Christophe Soumillon, one of the sport’s most successful and high-profile jockeys, was banned for 60 days on Friday after an extraordinary incident at Saint-Cloud in Paris in which he elbowed his fellow rider, Rossa Ryan, from the saddle in the middle of a race.
Ryan was riding Ralph Beckett’s Captain Wierzba in a juvenile contest over a mile when Soumillon moved his mount, Syros, to his right, with his elbow making contact with Ryan as he did so. Ryan turned three somersaults after hitting the turf but walked away from the incident unscathed. Syros went on to cross the line in second place, before being disqualified by the stewards a few minutes later.
