Christophe Soumillon given two-month ban for elbowing rival to the ground

Top French jockey, Christophe Soumillon has been slapped with a two-month ban after an incident at Saint-Cloud on Friday afternoon.

Soumillon was riding Syros for Francois-Henri Graffard in the Prix Thomas Bryon Jockey Club de Turquie. Rossa Ryan, riding Ralph Beckett's Captain Wierzba, pulled upsides Soumillon as the field approached the final turn. Suddenly, Soumillon stuck out an elbow that made contact with Ryan, sending the young Irishman crashing to the ground.

Thankfully, Ryan got back to his feet following the altercation. Syros would pass the post second behind Aidan O'Brien's Continuous.

The stewards threw Soumillon's mount out of the contest after consulting the video footage. France Gallop acted quickly too, handing Soumillon a 60-day suspension.

"I received a little bit of pressure from Rossa on my outside as I tried to keep a better position." Soumillon told Sky Sports Racing after the ban was announced. "I put my elbow against him just to make him understand I wasn't going to the inside." 

"Straight away I knew I made a mistake and I'm terribly sad with what happened because I hate seeing stuff like this. I really want to apologise to everyone. I'm happy Rossa is fine but this was not a nice act on my side and I'm terribly sorry."

"I accept the sentence for what I did, it was a terrible mistake. Hopefully that can set an example to others. I didn't do it on purpose to make him fall off his horse, I was just trying to keep my position."

The ban will come into effect on October 14th, meaning Soumillon will be able to partner Vadeni in Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. You can see the full betting for the 2022 Arc here on our website.