Showdown in Saudi Arabia's metropolis of Riyadh: The 15 winners of the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix spread throughout the season met in the LGCT Super Grand Prix 2024. The prize money at stake amounted to 1.25 million euros. Who would win the trophy and take home 300,000 euros?
The payout in the Global Champions League team competition was almost even more spectacular: the prize money at the GCL Super Cup Final 2024 amounted to over 10 million euros. The riders from Riesenbeck International (Christian Kukuk, Philipp Schulze-Topphoff and Eoin McMahon) already showed their good form in the semi-finals and qualified for the final of the six teams with the second-best result. The riders (Eoin McMahon, Philipp Weishaupt and Christian Kukuk), who won last year with the same line-up, then took part in the GCL Super Cup final on Saturday evening.  

GCL Super Cup Final 2024

Once again, the path to success led over two rounds in a fair but extremely demanding course built by course designer Uliano Vezzani.  They had to be completed by all three riders of a team; there were no scratch results, but every ride counted. 
The favored ladies of the Iron Dames team immediately caused a big surprise: they were the first to collect 16 penalty points. The Skandinavian Vikings were even worse off, leaving the course with 24 penalty points. Then there were the three Prague Lions: 12 penalty points - with Belgian super talent Thibeau Spits delivering the first clear round of all the riders. The fourth team, Stockholm Hearts, had obviously benefited from the previous rider's observation. Nicola Philippaerts managed the second clear round, while his colleague Malin Baryard-Johnsson put all her experience to good use and also rode clear over the course. Julien Epaillard followed in his colleagues' footsteps - 0 penalty points after round one! Sensational!

Then came the performance of the Beerbaum riders from Riesenbeck. The nerves of the staff at home in the stables were on edge. Mila, recovered after a bad fall, showed once again what she is made of: she remained penalty-free. Coby under Philipp Weishaupt, as reliable as ever, had one knockdown in the triple combination, which the rider forgave his 14-year-old partner for. Then the Olympic champion with a performance worthy of an Olympic champion: Checker and Christian Kukuk concentrated, safe, penalty-free. The team went into round two with 4 penalty points. Finally, the highly rated Shanghai Swans with Ben Maher, Daniel Deusser and Max Kühner. What the competitors predicted came true - almost: two clear rounds, two knockdowns once, 8 penalty points.

What excitement before the decisive final round, because every mistake could change the result.  Anything could happen... 

The starting order was reversed, with the best teams at the end. For the three teams at the bottom of the ranking, it was also about damage limitation on the newly designed course. The Skandinavian Vikings finished the second round with a further 24 faults (48 in total); Cannes Stars added eight penalty points to their 16 from round one. The three Prague Lions had two faults (20 in total). The last three teams were to divide the podium places among themselves.  

Ben Maher from the Shanghai Swans managed another clear round in masterly style with Point Break. Daniel Deusser's Killer Queen rattled - but the poles remained in the runs again. Max Kühner and his Electric Blue made a mistake. This resulted in 12 penalty points on the results list. Then it was Team Riesenbeck International. A clear round from Eoin McMahon and Mila was followed by two faults from Coby and Philipp Weishaupt. Christian Kukuk had to remain clear - but the bar fell on Checker. 16 penalty points. 
2.5 million euros in prize money for the winner was now on the table for Stockholm Hearts. Because they were two faults ahead.  One pole fell - and Stockholm Hearts won the GCL Super Cup Final 2024! Second place: The Shanghai Swans. Third place: Riesenbeck International.

Team boss Ludger Beerbaum: “I'm super happy and I said beforehand: If we're on the podium this year, this is a great result! All four riders and their horses did a great job.” 



LGCT Super Grand Prix

Christian Kukuk represented Beerbaum Stables in the first final of the tournament - the LGCT Super Grand Prix on Friday evening - with the ten-year-old mare Just be Gentle. He had won the fifth leg in Madrid.
There were two very difficult rounds with 13 huge obstacles and distances.  Christian Kukuk started confidently and in rhythm with his still young mare. However, there was a discrepancy in the middle of the course and the mare faltered briefly, startled by a camera.  But this situation resulted in two knockdowns. “I might be disappointed now, but I'm not angry with her. She doesn't have too much experience yet, but her reaction shows that she has a big heart.” The rider took responsibility for the mistakes: “I'm annoyed with myself, I should have ridden her in a smaller test beforehand so that she could get used to the arena.” 
With position 14 before the second round, the Olympic champion's chances of a podium place were over. 
With two clear rounds and a time of 66.98 seconds, Luxembourg's Victor Bettendorf delivered the surprise of the day on the nine-year-old mare Foxy de la Roque. He won by a large margin ahead of Belgium's Gilles Thomas, who had saddled the ten-year-old stallion Ermitage Kalone (0/70.28). Ireland's Michael Duffy rode onto the podium in third place. He rode the 15-year-old gelding Quirex, a horse that has made a spectacular return to the sport after years of injury.    

Results at: 

https://results.hippodata.de/2024/2424/docs/r_13.pdf

https://www.longinestiming.com/equestrian/2024/global-champions-playoffs-riyadh/resultlist_10.html