Christophe Soumillon was banned for eight days after the opening day of Royal Ascot on Tuesday over his tactics on an Aidan O’Brien-trained runner. The ten-time French champion jockey was quizzed by stewards about the tactics deployed on pace-setting Puerto Rico in the St James’s Palace Stakes.
The Incident
Soumillon was aboard Puerto Rico, the stable second string to Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Gstaad, in the £700,000 St James’s Palace Stakes. The race was billed as a rematch between Gstaad and Bow Echo, who had defeated the Ballydoyle challenger in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket earlier this year. In major races, O’Brien often deploys a horse to set the pace for his best horses, and Soumillon was asked to do the same on Puerto Rico, who soon led.
As the race unfolded, Soumillon took at least two glances behind him to see where Ryan Moore was positioned on Gstaad. Then, as he entered the straight, he switched Puerto Rico left and off the far rail. That left a golden highway along the rail for Moore to make his challenge on Gstaad. Moore took up the invitation, but the staying-on Gstaad could not quite reel in Bow Echo, failing by a short head. Puerto Rico finished last of the six runners.
Stewards Inquiry
Soumillon was called to a stewards inquiry to consider “whether C Soumillon, the rider of Puerto Rico, unplaced, rode in a manner to benefit Gstaad, placed second, ridden by Ryan Moore, and in doing so caused minimal interference to Powder Blue, placed fourth, ridden by David Egan”. Soumillon, Moore, and Egan were interviewed and shown recordings of the incident, and O'Brien was interviewed via telephone.
Soumillon was suspended for eight days for “riding his mount in such a way that intended to give an advantage to another horse from the same stable, in that he moved his mount away from the rail thereby ensuring a clear run for Gstaad on his inside”. A separate inquiry which looked into interference early in the race found Moore guilty of careless riding. He was suspended for three days.
