Tiffany Cambria and Perfect Match D Capture $25,000 George P. Ohrstrom Grand Prix at Lexington Spring Encore
Lexington, Va. – May 2, 2026 – An enthusiastic crowd gathered Saturday afternoon at the Dee Dee Arena for the highlight event of the Lexington Spring Encore: the $25,000 George P. Ohrstrom Grand Prix, part of the 2026 Festival of Champions. Three horse-and-rider combinations advanced to the jump-off, where Tiffany Cambria and Perfect Match emerged victorious with a lightning-fast clear round in 34.89 seconds. They finished one second ahead of Welcome Stake winners Mary Lisa Leffler and Oopsala, who crossed the timers in 35.86 seconds. Ragan Roberts rounded out the top three with Queen B Z.
“It was a really fun class,” smiled Cambria after her win. “I really enjoyed it, and Mary Lisa is a huge competitor, so it was a privilege to win against her. It’s been fun being here this week and the past few years. I’ve always enjoyed doing this Grand Prix here, and it’s nice to come here after Florida and see where the horses are at and how they are feeling.”
Paul Jewell set a technical track for the week’s main event, where the first round tested riders with an oxer-vertical double combination going away from the gate and a triple bar to a vertical-oxer-vertical double combination. Three combinations advanced to the short course, where they started over a triple bar to a single vertical and made a sharp turn to a wide oxer away from the gate. They then rolled back to a single vertical bending to the double combination and finished by galloping home over the final line.
Cambria and Perfect Match D were the pathfinders in the first round and the first to return for the tiebreaker. They picked up a quick gallop to the triple bar and never held back, making a very handy rollback after the combination to the final line, stopping the clock in 34.89 seconds with all the rails intact. Leffler and Oopsala were next, and they tried to earn their second big win of the week, but fell just shy of the time as they broke the beam in a fault-free 35.86 seconds for second place. Roberts was the last to go in the jump-off, but an error at the double combination would move them to third place and seal Cambria’s victory as she returned for the lap of honor.
“When I was doing the course walk, I knew I had to be a little bit handy,” explained Cambria. “I think I caught Mary Lisa after 5AB back around to that last line. I had to balance my mare after that in-and-out, and was able to really push her off my outside leg there and really get her to make that turn pretty tidy.”
Cambria began riding Perfect Match D three years ago and has enjoyed forming a partnership with the talented 11-year-old Westphalian mare owned by Sarah Hellman. “She’s a little bit of a spicy mare, but she can be a little cold to the leg as well,” said Cambria. “You have to feel the horse you have and be able to work with her and ride with her. She’s really trafficky – she doesn’t like other horses, so the schooling ring kind of becomes a challenge sometimes. But we’ve figured out that routine, and she’s just getting stronger – better and better.”
In addition to winning the day’s highlight event, Cambria also won the Best Turned Out Award, presented by Tull MD. She thanked her groom and her team for all of their hard work, saying, “It’s the whole team together that makes the horse look and go as well as she does.”
Cambria concluded, “We really like to try to support the Virginia horse shows because we are Virginians. This is one of the first shows we come to after Florida, and we’ve been coming here a long time. They do a nice job, and they try to offer classes for everyone. Our clients like coming here, and they do a good job with the hunter jumps and the jumper jumps. It’s been a pleasure to be here.”
The Lexington Spring Encore concludes on Sunday at the Virginia Horse Center. The Festival of Champions continues in August with the Lexington National Horse Show, scheduled for August 5 – 9, 2026. For more information, please visit vahorsecenter.org.