AMONG those riders who had an excellent five days at the Dublin Horse Show last week was Co Wicklow’s Linda Murphy whose haul of victories included the Crossogue Equestrian small event horse championship on Susan Fitzpatrick’s Sam Salad.

Unlike most of the horses competing for his Co Wicklow owner, this palomino gelding is not a home-bred, having been purchased for €20,000 at last November’s Goresbridge Go For Gold Sale to which he had been consigned by the Carlow Farmers’ huntsman Ado Moran.

The six-year-old, who is by the Connemara stallion Pattys Veuve Cosmic, finished on his dressage score on his sole outing in an EI90 class before being sold but has started jumping in registered competitions this season.

He was bred in Co Wexford by Edward Norris out of the Irish Sport Horse mare Dancing At Lunasa, a daughter of the thoroughbred Sharifabad. He qualified for Dublin first time out at Scarteen.

For this class, the presentation phase continues to comprise six 1.10m vertical rails set at right angles to one another which are jumped in canter off 20m circles.

An average is taken from the three judges’ marks which can come to 35% of the total while the same judges’ marks over the 22 fences (24 efforts) in the Main Arena contribute 15% of the total and 50% of the total comes from clears over the course on day two.

Murphy and Sam Salad led on 25.50% following the first phase from Shona Lynch and the thoroughbred mare Ferdi Whitmore (25.42), Ann Lambert on her own Goran Allo (25.25) and Eva Melly with Wolf Ardeo Vegas (24.42).

Much to the disappointment of their riders, all but Sam Salad lowered at least one fence and both Ferdi Whitmore and Wolf Ardeo Vegas dropped out of the placings. Despite four jumping penalties, Goran Allo received good marks from the judges and remained in third place on 84.25.

Jumping up into second on a total of 85.08 was the Christine O’Donnell-partnered five-year-old mare Metalbridge Liath, one of two full-siblings in the class by Uskerty Sweet Lad owned by their Castlecomer breeder, Jim Doyle.

With a clear round and the judges’ score of 13.67%, Sam Salad won comfortably on 89.17 much to the delight of Susan Fitzpatrick whose decision to buy the palomino last November has been well justified. On Sunday, he finished fifth in the five and six-year-old working hunter class behind the eventual champion, First Rate.