There is a first time for everything, and Adeline Rohrbach celebrated a milestone victory in her young career by winning her first-ever grand prix during the HITS Lamplight Spring Premier II On Saturday, May 16, 2026. The week stands as the second of a 13-week series held at the Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, Illinois, spanning the spring, summer, and fall. The week’s premier event, the $24,500 FarmVet Grand Prix, took center stage in the Douglas Elliman Stadium, and despite some stiff competition, Rohrbach rose to the occasion aboard her longtime partner Cooper 211 for the win.
Featuring an opening track designed by Florencio Hernandez (MEX), the first round saw only two go fault-free to secure a jump-off. Those two happened to be Rohrbach and her longtime trainer and mentor, Lisa Goldman-Smolen.
“Whenever Lisa is around, you know it’s going to be a fast jump-off,” noted Rohrbach. “She is a challenging competitor, and I always joke that for some reason she’s always at all the shows I go to! It’s incredible getting to learn from her. We started to work on going faster this winter, because I’m a little bit more of a conservative rider, and it felt like all of the pieces were coming together. We were really knocking on the door quite a few times. This was definitely one of the cleanest jump-offs I’ve had, so it was fantastic to have won it.
“I’ve been coming to HITS Chicago for as long as I can remember, like at least since I was eight,” she continued. “It feels like home to me, so it’s kind of only right that I would get my first grand prix win here.”
Ultimately, Goldman-Smolen accepted the runner-up honors with Romeo B, her nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion (Heartbreaker x Branco), while Rohrbach accepted the lion’s share of the prize money. As the fastest four-faulter, Shannon Hicks and Halo de Maugre, Helen Gilbert’s nine-year-old Selle Français stallion (For Pleasure x Ogano Sitte), rounded out the top three.
“You always hear people joking about a horse being their ‘heart horse’ or something similar, but that is truly what Cooper has become for me,” said Rohrbach of her 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Carinjo HDC x Carlos VDZ). “I got him at a point where I wasn’t feeling very confident in my riding, and he was pretty inexperienced, but we’ve just been able to learn and grow together, which has built such a strong partnership.”
Competition at HITS Chicago will resume on Wednesday, May 20 as the Spring Premier series heads into it’s final week. For a full review of Week II results, please visit www.showmanagementsystem.com.
