Aaron Vale squinted into the hazy orange sunset over Fort Lewis Mountain and observed that the jumper courses this week at the Roanoke Valley Horse Show had been a little tricky.

Nothing he couldn't handle, apparently. Vale rode horses that captured places first, second and fourth in Thursday evening's $7,500 Open Jumper Stake at the Salem Civic Center.

The blue ribbon went to Ironclad, followed by Ariscraft Soleil. Cruising through a smooth round of his own, Canadian Gavin Moylan took third aboard Othello. Next came Celano Ethna, Vale again in the irons.

Places five through eight were Thanks for the Memories with Brooke Kemper up; Ganon ridden by Sulu Rose; Cantate 26, Eliza Shuford riding; and; Hojarguards Clinton with Jeffrey Martin in the saddle.

As for Vale, he's rolling again here. He was first and second in Tuesday's $7,500 Welcome Jumper Stake. Thursday afternoon, he warmed up for his evening's labors on the intricate Richard Jeffery-designed course on the indoor arena floor by taking first second and fourth in the Level 6 Jumper class and first, fourth, sixth and seventh in the $5,000 Open Jumper Classic.

Vale has become a virtual institution in Salem, having won eight of the past 10 Grand Prix of Roanoke. He'll have at least four horses in Saturday's $50,000 show finale. If there's any pressure on him, he's not acknowledging it.

"We come to every show with the same goal: Win the Grand Prix -- the big class -- and as many other classes as we can," he said.

Vale toured the course Thursday evening with a fault-free round on each of the three horses he rode. Moylan had the only other flawless round.

"Richard's done a nice job with these courses, but it's been tough this week to get clean rounds," said Vale, referring to Jeffrey's design work. "If you get a clean round, then you'll probably get a ribbon."

Moylan was also third in Tuesday's Welcome Stake.

"I'm thrilled with my horse," he said. "He's a big, galloping-type horse, not really a speed horse, so the indoor course is not really suited for him. But he did well tonight. Finishing third Tuesday, two thirds this week, I'm thrilled with that."

If nothing else, Vale made enough to pay his feed bills Thursday. Counting his earnings from all three classes, his unofficial haul was $7,090.