JASON Doerflinger rode two home-bred Irish Sport Horses for his boss Ralph Conroy in the Burghley young event horse qualifier which was staged on the Thursday of the Millstreet international horse trials when a single point denied him a double.

In the five-year-old class, Doerflinger finished second on the Ganesh Hero Z gelding Milchem Gemstone (85 points) to the more experienced BT Just Special (86) but he wasn’t to be denied in the four-year-old division where he came out on top with the Tyson gelding Milchem Giovanni (85). Cathal Daniels filled the runner-up slot here on board Tullibards Benny’s Night Star (84.5) with Patrick Whelan finishing third on Tomgar Valour (81.5), an €11,000 graduate of last year’s Goresbridge Go For Gold Sale.

Conroy and his stable jockey have always thought highly of Milchem Giovanni who, at the owner/breeder’s Milchem Equestrian Centre on Easter Monday, won the Sligo Candy Boy four-year-old final of the Bert’s Properties Starter Series run by the Western Region of Eventing Ireland. The chesnut is the fifth of six foals registered on Capall Oir out of the Silvano mare Milchem Dreamer.

The third of the sextet, the eight-year-old Tyson mare Milchem Melody/Sing To Me Cooley is competing in the United States with Bourke Eventing while the year younger Goodluck VDL gelding Milchem Good Luck was placed in BE100 company last season when campaigned in Britain by William Fox-Pitt.

“The plan for both horses is to do the Dublin qualifiers, while bringing them along nice and quietly, and, if we still have them in August, we’ll take it from there,” revealed Doerflinger. “We have retained Giovanni’s three-year-old full-brother (Milchem Mirage) as a stallion and started to cover a few of the mares here with him. One is scanned in foal so far and hopefully more will follow.

“He also looks very promising with a wonderful temperament to match his ability. We have him just lightly broken and sat on thus far and I’m looking forward to competing him under saddle next year. Fingers crossed for another one as good as his siblings.”

The judges for both classes at Millstreet were Britain’s Jane Tolley (dressage) and Judy Hancock (jumping) and Co Wicklow’s Johnny Kyle (suitability and type). Tolley saw lot of the Millstreet horses again on Tuesday when judging the first of the Young Eventhorse Series/RDS qualifiers at Tullylish.