Gerrit Nieberg and IB Queen Win the Grand Prix at the Tournament of Champions in Münster

Only four pairs had advanced to the Grand Prix jump-off at the 2026 Tournament of Champions in Münster: two from Germany, one from Switzerland, and one from Belgium. Gerrit Nieberg and IB Queen—who had already shown yesterday in the Championship that they were more than ready to give it their all at their home tournament in Münster—were the last pair of the quartet to compete against the clock. No one could have choreographed it better.

The Jump-Off

The first to compete in

the jump-off

were Switzerland’s Nadja Peter Steiner and her 10-year-old son of Comme il faut, Clearround Il Mondo. The lively gray horse hadn’t made a single jumping fault all weekend and kept it that way in the jump-off as well. On top of that, the explosive Zangersheider gelding was also really fast, clocking in at 42.31 seconds.

Stefan Engbers and Baju NRW had to give up on their dream of victory after the third jump. That’s when the first pole fell. A second one followed at the landing of the double combination—fourth place was already assured for him.

Next, Belgium’s Koen Vereecke took on the course with Merryweather vt Leeuwerikenhof. There was a clatter, but the pair got lucky. Vereecke didn’t push the time limit to the absolute limit, but finished clear and crossed the finish line in 43.29 seconds.

Now it was up to Gerrit Nieberg and IB Queen. The 11-year-old mare by Quasimodo Z has plenty of experience in jump-offs; she’s smart and cautious. And that’s exactly what she demonstrated today—as did her rider, who didn’t take any unnecessary risks but instead carefully shaved off 0.14 seconds at the final jump, which ultimately secured him his second major victory in a row this weekend. Nadja Peter Steiner finished second, ahead of Koen Vereecke and Stefan Engbers.

At the entrance, horse owner Karin Ernsting, Gerrit’s boss, and tournament organizer Hendrik Snoek and his wife Johanna embraced each other. The audience, who had arrived under bright sunshine, celebrated the two with at least as much enthusiasm.

With this victory, Gerrit Nieberg can check one item off his bucket list. “Winning this was definitely one of my goals. I’ve tried a few times before, but never managed it,” he said afterward. “The fact that I was able to do it here in front of my home crowd made it very special.”

As for IB Queen, he has high hopes for her: “IB Queen is developing fantastically. Since Ping Pong van de Lentamel is no longer with me, she has taken his place, and I’m confident she can fill those shoes.”

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More Rides Without Jumping Faults

Although only the four riders in the jump-off finished without any penalty points, there were three others who had only time faults: Salim Ahmed Al Suwaidi on Flonflon and Humaid Abdulla Khalifa Al Muhairi on Foncetti vd Heffinck, both representing the UAE colors of title sponsor Al Shira’aa, as well as Maximilian Lill riding Casallco’s George PS.

Sophie Hinners and Iron Dames Kaleni Jo posted the fastest round with four faults, which still put them in eighth place.

You can find all the results here.