The 2012 Global Champions Tour was the seventh 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 were held 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 million euro bonus for Top 18 GCT ranked riders of the 2010 season, announcement at www.globalchampionstour.com
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 an 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., November 9, 2011 (German) 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.Voting result , International Jumping Rider Club The FEI took on this decision, so only the ranking point of seven per rider GCT events count for the final ranking.50% of the GCT competitions to count for overall classification , worldofshowjumping.com, March 15, 2012
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, Competition: Saturday, April 7, 2012 – Start: 6:30 pm, prize money: €450,000Time table GCT of Qatar 2012
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, one rider had one time fault and two riders had four faults with the fastest time qualified for the second round. In the second round, most of the riders had 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, rode a fast faultless round with her 16-year-old gelding, Itot du Château. Next Christian Ahlmann started in the jump-off: with a high speed he missed 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 started in this jump-off could not reach the result of Tops-Alexander, so she won the GCT Grand Prix of Qatar.result 2012 Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Qatar
RiderHorseRound 1Round 2Jump-offScoringpointsPenaltiesTime(s)PenaltiesTime(s)PenaltiesTime(s)1 Edwina Tops-Alexander Itot du Château 0 - 0 - 0 40.99 402 Marco Kutscher Cornet Obolensky 0 - 0 - 0 41.24 373 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,
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 many 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 were qualified for the jump-off. Here, first Michael Whitaker, then Ben Maher got in the lead. After Maher, no other rider had a faultless round in the jump-off.result 2012 Global Champions TourGran Premio de España
RiderHorseRound 1Round 2Jump-offScoringpointsPenaltiesTime(s)PenaltiesTime(s)PenaltiesTime(s)1 Ben Maher Tripple X III 0 - 0 - 0 41.35 402 Michael Whitaker Viking 0 - 0 - 0 42.17 373 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), 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 riders were 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 long ways to gallop, also some shortcuts. All riders had ridden these short cuts, so it was a 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 won the Grand Prix of Hamburg.result 2012 Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Hamburg
RiderHorseRound 1Round 2Jump-offScoringpointsPenaltiesTime(s)PenaltiesTime(s)PenaltiesTime(s)1 Nick Skelton Big Star 0 - 0 - 0 47.97 402 Rolf-Göran Bengtsson Casall 0 - 0 - 0 49.32 373 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), 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 at the last two GCT competitions, two courses were designed by Frank Rothenberger.
Besides all faultless competitors from the first round also one rider with two time faults and four riders with four faults from the first round were 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.
RiderHorseRound 1Round 2Jump-offScoringpointsPenaltiesTime(s)PenaltiesTime(s)PenaltiesTime(s)1 Olivier Guillon Lord de Theize 0 - 0 - 0 55.59 402 Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum Bella Donna 0 - 0 - 0 57.72 373 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,
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 with their horses had no penalty points, they were qualified for the jump-off. As first rider, Rolf-Göran Bengtsson got 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, started in the jump-off. She also had a fast time with her horse Itot du Château, but Bengtsson and Schröder was faster than Tops-Alexander.result 2012 Global Champions Tour Grand Prix de la Ville de Cannes
RiderHorseRound 1Round 2Jump-offScoringpointsPenaltiesTime(s)PenaltiesTime(s)PenaltiesTime(s)1 Gerco Schröder London 0 - 0 - 0 34.22 402 Rolf-Göran Bengtsson Casall 0 - 0 - 0 34.38 373 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 were held on a provisionally show jumping arena. As two weeks previously, 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) again by Uliano Vezzani from Italy. The competition (Grand Prix du Prince de Monaco) is named after Prince Albert II, which also undertook 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 were 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 started for the first time in a GCT competition. Ouaddar was with the nine-year-old gelding Porche du Fruitier (owned by Mohammed VI of Morocco) in the second competition in the jump-off. He was placed third in the final result. After him, Hans-Dieter Dreher and Kevin Staut started in the jump-off, both had no faults but not a better time than Ouaddar. Staut won the competition with Reveur de Hurtebise, a gelding from Belgium.result 2012 Global Champions Tour Grand Prix du Prince de Monaco
RiderHorseRound 1Round 2Jump-offScoringpointsPenaltiesTime(s)PenaltiesTime(s)PenaltiesTime(s)1 Kevin Staut Reveur de Hurtebise 0 - 0 - 0 37.51 402 Hans-Dieter Dreher Embassy II 0 - 0 - 0 38.16 373 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 started not with their best horse; other riders start with their number one horses in this competition.
The first round was no problem for many riders, 20 riders had no faults - they were qualified for the second round. The second round had a much higher level of difficulty. Six of 20 competitions had again a faultless round.