Simon Munir’s interest in racing stems from his friendship as a schoolboy at Harrow with Newmarket trainer William Haggas, while he has earned the means to become an owner on a serious level through his work in asset management and international finance.

Like J.P. McManus, he’s no stranger to working in Geneva, and while he started out as an owner on the flat with Alan Berry, he realised that his best course of action if he wanted a return on his latest investment was to find an expert of his own, so he sought out renowned bloodstock agent Anthony Bromley, and turned his attention to the jumps side of the game.

That move reaped immediate rewards when Soldatino won the Triumph Hurdle in 2010, a year in which Munir came close to a double courtesy of Radium, who found only one too strong in the Martin Pipe.

Munir may have put his faith in Bromley, but he believes in diversifying his portfolio, and as well as bringing in old friend Isaac Souede to share the ownership load, he has looked to the most successful trainers around to spread the horses, and the risk.

Nicky Henderson, Alan King and Nigel Twiston-Davies are the pair’s main trainers in Britain, while Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott share the equine resources on this side of the water.

Like all good asset managers, Munir and Souede always keep an eye on the future, and there is a smattering of talent in other yards, while their French imports are liable to find themselves repatriated if that is deemed their best prospect to add to the bottom line.

It’s no surprise given their set-up that the majority of the success Munir and Souede have achieved has come from young hurdlers, although the long-term aim is to develop their racing portfolio so that stars are able to emerge in all divisions of the jumps game.

That isn’t easy when the onus is to buy precocious stock in France, and as Bromley admits, waiting for horses to show their ability at the top level, as he did with Kauto Star, Big Buck’s and Master Minded, is simply not an option in an increasingly competitive market.

All three Festival winners in the two-tone green colours to date have come in one of the juvenile races, with Une Artiste springing a shock in the Fred Winter in 2012, and Peace And Co tipped as a Champion Hurdler of the future on his way to Triumph glory three years later.

Once again, Munir and Souede hold a strong hand with their novice hurdlers, but their biggest disappointment must be how some of their stars have peaked early but failed to deliver on that promise, with the quicksilver Peace And Co providing their biggest thrill, and arguably their greatest disappointment, although the loss of Raya Star in the Grand Annual was a more piercing blow. Much rests on the strapping shoulders of Bristol De Mai, a game second in the JLT last year, and the horse most likely to bring his owners big-race success as a chaser.