Jockey Christophe Soumillon apologised for his actions after he elbowed a rival jockey, sending him tumbling to the ground at high speed during a race, resulting in a 60-day ban.
The Frenchman who was riding Syros in the Thomas Byron Stakes on Friday, made contact with Rossa Ryan on Captain Wierzba midway through the race knocking his rival from his horse. Luckily Ryan was able to walk away from the course and back to the medical tent to receive attention.
Following the incident at Saint-Cloud, the France Galop stewards came down hard on Soumillon giving him a 60-day ban which will see him out for the remainder of the flat racing season.
“Straight away I knew I made a mistake and I’m terribly sad what happened because I hate to see stuff like this," Soumillon told Sky Sports Racing.
"I really want to apologise to everyone, all those involved with the horse. I have just seen the jockey and he is fine, I’m happy about that and the horse too. As for all the people who love racing, it was not a nice act from my side and I’m terribly sorry and want to apologise for what happened today.”
“I have just received a big suspension from the France Galop stewards. I’m going to be suspended for two months (60 days of racing), it’s a very big thing. Unfortunately my end of season is now gone, but I accept the sentence for what I did. It was a terrible decision and hopefully nobody gets hurt. If it can serve in the future for others then that's acceptable.
Soumillon will still be able to ride the fancied Vadeni in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe this weekend before his lengthy ban begins. The Frenchman said he was trying to keep his position alongside his fellow jockey when the incident happened and accepted it was his misjudgement.
He added: “I shouldn’t do that, I didn’t do it on purpose to make him fall off his horse. I was just trying to keep my position. Maybe I did it with a bit of power, it was a misjudgement from my side.
"I don’t really understand what happened in that moment, it went so fast, but it is a terrible thing what I did. I know a lot of people will not excuse me and I feel very bad at the moment for that.”
