Róisín Sheridan

MICHEAL G. Duffy won the third round of the Gain/Alltech Autumn Grand Prix in Cavan last Sunday. Riding his mother’s nine-year-old Dutch-bred stallion Bocello (Heartbreaker - Ramiro Z) Duffy proved best in the nine-way jump-off.

“We are absolutely delighted with the win. He’s a real product of our whole family; we bought him as a foal and my oldest brother broke him. My brother Alex then produced him as a youngster in Germany and I took over the ride of him last year.

“We think an awful lot of him, he’s still quite inexperienced; Sunday was really one of the first times I’ve put him under any sort of pressure and he responded brilliantly.

“He’s a real trier, we’ve taken him along quite slowly but every new think that has been asked of him he just does well so that’s great.

“He left for France this morning and we will do a two-star show there before heading to Switzerland for another two-star and then back home for the Cavan international.

“The plan is then to give him a break and be ready for the Sunshine Tour in Spain in February, all going well,” said Duffy.

Some 57 combinations lined out for the third round of the autumn league over Klaus Holle’s challenging track. Douglas Hill and Eddie Moloney as fifth to go produced the first clear round and it wasn’t until a further 25 horses had gone that a second clear was achieved.

Among that 25 were two riders that almost made it through; Philip Horgan (GVD Mispelaere) and Neal Fearon (Cessina 4) collected a single time fault each to keep them out of the timed decider.

It was Ross Mulholland and Ahmed Du Calvaire who ensured a jump-off when they joined Moloney with a clear first round. Just seven of the remaining 26 managed a clean sheet over the testing course.

Moloney was pathfinder in the jump-off. He attempted to approach the third fence at an angle to set him for the following line but it didn’t work out for him and Douglas Hill ran out the side and then stopped at the second approach to rule them out of the places.

Mulholland and Ahmed Du Calvaire (Cerano – Landwind) then produced an impressive round as second to go. Very good angles into fences three and five set him up well foe the following fences and they stopped the clock in 41.35 for eventual fifth place.

Max O’Reilly Hyland and Dorado also managed another clear this time in a slower time of 41.48.

Elizabeth Power and her brother Robert’s Doonaveeragh O One were fourth in but they saw their chances fade early on when they had the second fence down but crossed the line in a very fast 36.78.

Sophie Dalm riding Remake Lande then produced a decent round including a good inside turn to the second fence and a daring gallop to the last, but although they were clear they were just slightly off the pace in 37.65 for eventual fourth place.

Cornet Son and Edward Butler also managed excellent angles into the fourth and fifth fences; which saw them snatch h the lead, this was short-lived however, as Duffy was next to go.

Duffy is no stranger to pressure; he was part of the Gold medal winning team at the Youth Olympics in China and was also on the European Bronze medal winning team.

He rode Bocello accurately through every inside turn and managed a very good line into the double which set him up well for a very fast gallop to the final fence. He stopped the clock in a time of 36.31.

Another talented young rider was part of the penultimate pairing; Cormac Hanley and Captain Caruso also managed a superb round in the jump-off and it looked as though Duffy’s lead could be under threat but Hanley missed out by just less than half a second in 37.07 for the runner-up spot.

The final rider in was the victor the previous week in The Meadows John Floody and Mise Le Meas. They began well and were on target until the double where an error at the first part put them outside the top-six placings.

Tomorrow the league moves to Kernan’s Equestrian Centre for the fourth round.