2012 Global Champions Tour

The 2012 Global Champions Tour is the 7th edition of the Global Champions Tour (GCT), an important international show jumping competition series.

The series

The series is held mainly in Europe. The first and the last station is held in Arabia. In France and Germany two competitions of the GCT will be held.

All competitions will be endowed at least € 285,000. All GCT events will be held as CSI 5*.

The competitions will be between April 5, 2012 and November 24, 2012. There was no final. At the end of the season the best 18 riders in the final overall standings had got a bonus prize money.^[1]

Rule change

With 13 stations the 2012 Global Champions Tour is the season with the highest number of competitions in the GCT history. Because of this high number of competitions and the early date of the 2012 Olympic Games the Equestrian Federations from Europe see a threat to the FEI Nations Cup competitions. The Nations Cup are crucial to remain show jumping at the future Olympic Games.

Because of this the European Equestrian Federation called for a FEI rule change: important Nations Cups should not be held in future at the same weekend as GCT events or other CSI 5* horse shows.^[2] The International Jumping Rider Clubs decided at a poll, that only the ranking point of six or seven GCT events will into account for the final ranking of GCT.^[3] The FEI took on this decision, so only the ranking point of seven per rider GCT events count for the final ranking.^[4]

Competitions

All competitions were held as competition over two rounds against the clock with one jump-off against the clock.

First competition: Doha

April 5, 2012 to April 7, 2012 – Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club, Doha,  Qatar
Competition: Saturday, April 7, 2012 – Start: 6:30 pm, prize money: € 450,000^[5]

The jumping course in the round arena in Doha was built by Uliano Vezzani from Italy. In the first round of the competition, 15 riders had no faults, also one rider with one time fault and the two four-fault-riders with the fastest time qualified for the second round. In the second round, most of the riders fewer problems with the obstacles, but the allowed time was difficult: three riders had one time fault with their horses, three more riders had also time faults. Seven riders had no faults with their horses in both rounds.

In the jump-off, last year's GCT ranking winner, Edwina Tops-Alexander, ride a fast faultless round with her 16-year-old gelding Itot du Château. As next Christian Ahlmann start in the jump-off: with a high speed he miss the right distance to the second obstacle, at the end he had a result of eight points with Codex One. Also all other riders who start in this jump-off can no reach the result of Tops-Alexander, so she win the GCT Grand Prix of Qatar.^[6]

	Rider	Horse	Round 1		Round 2		Jump-off		scoring points
			Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)
1	Edwina Tops-Alexander	Itot du Château	0	-	0	-	0	40.99	40
2	Marco Kutscher	Cornet Obolensky	0	-	0	-	0	41.24	37
3	Pius Schwizer	Verdi III	0	-	0	-	0	41.32	35

(Top 3 of 42 competitors)

Second competition: Oliva

May 4, 2012 to May 6, 2012 – Oliva Nova Beach and Golf Resort, Oliva near Valencia,  Spain

The Spanish Global Champions Tour event was held first time not in Valencia. The new location is a newly built equestrian facility at the Oliva Nova Beach and Golf Resort in Oliva, 80 miles from Valencia on the Mediterranean coast. The facility was opened in February and March of this year, with several CSI 2* tournaments called Mediterranean Equestrian Tour.

The CGI 5* GCT Grand Prix was held on May 5, 2012 at 4:45 pm local time. The course was created by Frank Rothenberger from Germany. In the first round the allowed time was the major problem for much riders. Only five of 40 riders had more the eight fault points in round one, three riders did not finish the round.

Qualified for round two were all riders without faults, riders with less than four fault points and Marcus Ehning as riders with the fastest four fault round. In the second round riders had again time faults beside obstacle faults. French rider Kevin Staut could almost prevent his fall after a refusal, but his stirrup broke, so he retired.

Five riders was qualified for the jump-off. Here first Michael Whitaker, than Ben Maher get in the lead. After Maher no other rider had a faultless round in the jump-off.^[7]

	Rider	Horse	Round 1		Round 2		Jump-off		scoring points
			Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)
1	Ben Maher	Tripple X III	0	-	0	-	0	41.35	40
2	Michael Whitaker	Viking	0	-	0	-	0	42.17	37
3	Denis Lynch	Abbervail van het Dingeshof	0	-	0	-	4	40.91	35

(Top 3 of 40 competitors)

Third competition: Hamburg

May 16, 2012 to May 20, 2012 – Hamburg (German show jumping and dressage derby),  Germany
Competition: Saturday, May 19, 2012 – Start: 1:20 pm

The first GCT event in Germany in 2012 was held in Hamburg at the tradition-rich German show-jumping and dressage derby. The show jumping course was built by Frank Rothenberger, who built the courses also at this event in the last years.

Round one of the competition was equitable challenging, all faultless riders and the three fastest four-fault rider was qualified for the second round. Also in the second round the allowed time was not the problem for the riders, but the course was more challenging in round two. Five of 18 riders qualified for the jump-off.

The jump-off had besides very long ways to gallop also some short cuts. All riders had ridden this short cuts, so it was a really fast jump-off. In this jump-off, only two riders had no faults: last year's winner Rolf-Göran Bengtsson and Nick Skelton, Skelton was with Big Star more than one second faster, so he win the Grand Prix of Hamburg.^[8]

	Rider	Horse	Round 1		Round 2		Jump-off		scoring points
			Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)
1	Nick Skelton	Big Star	0	-	0	-	0	47.97	40
2	Rolf-Göran Bengtsson	Casall	0	-	0	-	0	49.32	37
3	Katrin Eckermann	Carlson	0	-	0	-	4	48.87	35

(Top 3 of 49 competitors)

4th Competition: Wiesbaden

May 25, 2012 to May 28, 2012 – Wiesbaden (Pfingstturnier),  Germany
Competition: Saturday, May 26, 2012 – Start: 4:30 pm

First time ever a GCT competition was held in 2012 at the "Pfingstturnier Wiesbaden" (Wiesbaden Pentecost horse show). The GCT competition at the 76th Pfingstturnier was held at Saturday, May 26, 2012. As already at the last two GCT competitions two course was designed by Frank Rothenberger.

Beside all faultless competitors from the first round also one rider with two time faults and four riders with four faults from the first round was qualified for the second round. In this second round much of the remaining 18 starters had four faults, only two riders had no faults with their horses in the second round. As the first one of this two-time faultless riders Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum start in the jump-off. For her horse Bella Donna it was the first competition on this very high competition level. The French rider Olivier Guillon with his much more experienced horse Lord de Theize was the second rider in the jump-off, with a fast faultless round Guillon win the competition.^[9]

	Rider	Horse	Round 1		Round 2		Jump-off		scoring points
			Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)
1	Olivier Guillon	Lord de Theize	0	-	0	-	0	55.59	40
2	Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum	Bella Donna	0	-	0	-	0	57.72	37
3	Manuel Añon	Baldo DS	0	-	4	72.82			35

(Top 3 of 42 competitors)

5th Competition: Cannes

June 14, 2012 to June 16, 2012 – Cannes,  France

The first GCT event in France this season was held from June 14 to June 16, 2012 at the Jumping Cannes horse show. This event was held at the Stade des Hespérides in Cannes.

The Grand Prix de la Ville de Cannes, the Cannes GCT competition, was held at Saturday evening under floodlight. The show jumping course was designed by Uliano Vezzani. The first round was challenging, 13 of 46 riders had 12 or more penalty points.

In the second competition, which includes three double combinations, seven riders had no faults. In the addition of both rounds three riders had with their horses no penalty points, they was qualified for the jump-off. As first rider Rolf-Göran Bengtsson get in the lead. Gerco Schröder was the next, he was 16 hundredths of a second faster than Bengtsson. As last competitor the winner of the last two years in this competition, Edwina Tops-Alexander, start in the jump-off. She has also a fast time with her horse Itot du Château, but Bengtsson and Schröder was faster than Tops-Alexander.^[10]

	Rider	Horse	Round 1		Round 2		Jump-off		scoring points
			Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)
1	Gerco Schröder	London	0	-	0	-	0	34.22	40
2	Rolf-Göran Bengtsson	Casall	0	-	0	-	0	34.38	37
3	Edwina Tops-Alexander	Itot du Château	0	-	0	-	0	34.89	35

(Top 3 of 46 competitors)

6th Competition: Monaco

June 28, 2012 to June 30, 2012 – shore at the marina Port Hercule, Monte Carlo, Monaco

The GCT horse show of Monaco was held at the shore of the Boulevard Albert 1er at the Port Hercule. The events was held on a provisionally show jumping arena. As two weeks ago, also the GCT competition of Monaco was held under floodlight.

The course was built on a small showground (approximately 30 meters wide and 70 meters long) agiain by Uliano Vezzani from Italy. The competition (Grand Prix du Prince de Monaco) is named after Prince Albert II., which undertook also the award ceremony together with his niece Charlotte Casiraghi.

From the first round all (nine) riders with four penalty points, two riders with one time fault and seven faultless riders was qualified for the second round. In this second round seven riders had no faults, four riders had no faults in both rounds.

As first rider Christina Liebherr from Switzerland start in the jump-off. She had one obstacle fault and was fourth in the final result. The surprise of the competition was Abdelkebir Ouaddar from Morocco, who had start first time in a GCT competition. Ouaddar was with the nine-year-old gelding Porche du Fruitier (owned by Mohammed VI of Morocco) the second competition in the jump-off. He was third placed in the final result. After him Hans-Dieter Dreher and Kevin Staut start in the jump-off, both had no faults but not a better time than Ouaddar. Staut win the competition with Reveur de Hurtebise, a gelding from Belgium.^[11]

	Rider	Horse	Round 1		Round 2		Jump-off		scoring points
			Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)
1	Kevin Staut	Reveur de Hurtebise	0	-	0	-	0	37.51	40
2	Hans-Dieter Dreher	Embassy II	0	-	0	-	0	38.16	37
3	Abdelkebir Ouaddar	Porche du Fruitier	0	-	0	-	4	37.13	35

(Top 3 of 40 competitors)

7th Competition: Estoril

July 13, 2012 to July 14, 2012 – Hipódromo Manuel Possolo, Cascais near Estoril, Portugal

The Grande Prémio Turismo de Portugal, GCT competition of Portugal, was held on July 14, 2012 at 7:00 pm. The show jumping course was built by Frank Rothenberger. Many riders, which are nominated for the 2012 Olympic Games, had start not with their best horse; other riders start with their number one horses in this competition.

The first round was no problem for much riders, 20 riders had no faults - they was qualified for the second round. The second round had a much higher level of difficulty. Six of 20 competitions had again a faultless round.

As one of the first of the six rider in the jump-off Philipp Weishaupt ride with the stallion Leoville. Weishaupt and Leoville had a faultless and very fast round, they get in the lead. The following riders had all slower times than Weishaupt, so he win the competition.^[12]

	Rider	Horse	Round 1		Round 2		Jump-off		scoring points
			Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)
1	Philipp Weishaupt	Leoville	0	-	0	-	0	44.96	40
2	Michael Whitaker	Viking	0	-	0	-	0	45.65	37
3	Ludger Beerbaum	Chaman	0	-	0	-	0	47.46	35

(Top 3 of 36 competitors)

8th Competition: Chantilly

July 20, 2012 to July 22, 2012 – Chantilly Racecourse, Chantilly,  France

The GCT competition of Chantilly was held at July 21 at 3:30 pm. Course designer was Uliano Vezzani. Just one week ago 20 riders was faultless in a GCT competition, in Chantilly the first round of the competition was much more difficult. Only five riders had no faults in round one, so also all riders with four and five penalty points was qualified for the second round.

In the second round much more riders had no faults, 13 of 18 riders had no faults with their horses in the second round. No faults in both rounds had three riders. Beezie Madden was the first one to start in the jump off. She was fast with her horse Simon and had a time of 39.15 seconds. Karim El Zoghby, who was underdog in this jump-off, had a jumping fault early in the jump-off. As last rider Hans-Dieter Dreher with the stallion Magnus Romeo going into the jump-off. He was also very fast, so he won the competition with a lead of three tenths of a second.^[13]

	Rider	Horse	Round 1		Round 2		Jump-off		scoring points
			Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)
1	Hans-Dieter Dreher	Magnus Romeo	0	-	0	-	0	38.82	40
2	Beezie Madden	Simon	0	-	0	-	0	39.15	37
3	Karim El Zoghby	Splendor	0	-	0	-	4	44.92	35

(Top 3 of 42 competitors)

9th Competition: Valkenswaard

August 17, 2012 to August 19, 2012 – Valkenswaard,  Netherlands

The first GCT competition after the Olympic Games was held in Valkenswaard, home of GCT founder Jan Tops. The competition was held at 2:30 pm at the August 18, 2012. The jumping courses was created by Uliano Vezzani. Twelve of 48 riders had no faults in the first round of the competition. This riders, three rider with one faults and the fastest three rider with four faults was qualified for the second round. A long time no rider in the second competition had a faultless round. As first one German Philipp Weishaupt and Catoki had no faults at the fences, but they had (as in the first round) one time fault.

50 Percent of the riders, which was faultless in the first round, also was faultless in round two. This six riders was qualified for the jump-off. The first three riders in the jump-off had no faults, Ludger Beerbaum was the fastest of this three riders. The next three riders in the jump-off had faults at the fences, so Beerbaum win the competition.^[14]

	Rider	Horse	Round 1		Round 2		Jump-off		scoring points
			Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)
1	Ludger Beerbaum	Chaman	0	-	0	-	0	41.32	40
2	Richard Spooner	Cristallo	0	-	0	-	0	42.05	37
3	Rolf-Göran Bengtsson	Carusso	0	-	0	-	4	43.43	35

(Top 3 of 48 competitors)

10th Competition: Lausanne

September 14, 2012 to September 16, 2012 – Place de Bellerive, Lausanne,   Switzerland

For the first time a GCT competition was held in 2012 in Switzerland, in Lausanne. The GCT competition was held at September 15 at 6:00 pm. The course of the Grand Prix of Switzerland was designed by Swiss Rolf Lüdi. 18 competitions (the number of riders, who qualified for the second round) had no faults at the fences in the first round, one of them had one time fault. No competitor from Switzerland was qualified for the second round, best rider from Switzerland was Janika Sprunger with Palloubet d'Halong on the 25th place.

In the second round one third of the 18 competitions had again no faults. This six riders was qualified for the jump-off. In the jump-off only two riders was faultless a third time, the fastest one was Laura Kraut with her grey gelding Cedric.^[15]

	Rider	Horse	Round 1		Round 2		Jump-off		scoring points
			Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)	Penalties	Time (s)
1	Laura Kraut	Cedric	0	-	0	-	0	42,53	40
2	Rolf-Göran Bengtsson	Casall	0	-	0	-	0	45,37	37
3	Edwina Tops-Alexander	Itot du Château	0	-	0	-	4	44,21	35

(Top 3 of 47 competitors)

11th Competition: Vienna

September 20, 2012 to September 23, 2012 – Rathausplatz, Vienna,  Austria

12th Competition: Abu Dhabi

November 22, 2012 to November 24, 2012 – Al-Forsan International Sports Resort, Abu Dhabi,  United Arab Emirates

Standings

	Rider	Doha	Oliva	Hamburg	Wies- baden	Cannes	Monaco	Estoril	Chantilly	Valkens- waard	Lausanne	Wien	Abu Dhabi	Total scoring points	prize money (bonus)
1	Edwina Tops-Alexander	40	(28)	28	—	35	30	28	(0)	(0)	35			196
2	Rolf-Göran Bengtsson	(0)	—	37	21	37	—	—	24	35	37			191
3	Christian Ahlmann	30	(0)	(23)	—	29	(0)	31	31	25	28			174
2	Denis Lynch	26	35	—	—	(0)	31	29	30	(0)	0			151
3	Michael Whitaker	(0)	37	19	(0)	(0)	27	37	29	(0)	0			149

Six results count for the final standing.^[16]

References

Global Champions Tour 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014