbys Champion Bumper on their hands, in the shape of Navan winner It’s For Me An 8-length winner of a Point-to-Point in their colours, he was trained by Stuart Crawford at the time and made a sparkling debut for team Mullins when sauntering clear to win by 10 lengths, under a motionless Patrick Mullins His jockey suggested afterwards that he doesn’t show an awful lot at home, but the son of Jeu st Eloi – a sire who Jess Stafford touches upon in this year’s Breeding Angles feature – clearly possesses oodles of talent. It has been a while since a horse lacking Graded or Listed experience has won the Weatherbys Champion Bumper – eight years to be precise – but It’s For Me looks to hold sound claims of bucking that particular trend and gives the owners a strong hand in the division

The aforementioned Stuart Crawford plays a big role in the Munir-Souede operation and his Gold Cup Bailly could be capable of running well – at big odds – in the National Hunt Chase. Unsuccessful in three starts over hurdles, he did run into Ahoy Senor and The Real Whacker in a couple of maiden hurdles in the UK during 2021, and has flourished since being sent chasing A winner at Wexford, he was then twice successful at Ayr, before running well in defeat against former high-class hurdler Thomas Darby, at the same track. Rated 139 in Ireland, handicaps will be an option, but this year’s National Hunt Challenge Cup could end up being a relatively small field (again), so he wouldn’t be without a chance He jumps well and would also be of interest in the Scottish National, if the ground came up soft at his favourite track.

James du Berlais, who made a winning chasing debut before finishing a long way behind Mighty Potter at Leopardstown, Hunters Yarn, who is now qualified for the better handicaps in Britain having had the four runs (although after winning a Listed race at Navan, Willie Mullins suggested that he could be bound for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle), wide-margin maiden hurdle winner Night And Day (likely to run in the Dawn Run Mares' Novices' Hurdle), and Nusret are others to note for the joint-owners The latter was handed an entry at Newbury in February, in a race for which the British handicapper gave him a mark of 130 (has an I.H.R.B. rating of 128) and perhaps, they are considering the Fred Winter He has had three runs, so is eligible and has form behind both Lossiemouth and Blood Destiny in the book. It was believed that he needed a right-handed track to be seen at his best, but that Newbury entry might well have been a case of testing the water for the future

After a couple of blank years, it would seem that there is a good chance that Munir and Souede could be back among the festival winners in 2023 and who would back against their first festival double (or more). They certainly appear to have a team to go to war with which most would be (double) green with envy to own.