Randox Grand National: Simon Munir on Intense Raffles

A week out from the Randox Grand National and you bred and own the favourite. How does that feel?

It's nerve wracking and a time where no news from Tom Gibney, Daryl [Jacob] or JJ [Slevin] is good news. Intense Raffles is very special to us having bred him and being out of Une Artiste. Une Artiste gave me my second Cheltenham winner when she won the Fred Winter back in 2012. This was prior to my partnership with Isaac, I had bought her on the back of her having won a race in Pau in the January. The following month she won the Victor Ludorum at Haydock trained by Nicky Henderson, only to run disappointingly in the Adonis.

We were in mixed minds as to run her at Cheltenham but decided to roll the dice and she duly obliged at 40/1. Une Artiste also brought about the Double Green partnership as the following week when I had a business lunch with Isaac at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, when he asked me what I had been up to, Une Artiste was very much front of mind.

WATCH: RELIVE THE CLOSEST GRAND NATIONAL OF ALL TIME!

The 2012 Grand National was the closest in history and winning jockey Daryl Jacob relives his emotions during this fascinating interview complete with thrilling race footage.

By the end of lunch we had established a joint love of horses and agreed to buy a racehorse in partnership - the rest is history! The lunch venue also meant that when we started breeding racehorses we would have the word Raffles in all the horse names bred by ourselves. Intense Raffles being an AQPS bred horse in 2018 had to be named with a word starting with the letter “I” hence the name Intense Raffles.

What does the National mean to you – how big an ambition is it to win the race?

The Grand National and the English Derby are both iconic races and for me the two races that it would be a dream to win. In the jumps calendar, for me personally, the National would be top of my list, so it is more than an ambition it is a dream. The Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle etc would all come after the National in my pecking order. It’s a race that awakened my interest in horse racing as a child and is supposedly watched by about 800 million people around the world.

What are your favourite Aintree memories over the years?

My first National memory was Well To Do winning the National with Graham Thorner up in 1972. I made a point of watching the race every year since then wherever I may be. A standout memory has to be the 1981 National when Aldaniti won ridden by Bob Champion, all the emotion of the race was woven together by the storyline of both horse and jockey.

When did you first get the sense Intense Raffles was a horse for this race?

Intense Raffles started his racing career in France very promisingly winning the Prix Isopani, a debutants 3yo race at Auteuil that we have often bought the winner out of; in fact, Bristol de Mai also won the Prix Isopani.

However, he did not really take to French chasing so we thought Irish fences may be more suited to his skill set. We wanted to send him to a smaller yard as that’s what he had been used to in France. The Double Green Matrix that we use to allocate horses had given us very positive signals to allocate the horse to Tom Gibney. We had got to know Tom, but not had a horse in training with him so thought we would try him and not override the matrix. He has been very positive on Intense Raffles since he started training him and after his first two wins at Fairyhouse the dream began to take shape.

How big a thrill did you get from winning the Irish National with him last season?

The Irish National win was bittersweet for us as Team Double Green. Daryl was unfortunately injured and could not ride him, over the 11 years he rode for us on several occasions he said to us he knew how badly we wanted to win the National and that had now become his dream too, to win the National for Double Green.

We were thrilled and excited to win the Irish National as this was another step in the direction of the English National but to see and hear Daryl’s sadness was heartbreaking. Having said that, JJ, who is very much part of Double Green now and has replaced Daryl, gave the horse a brilliant ride. We now have the Irish National and the most valuable jumps race in Ireland in the bag courtesy of JJ and Intense Raffles.

What did you make of his first two runs this season – were there any worries going into the Bobbyjo?

We have targeted the National all season, so decided to sacrifice potential wins over fences to maintain his handicap mark over them. We weren’t worried as we knew hurdling wasn’t his forte and it was more a question of getting him on the racecourse to keep him sharp. We were confident going into the Bobbyjo but, as always, you want to see it in a race. We were disappointed he didn’t win being beaten three-quarters of a length by Nick Rockett. It was a great trial and good to see him over fences. It’s also great that he has been ridden by all three Double Green jockeys, Daryl, JJ and Bryony [Frost] in his races – a real team effort.

Are you a good watcher of races – will you be able to enjoy watching him on the big day?

I am not a great watcher of races and tend to bottle up my feelings inside. I am not one for jumping up and down and over celebrating, I have always thought it’s not great for the people who you have beaten and next time it could be them beating you. But to get him there and start the race will mean we can enjoy and see how the cards fall.

And what would it mean to see yours and Isaac’s colours carried to victory in the great race?

It would mean the world to me and 53 years on from Well To Do, it will be well worth the wait. For Isaac and I it would mean winning the great race that for both of us is undoubtedly top of our list.

More from Sporting Life

• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Free bets
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.