Benko horse beaten

Kühner wins the show jumping “Champions League

With his Olympic horse "Elektric Blue", Max Kühner took the overall victory in the Global Champions Tour - and with it a large sum of prize money.(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

With an incredibly precise round, show jumper Max Kühner took the overall victory in the show jumping "Champions League" at the final of the Longines Global Champions Tour in Rabat/Morocco. Olympic champion Christian Kukuk from Germany, who had led the overall standings, failed on the mare owned by real estate juggler René Benko at the penultimate jump in the difficult basic course. 

The elite show jumping riders met in exotic Morocco at the weekend to compete in the prestigious and lucrative final of the Longines Global Champions Tour show jumping series. Christian Kukuk, gold medal winner from Paris 2024, had come to Rabat as the leader in the overall standings. Hot on his heels: Max Kühner, who has been riding for Austria for a good ten years and runs a riding stable in Tyrol.

With Benko's horses in the sand of Morocco
For his ride for the big overall prize money, Kukuk had saddled up the horse of another Tyrolean who recently made headlines. Benko had acquired the mare "Just be gentle" in 2023, shortly before the collapse of his Signa company structure, via his private foundation - just like the stallion "Chageorge", who also competed in Rabat. 

The mare "Just Be Gentle", seen here at a show in London, is owned by financial juggler René Benko.(Bild: Longines Global Champions Tour/Ljuba Buzzola)

The first round was already a tough one, with only seven horse and rider pairs clearing the extremely challenging course and thus making it into the jump-off. Olympic champion Kukuk failed with "Just be gentle" at the penultimate jump, the top pole fell and the overall victory in the Tour classification was lost for the German. Kukuk had to settle for eleventh place in the daily ranking, for which he still received 5000 euros in prize money. 

Benko's stallion "Chageorge" was also at the start in Rabat.(Bild: Longines Global Champions Tour/Stefano Grasso)

Kühner takes overall victory despite a fault in the jump-off
Kühner rode a precise round with his Olympic partner "Elektric Blue" and was therefore not only able to celebrate making it into the jump-off, but also first place in the overall standings, which earned him several hundred thousand euros in prize money. 

The overall ranking of the Longines Global Champions Tour ultimately went to Austria.(Bild: Screenshot www.gcglobalchampions.com)

Unfortunately, the Tyrolean's luck ran out in the jump-off, a knockdown meant fifth place in the final leg, but there was another 30,000 euros in prize money for that too. Kühner praised his horse extensively in the subsequent interview: "Elektric Blue and I are like an old married couple, he is very sensitive but can still give me security. And he likes it when you take it easy." 

The day's victory in the final leg of the show jumping "Champions League" went to the Spaniard Eduardo Alvarez Aznar with his gelding "Rokfeller de Pleville Bois Margot". He was delighted to receive a prize money of 165,000 euros. Sweden's Malin Baryard-Johnsson rode to second place ahead of Germany's Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann, who also took third place in the overall standings behind Kühner and Kukuk.