1. Paris 2024 – you were there to watch Castle Howard Casanova. Olympic impressions?

Castle Howard Casanova, ridden by Brazilian rider Marcio Carvalho Jorge, qualified for the Olympics at the Pan American Games in Chile in October 2023 when they were individual silver medallists and members of the Brazilian bronze medal team.

Our trip to the Olympics was truly amazing. While we were unlucky to have constant rain on dressage day, it didn’t dampen our spirits. With Howard not competing until quite late in the day, we got to see all the Irish riders and to cheer them on.

The atmosphere in the arena was very special, with all spectators supporting and clapping each horse as they entered the arena. The long, muddy trudge back to base afterwards was soon forgotten.

The sun came out for cross-country day which was a relief, as we hadn’t been permitted to walk the course the previous day due to the wet ground conditions. The cross-country course at Versailles was spectacular and again spectators’ support and encouragement as the horses completed each obstacle was wonderful.

Our Irish team did very well, just picking up some time penalties.

We were so proud and excited as we watched Howard powering his way around the course. Usually clear, he had a blip at fence 23, which proved very costly for him.

The show jumping track the following day was long and technically tough, which he handled beautifully, with an unlucky pole down at fence 12.

2. Tell us more about Howard.

A stunning foal, from the moment he arrived, we felt he might be a bit special. We had three lovely foals in 2013: two by Womanizer and one by Emperor Augustus. Castle Howard Romeo (Womanizer) went on to win the Dublin four-year-old working hunter class; Castle Howard Octavian (Emperor Augustus) qualified for the Dubarry young event horse final at Burghley, ridden there by Harry Meade and Castle Howard Casanova qualified for Dublin in the four-year-old show jumping classes. All three were produced and ridden by Linda Murphy.

Castle Howard Casanova was literally a dark horse, a dark steel grey-black from birth and did not change colour until he was six or seven-years-old. He’s now a beautiful light grey, with a very noble bearing and lovely temperament.

3. At what stage did you sell him?

In his early career, Linda campaigned him in a couple of young event horse classes, including the Stepping Stones league. We’ve found this league beneficial for educating younger horses, whether they go down the show jumping or eventing route.

When he qualified for the Dublin four-year-olds, he was in a very strong class that year as James Kann Cruz, ridden by Shane Sweetman at Paris, was also a contender. Interestingly, nether horse finished in the Dublin results that year, but went on to be superstars.

Casanova mainly show jumped as a five-year-old and competed in the HSI Studbook Series; he also did a couple of non-affiliated one-day-events. We sold him as a six-year-old to Andrew Williams, who, with his rider Vicky Tuffs, brought him on beautifully and sold him to his current owners several years later.

We’ve followed his career with great interest and keep in touch with his rider and part-owner Marcio on a regular basis. Howard is still quite young and we believe has a lot more to do yet.

Castle Howard Casanova (ISH), bred by Susan Fitzpatrick, produced Linda Murphy and ridden by Marcio Carvalho Jorge (BRA) took the silver medal at the 2023 Pan Am games \ FEI Shannon Brinkman

4. Your proudest breeder moment?

The sheer joy of watching our Castle Howard Casanova, born in the Vale of Avoca, perform on the Olympic stage with the stunning backdrop of the Chateau de Versailles, was the stuff that dreams are made of.

Without a doubt, our experience in Paris and the thrill of cheering him on at the Olympics was the highlight of our breeding career to date. We’re looking forward to whatever the future might bring, perhaps the 2026 World Equestrian Games in Aachen, or the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

5. Dublin Horse Show next week, you’ve had great success there too?

Howard’s dam – K Cavalier Belle (Cavalier Royale) – has sadly gone to horse heaven, but produced some lovely foals.

Another was Azarax, winner of the Dublin four-year-old lightweight hunter class, champion lightweight and reserve supreme. He was bought by Katie Jerram and went on to win many shows in the U.K. Katy later purchased the dam’s last foal Castle Howard Legacy, who went on to win and place at many U.K. shows, including the Horse of the Year Show.

6. How many broodmares do you own?

We currently have two broodmares – both home-breds – Castle Howard Flick Zee (Lux Z – Creagh Diamond Cavalier) and Castle Howard Delphine (O.B.O.S Quality – Castle Howard Flick Zee). Their 2024 foals are by Jackadello and Hielio, both are very good-looking and nice movers, so let’s hope for exciting times ahead.

7. Prefixes – your views?

I believe that prefixes are an integral and important part of horse breeding. The breeder’s prefix should be retained throughout the horse’s career. It enables the breeder to track the horse after a sale and also acts as a useful identifier for future relatives.

8. It takes a team – who’s on yours?

As breeders, we like to bring our foals to three or four-year-old before we decide what direction they should go. I’m very lucky that Linda, our stable manager and rider, is an extremely talented producer of young horses. She gives the horses a great start in life and is ably assisted by her parents Patrick and Mary Murphy and when extra help is needed, her brothers Brendan, Patrick, and Michael.

In recent times, young Jack Murphy has stepped up and is riding our lovely palomino, Sam Salad in the Children on Horses class in the RDS next week. Sam Salad won the Small Event Horse class in the RDS in 2019, it’s a huge loss that this class is no longer a feature in Dublin.

We’re looking forward to next week at the Dublin Horse Show and to seeing a lot of the top riders from all over the world, many of whom jumped in the Olympics, jumping again in the Aga Khan and the Grand Prix.

9. Favourite equestrian website/newspaper/app?

My favorite equestrian newspaper has to be The Irish Field, which is packed full of information on all equestrian sports and a great reference source. Not being social media-savvy I’m late to the party, but beginning to find my way around the Clip My Horse and Equipe apps, where you can watch events live. I found the Paris 2024 app very difficult to navigate, but with a lot of trial and error, we got there in the end.

10. More Olympic sightings?

It was also fantastic the following day to get to see and cheer for Cork rowers and gold medallists Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy as they crossed the finishing line in first place in their heat.