The Rome Gladiators have added Canadian Olympian Beth Underhill to its team for the second half of the 2022 Global Champions League season.
The mid-season transfer sees Underhill join Shane Breen of Ireland; Under 25 rider Zoe Conter of Belgium; French rider Edward Levy; Under 25 rider Nina Mallevaey of France; and Fernando Martinez Sommer of Mexico in representing the Rome Gladiators, powered by ClipMyHorse.TV. Underhill replaces Pieter Clemens of Belgium.
Organized alongside the Longines Global Champions Tour, the Global Champions League team competition is comprised of 16 events around the world including the team’s home stop in Rome, Italy, from September 1 to 4, 2022. The Rome Gladiators were on the podium with third place finishes in Miami, United States, and Stockholm, Sweden. Rome Gladiator team member Mallevaey won the second round of Global Champions League competition in Miami while Martinez Sommer did the same in Cannes.
Following the first eight events of the season, the Rome Gladiators currently sit eighth in the overall rankings among 16 teams. Individually, Martinez Sommer is ranked seventh overall in the championship standings.
“We’re incredibly excited to have Beth joining the team,” said Tara Dow-Rein on behalf of the Rome Gladiators team owner, Rein Family LLC. “It was our intention to have our best horses on the team. We’ve recently invested in more horsepower for Nina and now Beth will also compete with our horses.
“We’ve been so pleased with the performances of our team members to date and are now looking forward to seeing what they can do in the second-half of the season with the addition of Beth,” continued Dow-Rein.
“I am honoured to be part of the Global Champions League at the invitation of Tara and Mark Rein,” said Underhill, a veteran of Olympic, World Championship, and Pan American Games competition. “It’s a fantastic team that has some great riders and has been getting strong results. I’m really excited for this new venture.”
Underhill becomes only the second Canadian, and the first Canadian female athlete, to compete in the Global Champions League after Eric Lamaze, who rode for various teams over several seasons before announcing his retirement from the sport earlier this year. In addition to operating her own training business, Beth Underhill Stables, Underhill also rides for Lamaze’s Torrey Pines Stable.
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