Tom Gibney

Tom Gibney looked on as Intense Raffles coasted along in front down the side of the track at Fairyhouse. To be honest, the trainer tells you, it was a fairly easy watch. Brampton Belle closed a little on the run to the fourth last fence but, once the grey Martaline gelding landed over that fence, and rider Daryl Jacob gave him a little squeeze, Intense Raffles came away from his rivals again. After that, it was all very easy.

His rider spotted a stride at the third last fence, the horse flew the obstacle and, literally, in a couple of strides and a couple of seconds, Tom Gibney’s horse had gone 12 lengths clear and was in cruise control as they raced to the home turn.

“It was all very comfortable really,” says the trainer now. “It’s not too often that one of mine will be out in front and travelling as easily as that around the home turn. It was great that he was able to put up a performance like that. It was great for the horse, great for the owners.”

The owners are Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, and Intense Raffles is the first horse that they have in training with Tom Gibney. You know the colours, Double Green they call them, emerald green body and dark green sleeves. The colours that you associate with El Fabiolo and Impaire Et Passe and Jasmin De Vaux and Bristol De Mai and Footpad and Sceau Royal. The ownership partnership was instigated in Raffles Hotel in Singapore, so every home-bred horse carries a Raffles suffix or a Raffles prefix. Fusil Raffles, Raffles Sainte, Raffles Sun.

Intense Raffles is home-bred, by Martaline and out of Une Artiste, who raced in the Double Green silks and was trained by Nicky Henderson to win a Fred Winter Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. Intense Raffles raced in France in the early stages of his career, he won once on the flat and twice over hurdles, before joining Tom Gibney at the start of this season.

“I first came into contact with Simon last February,” says Tom. “I met him at Punchestown last April then, he came up and introduced himself to me. We got on very well, but there was no talk then of them ever having a horse with me. Then in September, Simon called me, he told me that he had been keeping an eye on me, and that they were going to send me a horse.”

Tom was impressed with Intense Raffles from the start. He did everything easily at home and he was ready to race in January. He was impressive in winning a rated novice chase at Fairyhouse then on his first run in Ireland, he made just about all the running and he jumped the Fairyhouse fences well. After that, Tom started thinking that he could be a horse for the Irish Grand National.

“I put the case to the owners,” he says. “I thought that the race the last day would be a good race to go for, back at Fairyhouse and up in trip. I thought that that race would tell us a lot more, see if he could be an Irish Grand National horse.”

Tom Gibney has Irish Grand National form. He only had five horses in his yard in 2012, but one of them was Lion Na Bearnai. He was the first horse that the trainer bought, €8,800 as a four-year-old at the December sale at Tattersalls Ireland, just across the road from Fairyhouse racecourse.

Four and a half years and 24 races passed before Lion Na Bearnai won a race, but he progressed with maturity, and stamina was ultimately his forte. He won the Grade 2 Ten Up Chase in February 2012, and he went back to Fairyhouse seven weeks later and won the Irish Grand National.

“Lion Na Bearnai had run well in the Porterstown Chase before that,” says the trainer. “Over the Irish National course and distance. That was what put the Irish National into my head. But he had to run well in the Ten Up Chase if he was going to get a handicap rating that would be high enough to get him into the National. That was our last shot at getting into the race.”

Lion Na Bearnai was a 50/1 shot when he won the Ten Up Chase, and he was a 33/1 shot when he won the Irish National. Easy in hindsight, but he shouldn’t have been a 33/1 shot, he had a lot of the attributes that you look for in a potential Irish Grand National winner. His trainer went to Fairyhouse that day with lots of hope.

“Our hopes were high before the race, and it was unbelievable to win it. It was massive for us at the time. An Irish Grand National. It doesn’t get much bigger. A five-horse operation, winning an Irish Grand National. It was brilliant for the yard.”

Intense Raffles is different to Lion Na Bearnai. Lion Na Bearnai was 10 years old when he won the Irish National, a wizened warrior, a battle-hardened competitor whose stamina for the extreme distance was proven. Intense Raffles is six. He had the pace to win over a mile and a half on the flat and over two and a quarter miles over hurdles, and he has never been beyond three and a quarter miles in his life. But he has all the potential for progression that goes with his relative youth, and Tom Gibney is very happy with his preparation for tomorrow’s race.

“Everything has gone well since his last run,” says the trainer. “Daryl (Jacob) getting injured was a bit of a blow, he knows the horse so well, but we’re delighted to have JJ (Slevin). And Intense Raffles has been training very well. All his work is done now. I’m not sure if he has improved or not since his last run, but if he’s as good as he was last time, that will do me.”

Hopes high again.

© The Sunday Times, 31^st March 2024