GALWAY’s Michael Duffy got the perfect early birthday present on Saturday evening in Birmingham when he won two classes at the prestigious three-star Horse of the Year show at the NEC arena.

The first victory for the 27-year-old came in the Grandstand Challenge Cup when he landed a big win with Jeff Ten Halven following an epic 10-horse jump-off at the spectacular indoor arena. First to go, there were gasps from the crowds as Duffy navigated the tight roll back turns and broke the beam in 33.55 seconds.