November 24, 2025 
No trip to Prague is complete without a glimpse of the city’s famed, medieval Orloj clocktower. But the 15th century astrological clock, deemed by many to be a wonder of the ages, isn’t without controversy.
Legend has it that the Orloj’s clockmaker, Mikuláš of Kadaň, was blinded by the city council in order to ensure he could never be hired to create a masterpiece like Prague’s Orloj for another nation. Kadaň took his revenge by cursing his own creation.
All that is to say, whether you find yourself indulging in supernatural musings or not, one could argue that the curse of the Orloj was in full effect this weekend at the GCL Super Cup Finals in Prague, where the course featured an Orloj-inspired oxer in honor of the host city (see featured image) during the final day of competition on Sunday.
The (possible/plausible) hex began during the Semi-Finals on Friday, when Thibault Philippaerts’s martingale broke mid-course. It resulted in an immediate rail for him and Lyandro Mdb, and even more faults for an already-struggling St. Tropez Pirates team. But that was just the start.
By day’s end, the City of Prague would witness falls from two top riders—Ben Maher (GBR) and Katrin Eckermann (GER)—and, thus, the subsequent elimination of not one but two podium-finishing teams in the overall 2025 championship: the Shanghai Swans and the Cannes Stars.
That left the season’s champions, Valkenswaard United, in sixth place and well positioned going into Sunday’s Super Cup Final, where they would once again start on a zero score. It wouldn’t last long.
As the first team to enter the ring on Sunday, Marcus Ehning (GER) and Coolio 42 and Hans-Dieter Dreher (GER) and Elysium quickly added 8 faults, a piece, to Valkenswaard United’s total. Even Gilles Thomas (BEL) and Ermitage Kalone—who normally have scope to spare—didn’t escape unscathed, clipping the back rail of the oxer in the final element of the triple to add another 4.
A similar fate awaited New York Empire, with only the Rome Gladiators seeming unfazed by Course Designer Uliano Vezzani’s (ITA) unrelenting 1.60m track. Emanuele Guadiano (ITA) and Esteban De Hus adding a rail to the team total, while both Peder Fredricson (SWE) aboard Alcapone Des Carmille, and Yuri Mansur (BRA) with the 18-year-old (!) Qh Alfons Santo Antonio, put up zeros.
Branded “Yuri the Prophet Mansur” by class commentators for declaring that the Rome Gladiators would win this very event days before setting foot in the Final (and despite the team having never won a GCL Super Cup in the past), the Brazilian rider was never short on faith.
“I was believing since the beginning—since we decided to come, I had it really strong in my mind,” explained Mansur, who nonetheless knew his team had a tall order ahead of it.
Just one rail separated the Rome Gladiators from the Basel Cosmopolitans, and two from both the Prague Lions and Riesenbeck International—the latter helmed by reigning Olympic Champion Christian Kukuk (GER) and Checker 47. The indomitable pair were looking fresh and on their game in Round 1, jumping an easy clear alongside teammate Maximilian Weishaupt and Zuccero HV.
It looked to be smooth sailing for Kukuk in Round 2, as well, until the Prague Orloj curse/pure happenstance struck again.
After pulling an uncharacteristic, casual rail at the first vertical, Checker 47—seemingly surprised by his own error—double-barrel kicked for few strides in the landing. Unfortunately, the distance from Jump 1 to Jump 2 was very much related, and with his horse mentally checked out, Kukuk was forced to abruptly pull-up.
(Was it just us, or did the Orloj Clock oxer, framed behind Kukuk in the live stream replay of his refusal, seem to loom ominously?)
The result: A costly 20 additional faults, which combined for a team total of 28 in Round 2, sending Riesenbeck International tumbling down the leaderboard. The ill fortune continued for both the Prague Lions and the Basel Cosmopolitans, both of whom suffered from a lack of clears, resulting in 20-faults a piece.
It all came down to the Gladiators.
After another valiant round with Esteban De Hus, Gaudiano added a second rail to his total, with Mansur and that venerable gentleman, Qh Alfons Santo Antonio, also dropping a pole. That left anchor rider Peder Fredricson trotting into the arena with a full three rails in hand between him and a win in the GCL Super Cup Final—not to mention the lion’s share of its €6.5 million purse for his team.
But, Fredricson being Fredricson, he didn’t need them.
Notching yet another clear, he and Alcapone became the only pair of the day to finish on a zero score, save Scott Brash (GBR) with Hello Jefferson. An Olympic team gold medalist and former GCL Super Cup winner in his own right, the cool-as-a-cucumber Swede was just the man to vanquish that curse/not curse of the Prague Orloj and to restore the rightful balance of the GCL.
“You need to seek pressure to get better, and today, I found it!” said Fredricson after the class, seeming to speak for every rider who participated in 2025 GCL Super Cup competition throughout the course of the weekend. “We are very, very happy. This is an amazing show, and to win here, with this atmosphere, and these good riders, it was just amazing.”
Also amazing? A good, sage-burning cleansing to start next season off right.
