Rolling Acres Sweeps Top Honors to Kick Off Lexington Spring Encore
Lexington, Va. – April 30, 2026 – It was a family affair for Rolling Acres on Thursday during the Lexington Spring Encore Horse Show at the Virginia Horse Center. The entire team kicked off the week with top honors as Patty Foster earned the Leading Trainer title, presented by Champion Shavings, while her daughter, Ashley Worthington, won the Grand Hunter Championship aboard Honesty, and her sister, Mary Lisa Leffler, topped the $5,000 Welcome Stake with Oopsala.
“This is our favorite horse show,” expressed Foster after accepting the Leading Trainer honors.
“It’s really nice, and it’s even more fun that I get to work with my daughter and my sister – it means a lot. Everyone at the Virginia Horse Center is so nice. They’ve done everything they can to improve the footing and it makes a big difference. It’s a very special venue.”
Worthington had a dominating performance in the Green 3’6″/3’9″ Hunters with Honesty, owned by Independence Ranch LLC. The duo won three of the over fences classes and also earned the top call under saddle for the division’s championship, as well as the overall Grand Hunter Championship.
“I got Honesty at the beginning of the year, so I’ve had some time to create a partnership with him and I absolutely adore him,” noted Worthington. “This is one of my favorite horse shows, so I was really looking forward to bringing him here. He was really, really great this week. They always dress up the ring so beautifully here, and it definitely paid off – he jumped beautifully!”
Earlier in the day, Worthington competed against her aunt, Leffler, in the $5,000 Welcome Stake. Tiffany Cambria set the original pace to beat in the jump-off with Perfect Match D, clearing the course in 33.14 seconds, which would hold up for third place. Leffler was the first to beat Cambria thanks to a quick rollback with Oopsala that broke the beam in 31.90 seconds to go to the top of the leaderboard. Worthingon was the last to go with her own Diadora and tried to catch Leffler, but was just fractions off the pace with a time of 32.08 seconds for second place. Leffler and Oopsala returned to the DeeDee Ring at the end of the class to accept the winning honors.
Leffler took over the reins for Oopsala in November after purchasing the 10-year-old Holsteiner mare from Jimmy and JJ Torano. She began showing her in Ocala, slowly moving up with her, and began showing in the grand prix events midway through the season.
“Oopsala likes a soft hand and she does her little bucky thing before the first fence and stuff, but other than that she’s very straightforward,” explained Leffler. “She’s got a big stride and you just have to have a steady hand. During the jump-off today, I saw Tiffany do inside to one, but I thought I was quicker getting back to the combination than she was. Now Oopsala will do the Grand Prix on Saturday!”
The Lexington Spring Encore continues through May 3, with Saturday evening’s feature class set to be the $25,000 George P. Ohrstrom Grand Prix. On Friday, hunters will take center stage during Triple Crown Derby Day, featuring the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby. The Virginia Festival of Champions at the Virginia Horse Center showcases top hunter and jumper talent from across the region.