THE last time I spoke to Michael Duffy was following the sale of a horse he produced to five-star Nations Cup level. And the time before that, it was the same story.

And that has been the story all through his life so far, producing ponies and horses to the highest level and selling them on. I remember warming up alongside Michael every Sunday at the winter league in Rockmount when we were both in ponies; me with my one pony (on a wing and a prayer), and Michael, a few years my junior, with a lorry full every week.

He had young and old ponies, some for the 148ABC, some of his European championship mounts, and some he would sit up on for someone who was having difficulty. Even then he rode with absolute fluidity and confidence; always a wise head on young shoulders, discussing each round with his father, Paul, on exiting the arena.

Speaking this week from his home in England, the 25-year-old from Galway, not to be confused with his Mayo namesake and friend, is casual about the notion of bouncing back when his best horses are sold.

“Ah look, I always think there is another one. Lots of good riders have had one horse, but a sign of a really top rider is - and if you look at [Steve] Guerdat and [Daniel] Deusser - winning with different horses week-in-week-out.

“The next thing I have to do is produce a bunch of them together, and it takes time,” he told The Irish Field.

Michael’s father is still a linchpin of show jumping in Ireland, particularly in the Connaught region, where he is on the committee. A member of the Irish senior team in St Gallen in 1985 and Hickstead in 1986, he followed in his late father’s footsteps into the world of course building.

The pair keep some broodmares at home on the farm in Galway and have “invested heavily” in young horses lately. “Dad has got plenty of clients at home, they are all well,” he says of Paul and his mum Kathryn.

Home now for Michael is West Sussex, just miles from the show jumping haven of Hickstead, at Claire Inglis’ yard, mother of his girlfriend and British show jumper, Amy. The pair faced off against each other in the Division 1 Nations Cup at Hickstead last July, riding for Ireland and Britain, and both have Olympic aspirations.

An underage European medallist, Amy shot to senior stardom last year in La Baule when jumping a double clear round (with one time fault) for Team GB in the Nations Cup, and double clear in the five-star Grand Prix to finish fourth aboard her home-bred mare Wishes.

“I produced Wishes until she was eight and jumped a two-star Grand Prix with her,” Michael said, surely sorry to have given up the ride now, given the chesnut mare’s incredible record.

As we spoke, news filtered through that show centres and facilities in England would begin opening up again this week in the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak which brought the world to a standstill. Michael has an air of positivity about the current situation, he is staying optimistic.

“Day-to-day normal home life hasn’t changed at all. The only thing that has stopped is going to shows, but we are training and planning. One good thing is the amount of time our young horses are getting, they are benefitting greatly because normally I am gone to a show from Thursday to Sunday.

“I am surrounded with great people and I just bought three more four-year-olds, so we have actually got more horses during this time.”

He is also hopeful that the market will return. “I am probably more optimistic than most about the market. Business is definitely a lot quieter, but the top horses are always in demand. I would say the market will take a hit for the middle of the road horses, like junior horses, 1.40m, 1.45m horses.”

West Sussex gang

Michael is part of the West Sussex gang of riders and within a few miles radius of the yard is Shane Breen at Hickstead, Trevor Breen, Brian Cassidy, David Simpson, Scott Brash, William Funnell and Peter Charles.

“It’s the heart of show jumping here,” said Michael, who has been based in the area since making the move to England to work for Shane Breen. It was there he met Amy, and later moved to her stable, where he has been based since 2014.

Shane Breen and Michael Duffy won the Global Champions League in Miami for Miami Celtics in 2019 \ Stefano Grasso GCL

“We have all the facilities here, 30 odd stables, very close to Dover. The one good thing is that all the yards that are based around us keep business going. There are five or six show centres close to us, and I would often go training at Scott’s or Shane’s or Cass’s and vice versa, to bring the horses to a new place.”

Horses and owners have come and gone, but now Michael feels like he has as good a bunch of horses as ever, as well as four full-time training clients. Two of those are Amelie and Christina Gachoud of HMF Equestrian, which is spearheaded by their father, Mark.

HMF Equestrian purchased two Grand Prix horses for Michael in late 2019. The 11-year-old Jeff Ten Valven came via Shane Breen and Georgia Tame, and finished fourth in the three-star Grand Prix at HOYS last October before joining Michael’s team.

The nine-year-old Zilton SL Z didn’t have far to travel either, having been produced nearby by Trevor Breen. “He is a superstar!”

“Amelie was on the bronze medal-winning team at the Children on Horse Europeans in 2019. Mark bought me two fantastic Grand Prix horses and two or three really nice young ones. I’ve also got another really nice seven-year-old called Jammy Dodger who is owned by Aspire Equine Venture Capital.”

As well as Jeff Ten Valven and Zilton SL Z, Duffy has the already established Egalini, owned by Simon Davies, and Jessie Drea’s Irish Sport Horse stallion Mullaghdrin Touch The Stars jumping at Grand Prix level. “I am very lucky to have four horses to jump five-star Grands Prix now,” he said.

Touching the stars

Taking over the ride on the Noel Cawley-bred Mullaghdrin Touch The Stars (Touchdown x Irco Mena) was a big success story for Duffy in 2019. He gained his first Global Champions Tour Grand Prix podium place when third in Estoril, and earned close to €250,000 in prize money last season, making the stallion the highest-earning ISH last year.

Among the highlight was a double clear round for the Miami Celtics team in the Global Champions League Playoffs in Prague. “Prague was an unbelievable show. And the amazing story behind it was, Touch The Stars went to Spruce Meadows and it didn’t go our way. After that, we went to Oliva for three or four weeks before Prague and then he came out and jumped double clear. He is a tough horse.”

Duffy and Jessie Drea paid €25,000 for his three-year-old son, MT Star Lux, at the Monart Sale last year and they are excited for the future with him.

Despite being one of the most successful league teams, finishing fifth overall in 2019 with two victories, including on home soil in Miami where Duffy teamed up with Shane Breen to win, Miami Celtics was disbanded for 2020, meaning he won’t have quite as many opportunities this season.

“Miami Celtics was disbanded, and it was quite late in the day. Shane Breen got picked up by another team but a few of us didn’t; and I thought it wasn’t the end of the world for this year.

Michael Duffy and his new top horse, Jeff Ten Halven, winning at the Sunshine Tour in Vejer de la Frontera in early March \ Moises Basallote

“I really wanted to give Tokyo one good crack. We had just purchased Jeff, Touch The Stars is doing a lot more breeding, and I didn’t bring Egalini to the Sunshine tour, he was on a bit of a break, so it wasn’t the be all and end all. I have so many more young horses as well. I really wanted to give Tokyo one-good shot.”

So, with some new horses in his string, was he happy Tokyo was postponed? “100%! I was the only man that was cheering when they put it back. Zilton has just turned nine and has only done two three-star Grands Prix. The only thing, Touch The Stars is 15 this year, but what is another 12 months to him, he is a good tough sort.”

Of his four leading horses, can he pick one that is top of the list for Tokyo? “I don’t think it is fair to pick one…I will plan them all around the biggest and best shows for them. On the 1st of January this year I was gearing them all up with that [Olympic] goal.”

Staying strong

Like his teammates, Duffy has kind words to say about Ireland’s High Performance manager Michael Blake.

“I would chat to Michael a lot. He is unbelievably keen and eager to do the job, and a great communicator; I don’t envy his task, it’s not a simple,” he said, eluding to the strength of the Irish squad.

Like anything, that strength comes in waves and while the last few years have seen some horses come and go, in recent months, Irish riders have boosted their strings with new horses.

Michael knows better than anyone that everything can change in a moment. Top horses to pass through his hands include Cortina 200, Miss Untouchable (Leopold van Asten), Sirocoo (Sheikh Ali Al Thani), Thunder GZ (Mark McAuley).

In May 2017, after jumping a clear round in the Division 1 Nations Cup of La Baule and being selected to travel to Rome for another team appearance, his best horse Belcanto Z was sold.

A year later, he was called up as travelling reserve for the 2018 World Equestrian Games, his first senior championship, with ESF Top Contender but the horse subsequently didn’t travel due to an impending storm. He was then sold to Athina Onassis and is now owned by the Qatar Equestrian Federation.

“For sure that was disappointing not being able to bring the horse. I still travelled to WEG myself, it was a nice gesture from [then team manager] Rodrigo Pessoa who still asked me to come as I was fifth man. And that was a great experience, to be there and feel what a championship is like.

“The Irish team is massively competitive at the moment. We have amazing horses and riders; it’s probably never been stronger. But a lot can happen in a year. The time I finished up being reserve for WEG, I was probably eighth or ninth on the list at the beginning of the year. You can’t predict what owners might do, horses might not stay sound, a lot can happen.”

The Irish team after winning the Division 1 Nations Cup at Hickstead in 2018 \ Nigel Goddard

Duffy does not agree with the FEI cancelling the European Championships for 2021. “I am disappointed to hear they cancelled the Europeans. It wasn’t a qualifier for 2024 but it is still an integral part of our sport.

"There are a lot of nations, like Italy and Spain, that haven’t qualified for Tokyo and will now go three years without a championship. And there are other nations good enough to send another team, we could probably send three!”

Amy is also aiming for Tokyo. “She has done her work and got her accreditation. She is on the long list anyway. It will be difficult to knock the likes of Ben [Maher] and Scott [Brash] and Holly Smith, but she will give it a go. She is sat here with me now, rearing to go whenever we can.”

Team spirit

Team sport is what makes Duffy tick, whether it is representing Ireland or lining out of the Global Champions League. “The Globals are incredible. It is amazing sport, there is no discard scores and no prisoners taken. The Grands Prix are massive; every week 25 of the top 30 in the world are there so if you can do it there, you can do it anywhere.

“But that doesn’t take away from the Nations Cup shows. For me, I really love team competition, whether it is a GCL or and Nations Cup, that team aspect is important to me,” which is why the Division 1 team win in Hickstead, home from home, in 2018 is up there with the career highlights.

I mention that he has done a huge amount at such a young age and get shot back – “Ah, Bertram Allen has done more than me and he is younger!” A five-star Grand Prix victory is high on the priority list.

“Amy and I are together nearly seven years and I think we have had two nights in Marbella as a holiday over that whole time; you get out what you put in,” he concluded.