Anthony Bromley
THE BOYS IN Double Green
Given their colours, it seems only appropriate that Simon Munir and Isaac Souede have now based most of their horses in Ireland
Words: Harry Allwood • Photos: Caroline Norris & Healy Racing
The double green colours of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede have become a formidable force in Ireland over the past couple of seasons and the high-profile owners are eager to continue their growing presence.
El Fabiolo, Impaire Et Passe and Blue Lord provided them with Grade 1 glory on four occasions in Ireland last season, with the first two of the Willie Mullins-trained trio also scoring at Cheltenham, and the enthusiastic pair have developed an immense passion for Irish racing following some memorable moments at the biggest festivals.
Munir and Souede deservedly won the ITM Overseas Award at this year’s Irish Racehorse Owners’ Awards, and while they still have a powerful team of horses elsewhere, perhaps appropriately given their livery, the squad on these shores has become noticeably stronger.
Souede is based in Manhattan and Munir lives in Monaco, but the shrewd businessmen both enjoy travelling over to Ireland. Their operation is managed successfully by long-term racing manager and successful bloodstock agent, Anthony Bromley. Bromley is responsible for purchasing the majority of the horses and he continues to ensure their team goes from strength to strength.
“Their operation is still a three-pronged attack in England, France and Ireland, but the focus has been on Ireland more over the past couple of years due to the success they’ve had with their Irish trainers,” explains Bromley.
“Simon and Isaac have embraced going racing in Ireland, as well as having their horses based there, so it goes hand in hand. They really enjoy it. They’ve been made to feel very welcome by the knowledgeable racing public over there, and they have attended the Dublin Racing Festival for the past couple of years, as well as Galway and Punchestown for a number of years.
“Policies can always alter but, at the moment, they’re very happy with Irish racing, which provides a good service, solid prizemoney and good festivals.
“Simon and Isaac also attended the Irish Racehorse Owners’ Awards this year to collect their award, which was well received, and they both thoroughly enjoyed the occasion.”
Apart from the aforementioned Grade 1 triumphs, Zarak The Brave also provided Munir and Souede with Galway Hurdle glory in August. The team have around 20 horses in training with Mullins now, with last season’s smart bumper performers Fun Fun Fun and It’s For Me also included.
Mullins has regularly produced graded winners for the pair but last season was their most successful together. All 15 of the horses that ran under the champion trainer’s guidance won. Readin Tommy Wrong made it 16 at the very beginning of the current term.
“Simon and Isaac go back years with Willie, and they’ve had two or three in training with him for over ten years now. Gitane Du Berlais was sent to Willie’s as a three-year-old in 2013, and she was one of the standout horses they had with him in the early days, so it has grown from there, really. It has been a very successful liaison with Willie, but it has not happened overnight, and it has built up over the years.
“Their operation is still a three-pronged attack in England, France and Ireland, but the focus has been on Ireland more over the past couple of years due to the success they’ve had with their Irish trainers”
“They have got some lovely horses with Willie now, including the three Grade 1 winners – Blue Lord, Impaire Et Passe and El Fabiolo - who all have some big targets this season. They have also got a lot of nice novices to go to war with, as well as some unraced youngsters who could be anything.”
Numerically, Munir and Souede have most of their horses with Stuart Crawford, who is assisted by his brothers, Ben and Steven. Munir and Souede will have around 30 horses in training with the Antrim trainer this season. The Crawfords run a successful operation and regularly produce and educate top performers for Munir and Souede who send an abundance of youngsters to their yard each season before moving a lot of them onto the likes of Mullins, Joseph O’Brien, Nicky Henderson or Alan King.
It’s For me is a good example, the smart bumper performer of last season winning a point-to-point under Crawford’s watch before then being relocated to Closutton.
“The reason for sending the youngsters to Stuart is to go a step back in the process, rather than buying horses with form all the time, which are very expensive. We like to buy a bunch of youngsters, try them out with Stuart, and move the cream to Willie Mullins, or Joseph O’Brien. And possibly to England, too. That’s the reasoning behind that. Go a step back, buy them at a cheaper level, and try a few out.
“Myself, Simon and Isaac thoroughly enjoy the family-run outfit at the Crawfords’, who are particularly good with young horses, and they are embracing it all plus they work really hard. Some of the horses do stay with them, though, and the Crawfords have done well with some of their chasers. They have also got a few nice prospects that haven’t been moved. They can easily bring horses over to run in Scotland or the north of England, too, so that works out quite well.”
The number of horses Munir and Souede have in training with O’Brien has increased this season too, and they now have an abundance of potentially smart prospects with the leading Irish handler.
“We have found Joseph to be very professional, and he can do both jobs (training flat and jumps horses). Simon and Isaac now have a good-size number of flat horses with Joseph, as well as a few dual-purpose ones, and he’s also been sent a few from the Crawford yard. Joseph has a few three-year-olds, who had been running on the flat for him, that are going to go juvenile hurdling this winter too, and we also sent him nine flat yearlings who could be anything.” Another important member of the team is retained rider Daryl Jacob, who has a close relationship with Munir and Souede. The Grand National-winning jockey had 38 rides for the team in Ireland alone last season, which included five winners for Mullins – high-profile Grade 1s on Blue Lord and El Fabiolo among them - two for Crawford and one for O’Brien.
Munir, Bromley and Willie Mullins after El Fabiolo had provided him with Grade 1 glory at the Dublin Racing Festival spoke volumes (CN)
Daryl Jacob has been spending more time back on his native sod as the operation focuses increasingly on Ireland and the greeting he received from Souede
The Wexford native also spends a lot of his time riding Munir and Souede’s horses in their work at home to provide vital feedback to the team, and it will be the same scenario again this season.
“With more horses being trained in Ireland, Daryl is spending extra time over there and riding out more frequently, especially at the Crawford yard, which is a big help. We have a WhatsApp group chat and Daryl regularly posts updates on horses he rides work on to keep us informed.
“Daryl is a very important cog in the whole team and is very committed. This is his tenth season riding for Simon and Isaac, and it has certainly added to their enjoyment and pleasure of owning a string of horses because they’ve got a jockey who knows the horses very, very well.”
Although Jacob is their retained rider, Paul Townend has first choice on the horses trained by Mullins. As evidenced by the victories at Leopardstown’s Christmas festival and the Dublin Racing Festival however, the strength in depth at Closutton is such that there is always a good chance Jacob will have the opportunity to ride some of their leading players on the big days.
“Daryl will try and ride as many as he can in Ireland, and he’ll ride all of the Crawford horses, but Paul Townend has first dibs on Willie Mullins’ horses. That’s always been a thing with Willie. It was the same when Ruby Walsh was there. Paul is at the yard all of the time, and that’s just the way it is with Willie’s team. However, if Paul doesn’t ride them, Daryl will.”
Grade 1 winners El Fabiolo and Impaire Et Passe, the leading lights among Munir and Souede’s battalion, have lofty targets again this season.
The latter is set to stay over hurdles and is likely to take on the mighty Constitution Hill at some stage, but that is an assignment the team are not running scared of. Bromley warns that targets could change of course, depending on how they fare en route to the Cheltenham Festival.
“At this moment in time, the main aim for El Fabiolo this season is the Champion Chase, with Impaire Et Passe going down the Champion Hurdle route, but if one of the trials ahead of Cheltenham suggest they need to go up in trip, then they will. If they keep winning at the minimum trip, then they stay at the minimum trip. That’s how Willie likes to play it.
“We don’t expect Impaire Et Passe to beat Constitution Hill, but we’d only have to meet him once, and Constitution Hill has got to turn up in March as well. A lot of things can happen between now and then.”
Interestingly, despite accruing a powerful team in both codes, Munir and Souede avoid purchasing horses for huge sums of money compared to other high-profile owners. Impaire Et Passe was bought for €155,000 from France, and that would be a typical purchase for the team. They also occasionally breed their own horses, and Munir and Souede are keen to continue playing the “numbers game” in the hope that they can unearth a potential star from a bunch of horses.
“They certainly aren’t playing at those top end prices. I buy most of Simon and Isaac’s horses, and the horses purchased come from various different routes. We’re always examining other angles, and trainers can suggest horses as well. We’re very open-minded about the policy.
“They do understand that it is a numbers game, especially as you need a bit of luck. The risks attached to any jumpers are high and putting all your eggs in one basket with a very expensive horse doesn’t really appeal to them.
“The breeding side of things has sort of happened and it hasn’t been a big plan. It was just that Simon and Isaac had some very good mares and had a lot of pleasure racing Une Artiste, who won the Fred Winter a few years ago. Thankfully, she’s bred quite a few winners. If they’ve got Raffles in their name, then they’re a homebred from France. A few of them have done well, including Fusil Raffles, who won a Grade 1 at Punchestown for us.
“We’re trying to get 100-rated performers on the flat, and festival contenders over jumps”
“We will always want to replenish the team at the end of each season too, so we’re always keeping an eye out for new horses.”
Although Munir and Souede enjoy their horses running at the biggest festivals, especially when they are in attendance, they are open-minded about which races their horses participate in.
“I do get involved a lot in the race programming, but we work in conjunction with the trainers,” explains Bromley. “Simon and Isaac enjoy discussing targets for horses, but they do allow the professionals to lead. They are firm believers that the horses run in races that suit them best. There’s no pressure on that side of things, which is very refreshing, and that’s an important factor.
“We’re trying to get 100-rated performers on the flat, and festival contenders over jumps. That is what my remit is. The jumps is success-related, and the flat side of things will be done more commercially because there’s a good second-hand market for stock, and selling one good flat horse could pay for all the yearlings purchased in a year.”
And while glory at the big festivals in Ireland, and success at the Cheltenham Festival, are key aims for the Munir and Souede team over jumps, there is one race they are dreaming of winning one day.
“I think having a Cheltenham Festival winner is the number one goal for any owner, but the Grand National at Aintree is another carrot that looms large for them. That’s one of the big targets we haven’t hit yet, and Bronn is their potential Grand National contender for this season.”
Finally, Bromley lists a trio of names for which there are high hopes in the year ahead. All three are trained by Mullins.
“Two good bumper horses from last season that we’ve got big hopes for are Blizzard Of Oz, who finished second in a Grade 2 bumper at Aintree, and Readin Tommy Wrong, who won two bumpers in May. They are two pretty exciting youngsters. We’re also looking forward to seeing Hunters Yarn over fences this season.”
Allied with the considerable firepower already at their disposal, it could be a year like no other for the Double Green.