Tyrolean show jumper:

First against Thomas Müller, now against Rene Benko

Show jumper Max Kühner with his wife Liv, who is an excellent dressage rider.(Bild: bitstudio GmbH)

Max Kühner will be fighting for victory in the Global Champions Tour on his horse "Elektric Blue" on Sunday in Rabat. He goes into the final show jumping competition in second place overall. Christian Kukuk is in first place. However, the German Olympic champion, who is linked to Bayern star Thomas Müller and the deeply troubled entrepreneur René Benko, only has an eight-point lead. There is a lot of prize money at stake.

In the summer, Kukuk won gold in show jumping at the Olympic Games in Paris in front of Versailles Palace. The German rode "Checker", who is owned by Bavarian star Thomas Müller and German entrepreneur Madeleine Winter-Schulze. Kühner missed the jump-off back then on "Elektric Blue" with a fault at the last obstacle, finishing in seventh place.

Christian Kukuk won gold in show jumping at the Olympic Games in Paris on "Checker". However, the German will be riding "Just be Gentle" in the final show jumping competition of the Global Champions Tour in Rabat.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Kukuk will ride "Just Be Gentle", another top horse, in Rabat on Sunday. Kukuk's boss Ludger Beerbaum, German show jumping legend, sold this horse to René Benko and his Laura Private Foundation in 2023. Price: 2.38 million euros.

(Bild: zVg)

Christian Kukuk will ride the mare "Just be gentle", which was sold to René Benko in 2023, in the Global Champions Tour final on Sunday.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Uwe Anspach/dpa/picturedesk.com, APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

"If things go well, we can still win this thing"
Kühner, a Tyrolean by choice, says of Müller: "Like me, he is a horse owner, and like my wife, his wife Lisa is a dressage rider. There are always small overlaps. I don't know him very well. But I think he's a great guy." The 50-year-old Bavarian-born rider, who has been competing for Austria since 2015, had this to say about the showdown in Rabat: "It will be exciting. If things go well, we can still win this thing." Victory in the Global Champions Tour is worth almost one million euros.

After Kühner's victory at the Global Champions Tour event in St-Tropez, Formula 1 superstar Max Verstappen also congratulated him.(Bild: Longines Global Champions Tour/Ljuba Buzzola)

Super Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia
But the season is not over yet. The Super Grand Prix will take place in Riyadh from November 20 to 23. Only the season winners of the Global Champions Tour compete in Saudi Arabia. Kühner won in St-Tropez on June 1, where even Formula 1 superstar Max Verstappen congratulated him.